Title: Opposite Attracts.

By: Kaara.

Disclaimer: I do not hold any claim upon the Naruto characters because they are obviously not mine. If they are, this wouldn't be called fanfiction, dears.

Pairing(s): NejiIno, implied InoNaru.

Warning: Slight OOCness. Change of time frame from the original manga.

Notes: I'm exploring the possibilities of them as adults. And marvellously jaded to the bones. You can't expect shinobi who had faced life-and-death situations to be as carefree and happy-go-lucky as they are now. Look at Kakashi; he's insane. Look at Ibiki; he's even more insane. Look at Gai; he's the pinnacle of insanity. In conclusion, all good ninjas become insane before they reached thirty.

Enjoy.

xxx

Opposite Attracts

xxx

They say that love is the absolute abstract, something that goes beyond the extent of human's imagination. They say that you can't find love; love will find you. They say that love makes you blind to reason and logic. They say that love is the poison, and love is the cure.

Neji had never listened to what other people say.

He now wished that he had.

His life would've been a hell lot easier if he did.

Hyuuga Neji, captain of the infamous ANBU Squadron Ten by the age of twenty-seven, heir of the respectable House of Hyuuga, one of the most sought-after bachelors of Konoha and the winner for Mr. Emotionless Ice Block for ten years in a row had undoubtedly, unfortunately, helplessly fallen in love.

Neji was in love.

It took him several weeks and countless hours of research to finally conclude that he was, indeed, in love. Men like Neji; self-confident, proud of his untouchable inner fortress and stubborn to the roots of his advertisement-worthy shiny hair do not just experience the magic of fireworks and love at first sight. They often tried to resist it. But sooner or later, they would finally realize that no man is an island. Love is not just something that you can resist or stop in mid-process. It just happened.

Love is like... constipation.

In a way.

There were reasons why he had doubted, argued and puzzled over the simple fact of him having fallen in love. Not that he had anything against loving somebody; he was doing great in not massacring the Main House members. And he could now stand the sight of Hinata and her irritating blushes. His therapist had told him that he was definitely improving; she was even brave enough to come within twenty feet around him in her wheelchair, both of her legs still in the cast. He had had some... issues with her earlier reports on his mental state. Not that it mattered much, of course. He was given the long-awaited opportunity to finish a bookshelf of paperback novels during his suspension.

No, he had no whatsoever problem with falling in love.

And thus, the reasons.

The first one was that Neji had met the girl that stole his heart in a completely wrong situation. There were no heart-wrenching proclamations of love. No fields of multi-coloured, blooming flowers and prancing nymphs. No evil witches and tacky fairy godmothers. No 'save-the-princess-from-the-evil-nasty-dragon' fairytale romance. It distressed him to no end to find that his grand illustrations of love were mercilessly shattered by the cruel hands of Fate. He was deceived by the many shoujo manga that he had secretly borrowed from Hinata and Hanabi's massive stash.

He had met his first love because they were trying to kill each other.

And that brings us to the second and the most important reason of his denial.

He had fallen hard for one Yamanaka Ino.

The resident Bitch of Konoha.

Why, merciful Kami, WHY?

He was off-duty that night, a luxury that he had been denied to for three whole months. Naturally, Neji would've been contented enough to spend his free time sitting in the garden, trimming his vast collection of bonsai or training in the dojo. But as it was snowing outside and someone had blasted the walls of the dojo to oblivion earlier that morning (he suspected that it was Hanabi on PMS), those two options were out of reach. Instead, Hiashi had pretty much ordered him to go outside and, to quote the old man, 'do your thing' unquote. Neji had no idea what 'his thing' was, but he doubted that Hiashi would be pleased if he went off on a killing spree. So, with a bright woollen scarf wrapped around his neck and the lower half of his face (he was forced to wear the gaudy garb because Hinata had knitted it for him as a birthday present), shiny hair tucked inside a snow cap, Neji ambled out of the warmth of his home and into the cold street of Konoha.

He should've just stayed at home.

Because misery just loved company.

"Hey, look out!"

