"Father? She's cute father." Hinata blushed as her cousin stared at her.

"Not now Neji," his father said abruptly.

"Did I…did I say something wrong father?" he asked slightly hurt by his father's shortness.

"Uh…no…no son. I'm sorry," Hizashi replied.

"It's time I take Neji under my care Hizashi."

"Yeah…right. Neji, from now on your uncle Hiashi will be looking after you some during the day alright?"

"Yes father. That means I'll get to spend more time with Lady Hinata!"

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"Neji!"

"What is it that you want Ten Ten?" His thoughts had been interrupted by his fellow team mate.

"Aren't you coming to eat lunch? You promised Lee and me that you would come."

"No, thanks. I have plans."

"But you always have plans!" she replied angrily.

"Don't test my patience," he replied coldly. "Go and have fun with Lee. He needs the attention since he's clearly not getting any from the leaf princess Sakura. Give him my message. I'm sure he'll understand." Tenten sighed before leaping off into the trees. Neji continued to stare at the clouds. It was almost time…

"BYAKUGAN!"

Neji looked all around and finally spotted who he had been looking for all morning. She was sitting alone under a tree near the florist. Ino and Sakura were gossiping, no doubt about how great Sasuke was and was paying no attention to Hinata whatsoever. In fact, he doubted that they noticed her sitting there. He continued to watch her and noticed that she had been crying. Her eyes were all red and puffy. Neji frowned and cursed under his breath before taking off.

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Hinata sat under the tree pretending to be engulfed by the latest romance novel by her favorite author Nefatiri Konomo, but it was no use. She listened as Sakura and Ino laughed and fussed about how great Sasuke is.

"Did you see him yesterday Ino? He punched Naruto's lights out! The idiot."

"Yeah, I saw but did you see him wink at me?"

"No way he'd ever wink at you!"

"Oh yes he would you billboard brow!"

"Pig!"

Hinata sighed and closed the book. It was a Saturday afternoon and while everyone else was gossiping and having fun, she was sitting all alone. You would think she'd be used to it by now since no one ever paid her any attention, but some days were worse than others. Today was one of those days. She looked around and saw Lee and Tenten playing a game of dodge. Tenten was tossing daggers at him and Lee was getting hit each time. They seemed to be having so much fun. Why can't I have fun with somebody? Why won't anyone pay attention to me…or care about me? She knew the answer to this. She had asked herself this question several times already. It was because she didn't like herself. Sure, she got loads of attention from the village elders. As a princess and future heir to the Hyuga throne so to speak, she received attention all the time, most of it unwanted. What she really wanted was…a friend, someone her age who understood her. No one in the leaf village seemed to understand how a princess could be so alone and mundane. Hinata closed her book and rested her head on her knees. Today is going to be another long, boring day…

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Neji silently landed onto a branch of the tree that she was sitting under. No one heard him land and no one could see him…well, except for her if she looked. He sat their and watched Sakura and Ino. Silly girls. He frowned before turning his attention to Hinata. He had been watching her everyday since his match against Naruto. He always thought she was pretty and after that match he started paying more attention to her for some odd reason that could not be explained. Everyday it was the same thing; either she was with the village elders or somewhere alone. No one, except maybe Naruto and Shino, acknowledged her presence and it was starting to piss him off. He wanted to beat the hell out of everyone but he could not. For starters, it wasn't in his nature to care too much for…anyone. He sighed as he watched the wind whip through Hinata lovely navy strands.

"Why don't you say something to her?" a voice whispered. Neji gasped. He had not noticed anyone coming up behind him. He made a mental note to be more careful in the future.

"What do you want? Did you follow me here?" Neji asked coldly.

"Yes…I…I did. I've noticed a slight change in you and chose today to ask how you've been."

"Well, Kurenai I have been well, but I think you can see that for yourself."

"No need to be so upset with me Neji. I was just concerned that's all."

"There's no need to be. I'm not going to kill her if that's what you mean." Kurenai sighed before tossing a pen and paper at him. He caught it with ease.

"Say something to her. She needs to hear a good word. I've never seen her so depressed." She took off through the trees without another word. Neji stared at the blank paper for a minute. What to say? He looked down and saw that she was now crying. He quickly scribbled a message before tossing it at her and leaping off.

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Hinata looked up as a small piece of origami hit her head. She opened it up and saw that someone had written her a message.

You are not as alone as you think you are. I'm

always watching princess.

Xoxoxo

Hinata smiled and put the message inside her book. It was the happiest she had been in all her life.