With or without the warning, he easily avoided whatever it was that went zooming past his head and imbedded itself into a near wooden post. Having a pair of super eyes helped in such situation. It turned out to be a kunai. Neji, being much more complacent than usual, decided to give the owner of that weapon a sermon on proper uses of that particular projectile, instead of just beating the crap out of that someone for damn nearly killing him. Not that he would be taken down by a mere kunai, of course; if he had managed to survive Uzumaki's creepy chakra before, a kunai was nothing to him. Nonetheless, the act itself was a dangerous one and the Hyuuga felt rather annoyed at the prospect of facing an incompetent ninja on his off day, most probably a genin wannabe. What greeted him was something (or rather, someone) unexpected.

The pale blonde hair and blue eyes were quite familiar...

Now, where had he met her before?

Before his mind could conjure a name to match with the face (quite lovely, to note, even with the smear of mascara around her red, puffy eyes), the blonde had zipped across him in an impressive display of speed. There was a frown on her face when she snatched the kunai from the wooden post and pocketed the weapon, which seemed to intensify when she turned to glare at him. Neji raised one delicate eyebrow, partly annoyed and partly amused at her reaction. Here was a girl - no, scratch that; a young woman - scowling at him as though he had killed her pet spider, after nearly missing his head with a sharp, pointy weapon. Oh yes, Neji was very much annoyed and amused alright.

He returned the glare with one of his own, and mentally counted to ten. His psychiatrist seemed to think that it was the best way for him to calm down whenever he felt anything near murderous or depressed. Though of course, his enemies often found themselves standing in line for the next trip to Hell before Neji could finish his count. The Hyuuga half-hoped that this mad blonde woman didn't start attacking him before he reached 'ten', because the result wouldn't have been pretty. The many missing nins that he had encountered could certainly give their testimonial to that, if they were not dead already. The thought brought a smirk onto his face. And though it was only a tiny stretch of his lips, the young woman unfortunately noticed that and snarled at Neji, apparently taking that as an insult.

My, my, feisty, indeed.

"What're you smirking at, asshole?" the words rang sharp and bitter, something that he had expected to hear from a post-menopause old hag or a crippled missing nin. Not from this beautiful blonde.

Neji sighed inwardly. Patience, patience. "I am merely wondering how someone with such an inept ability in handling basic weaponry could become a jounin." He was referring to the dark green vest hanging over her slender form. "What will become of the shinobi of Konoha if this continues?" Le sigh.

The red was definitely seeping underneath her pale skin, and Neji allowed his smirk to widen. His psychiatrist never said that he couldn't exercise sarcasm. He crossed his arms, donning a superiorly challenging look on his face. Two years ago, he would have simply death-glared this pathetic excuse of a shinobi and sashayed his way from her without even a single syllable, but time had changed him. As well as expensive psychology sessions. The blonde's shaking fists caught his immediate attention, though he acted against his survival instinct and refused to take a step backward. Or better yet, fled for his life. Never let it be said that the great Hyuuga Neji was intimidated by a mere girl/young woman!

"Sod off, Hyuuga," she finally hissed with enough hostility that could scare off a full-grown rhinoceros, her glare unwavering.

So, she did know his name! Neji was not at all surprised, seeing that he was, after all, a famous figure in Konoha. But that only puzzled him further as he was sure that no one in their right mind had the audacity (or the stupidity) to talk to him like she was doing. It was somewhat of a novelty to meet this crazed person. "Last time I checked, this street is for public use."

"Last time I checked, you didn't have enough brain capacity to string a proper sentence together," the blonde spat back. "Whatever happened to your almighty attitude?"

He was taken aback, so to say. Had he always been as distant and detached as she had just implied? Surely, there must be some mistake. He did not remember coming across as too 'almighty' to people in general. Sure, he might've turned, er… a blind eye towards any act of general socialising but that was to be expected. He did have a reputation to protect, after all. Changing his tact, Neji ignored the question and asked, quite politely he should say, "Is flinging kunai at unsuspecting people one of your favourite past time activities?"

Obviously, Neji was in a desperate need to learn more about the art of conversing, seeing that his attempt at being cordial was plain pitiful. Not to mention doing the exact opposite of what he was hoping he would do. The blonde woman merely sneered at him and said, "No, Hyuuga-sama. I made sure that I targeted only Hyuugas as all of you have super eyes, so that I would not be accused of intentional murder lest I accidentally killed someone less superior than your clan members."

"Really?" Neji retorted in genuine interest, surprised at how insightful this woman was. Perhaps she was not as crazy as he had first thought.

It was clear that the crazy woman in question was barely able to not bang her head against the wall in her frustration. "No, you idiot! Didn't you notice sarcasm when you heard one?"

"I detect no hint of sarcasm from what you have said," the Hyuuga huffily snapped, narrowing his eyes in his contempt.

"That's because you're a brainless walking block of ice!" her voice had reached what one would just describe as screeching. "I can't take this anymore! First Naruto, and now a fucking Hyuuga!"

Neji's scowl disappeared in a split second, replaced with a threatening glare that radiated intense curiosity. "What's wrong with Uzumaki? Did you attack him with kunai too?"

"Haha, very funny," she replied without mirth. But the subject (that was Naruto) seemed to calm her down a bit, albeit the still existent lines of stress on her face. Her shoulders slumped, one hand raised to massage her forehead. "It's… not important. Really."

Not important my ass, Neji's logic immediately spewed out but the Physical Neji managed to remain tight-lipped and frowned at the blonde. He was raised to be a respectful young man, and he would not stoop down to use obscenities in daily conversations. Excepting when he was describing the Main House members, of course. "You're not making any sense. Tell me what's wrong with Uzumaki."

"Oh, nothing," she waved her hand airily, exuding a rather vehement atmosphere. "Besides the fact that he's on his way to retrieve Uchiha Bastard Sasuke for the umpteenth time, with his equally idiotic sensei. And will eventually fail and sulks around the town for months until another Retrieve-Sasuke-To-Please-Sakura Mission."

The rage in her voice made Neji snicker inwardly. Ignoring the murderous glare that was sent his way, he continued, "It almost sounds like you're jealous."

She sputtered, her cheeks turning red from his comment. "I'm NOT!"

For the first time in the span of five minutes, he realized that he was standing in a snow-covered street; supposedly deep in conversation with a screeching young woman whose name he couldn't quite remember. Plus the knowledge that the woman had attempted to kill him with kunai earlier, the situation was one bizarre phenomenon. Neji blinked, annoyance immediately churning inside his stomach. This was definitely not an agenda inside his ever immaculate schedule of life and he had no intention of ever rescheduling. He glanced at the deserted street, before staring at the reddening jounin before him. Why he was doing what he did remain a total mystery but before he could stop himself, Neji heaved a deep sigh and said, "I'm heading out for dinner. Join me."

And that was how Neji could be found sitting next to his highly reluctant companion on the high stools of Ichiraku, both refusing to be the first to break the silence. To be completely honest, he had no idea why he had invited the woman along and why she had agreed. Perhaps they had been affected by what people called 'temporary insanity'. But Neji, being typical Neji, refused to accept such explanation. He DID NOT (in capital) experience any type of insanity, be it temporary or permanent. Staring thoughtfully into his untouched bowl of ramen, Neji decided that he had had enough silence.

"You still haven't told me about Naruto," he began cautiously, staring at the drinking woman besides him. He eyed the bottle of sake that she had ordered with well-concealed disgust.

She better not expect him to pay for the drink too.

"If you still haven't noticed, being insensitive as you are, I'm not in the mood to talk," grunted the young woman, refilling her glass.

A pulse started throbbing dangerously on Neji's forehead, signalling his rapidly thinning patience. "I didn't bring you along to watch you drown yourself in your pathetic misery."

She merely snorted and asked, "Then why did you?"

"To save the next innocent pedestrian from your kunai," he deadpanned. Much to his surprise, the blonde started laughing loudly. The pulse throbbed faster, seemingly growing in sync with his annoyance. "What, the sake's finally getting to your brain?"

"I never would've guessed that you could tell a joke," she gasped in between her laughing fit, pounding a hand onto the wooden counter.

"I was not joking."

She straightened up and beamed mischievously at him. "Of course you were."

"I thought that you were not in the mood to talk," he retorted briskly, raising an eyebrow.

"Guess your good humour's contagious," she shrugged and raised her half-full glass towards him. "A toast to Hyuuga Neji, for finally being human."

He refused to raise his own cup of tea. It was a stupid toast; of course he was human. What else would he be?

As if reading his mind, the woman flashed him a grin. "You've just been promoted from ice block to human. Shouldn't you start celebrating?"

"Oh, joy," he muttered sarcastically, eyebrow twitching.

"Careful now," she drawled out, obviously enjoying herself. "Enthusiasm does not become you."

"I beg you pardon, I must've lost myself back there."

"Don't worry; human experience that once in a while. You'll get use to it," she nodded solemnly, only to burst out in laughter seconds after that. Neji was starting to think that she must have been a hyena in her past lifetime, as he was sure that it was impossible for normal human being to be able to laugh as much as she did and not faint from lack of air.

He was debating whether he should discreetly disappear while she was paralysed or not when a foreign voice rudely jolted him out of his thought.

"Here you are, Yamanaka-senpai!"

The speaker was yet another young woman (Neji groaned inwardly; Fate and Destiny must've been playing a cruel joke on him all day long), her long black hair tied back into a ponytail and a severe expression on her tanned face. The newcomer barely acknowledged his existence as she advanced towards his blonde companion, who had sobered up enough to actually project surprise when she saw the black-haired woman. "Enrai?"

"They've been looking for you, you know," Enrai rattled on, oblivious of the glare that was directed towards her from one forgotten Hyuuga. "Nara-senpai said that it's too troublesome to search for you, but Uzumaki-san insisted on seeing you before he departed. Said something about you stealing his… 'Gama-chan'… or something close to that. I have no idea what he was talking about, but it sounds important."

"He named his wallet 'Gama-chan'?" the blonde incredulously asked, blinking at Enrai. She slipped off the stool in easy grace, one hand placed onto the counter for support.

Neji choked in mid-sip, narrowing his eyes at Yamanaka. That's why she had looked familiar; she was that loud girl he had so often heard about and saw gallivanting around the Hokage Tower like she owned the place. Yamanaka Ino; famous for being a complete bitch and a very competent jounin, as well as the increasing number of her suitors despite her undesirably sharp tongue. He had also caught glimpses of unfortunate young men who tried to do more than talk to her in the hospital during his brief visits there. They seemed to be missing several limbs…

Wait.

Did the Enrai-person just say that she stole Naruto's wallet?

"Is he gone?" asked Ino, staring expectantly at the other woman.

"Well, yeah. But not without a word or fifteen about what he'll do to you once he come back," Enrai replied, crossing her arms against her chest. "I still can't believe you did that, senpai."

Ino shrugged, disregarding the curious, squinty-eyed glare from Enrai. She sat back onto the stool and picked up the sake jar. "I think you better get going. Kankuro's waiting for you, isn't he?"

The woman in question instantly turned beet red. "I told you, we're not dating!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," she grinned at Neji and whispered, loud enough so that everyone within the vicinity could hear her. "They're still in denial."

"We're not… I don't…" sputtered Enrai, gesturing wildly at her superior. Eventually, she heaved a sigh of exasperation and shook her head. "Fine. I'll get going. See you later, Yamanaka-senpai. And a good day to you, Hyuuga-san."

He nodded silently; at least, she was not as ignorant as he had first thought.

She paused in her way out and turned to direct a rather impish smile at Neji. "Just make sure that you bail out before senpai got drunk, Hyuuga-san. She can be quite unmanageable when she's intoxicated."

"Oh, shut up and get out of here!"

"Your wish is my command, ma'am," smiled Enrai, parting the curtain of Ichiraku and sauntered out with a jolly wave.

Neji raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Unmanageable, Yamanaka?"

There was a light tint of red on her cheeks when she said, "She's just jealous; I beat her five times in a row in drinking competitions."

"So I gather that the rumour about Kiba, you and a drinking marathon is not entirely untrue?"

Ino took a swig from her glass and wrinkled her nose playfully. "I refuse to answer on the ground that the information disclosed will be used against me in the future."

"I don't do blackmail, if that's what you're worried about," said Neji, pouring himself another cup of tea. The bowls of ramen were entirely forgotten. He frowned as he recalled a certain piece of conversation between the two kunoichi earlier. "Why did you steal from Uzumaki?"

"I don't do stealing, if that's what you're worried about," Ino mocked, repeating the man's earlier word in precise, clipped voice unlike his. She laughed loudly when the frown on his face darkened. "Nah, I just 'borrowed' his Gama-chan. I'm not going to use his money or anything, so you don't have to worry about arresting me."

"Then why?"

The laugh died away, leaving a grim smile that graced her glossy lips. "To make sure that Naruto will come back."

He stared at the blonde, both eyebrows raised. "He's not that easy to kill. I tried, and I failed."

"You can't say that for sure," Ino bitterly snapped. The flames flaring in the depth of her grey blue orbs were slightly dampened when she continued, "But as long as one of his possessions is with me, I'd be able to see that stupid smile of his when he comes back."

"I'm surprised."

"Surprised? Why?"

Turning his attention back to his cup, Neji said, "I didn't know that you cared much about anyone except yourself."

"Contrary to popular belief, I'm not a narcissus," she simply answered, waving her glass around. "I do care."

"Of course."

They lapsed into a comfortable silence, as the two shinobi simply enjoyed the atmosphere of warm unfamiliarity. Neji stole a glance towards his companion, marvelling at how composed a mentally-imbalanced person could be at times. He found it hard to believe how… relaxed he was in this woman's annoying presence; he rarely felt at ease around strangers, especially one that took unhealthy interest in his supposedly nonexistent humanity. It was a right decision after all, inviting Ino to join him for lunch. Neji briefly wondered what his psychiatrist would say once she heard about this in their next session. Knowing her, there would most probably be a massive party to celebrate his sudden participation in socialising.

Ino paused from her mission in chugging down copious amount of sake, the hand holding the jar suspended in mid air. She turned to Neji and awarded him with the most blindingly brilliant smile that he had ever seen. "You know, I just realized something…"

An organ somewhere inside his chest ceased beating for a split second, before redoubling its effort. Neji, despite himself, squirmed uneasily on his seat from the intensity of her gaze. "What?"

"This is the first lunch that I truly enjoyed since… forever," replied the blonde sincerely, nodding her head.

He hesitated, before retorting, "So am I, Yamanaka."

"Oh, please!" Neji was pretty sure that he had a quick reflex, but that still didn't save him from the hard thump against his back. He almost spat out his tea from the force of her ominous fist. "Call me 'Ino', all my friends do."

Neji blinked; did that mean that he was her … friend … now?

Friend?

Did that word even exist in his vocabulary?

"My point about you being an ice block still stands, though," she rose onto her feet with another smile and fixed her hair, slipping several strands of loose hair behind her ears. With a pat on his arm, she said, "See you around."

Rendered speechless from her action, Neji continued to stare at her retreating back, until she suddenly stop and swivelled to face him.

"Before I forget," she bent towards him, their faces inches apart and gave Neji's cheek a peck. With another of her insanely large grin, she whispered, "Thanks for lunch."

That was the beginning of the longest obsession that Hyuuga Neji had ever experienced.

Of course, his life was not the same after that. Not that it turned upside down or anything as drastic as that, but he could not just ignore the evening that he had shared in the company of one Yamanaka Ino. The strange sensation when her soft lips touched his cheeks… and her smiles… This reminded him that he was going unbelievably off topic. His personal space was shockingly violated, something that had never happened in the past and should not happen in the present, as well as the future. There was no doubt that the blonde had a chronic mental disorder, and he feared that it was contagious, if that was even possible. He had heard about the Yamanaka's special family jutsu and it somehow distressed him to know its function; would she be able to actually project her insanity to another person instead of her soul?

Somehow, that sounded just like what Ino would do.

TBC

Another two-shot. I wrote this as kind of a prequel to Love's Divine, though not nearly as depressing. I apologize in advance for Neji's OOCness; I just can't get him right where I wanted to. It was kinda… pathetic, really.

Kaara