A Caged Bird's Love Chapter One

You know what is worse than love that is known but not accepted? Love that isn't even known to the other. I know this personally, because I'm experiencing it right now. I love her so much, and she has no idea. She is a little oblivious, but that's one of the things I love about her. And you know, I've loved her from the moment I saw her. I told my father that she was cute, and he looked at me sadly. I ended up pledging to protect her. I accepted this with all my heart, in fact I was happy to do so! I would have gladly given my life so that she could continue to grace this world with her existence. That love has been tested to its limits over the past several years, and at one point I managed to bury that love so deep inside of me it turned to hatred. I thought it had gone away. But I was wrong. Love, once it exists, can never truly go away. I realized this after my reasons for hatred were corrected. Because I found that affection for her still within my heart, renewed after its imprisonment in the depths of my mind. And I welcomed it. You would think, with this kind of devotion, she would have noticed something. But no. She has no clue, and that torments me night and day, because I have no way of knowing if she cares for me also. I want to find out, but at the same time I do not want to take action, for fear of ruining what we already have. That fear has held me back, but maybe someday I'll overcome it. Someday…….

Neji woke up later than usual that morning. Normally, he would have been up at the crack of dawn to train and get his mind off whatever was bothering him. But today it was he who was late, and it was Tenten who had to wait. She couldn't help but tease him about it when he finally arrived.

"Ne, Ne, what were you doing last night so late that it caused you to oversleep? God, this has to be the first time you've ever been late for anything!"

He glared at her. "Give it a rest, would you?"

She laughed. "Why the hell would I do that? Geez Neji, now we finally have proof that you're human, not some sort of clock work android without feelings."

His glare intensified. Tenten grinned and turned so that she was walking back first in front of him so she could see his face.

"So, why were you late today?"

He kicked a pebble on the ground. "No reason. Just overslept," he muttered.

"Hmmm. Sure you did."

"Shut up."

She sighed dejectedly. "Maa, you're so uptight. I'm just teasing you, all right? Relax; I'm not trying to kill you."

He scratched his head. She had a point. "Sorry. I'm just a little tired."

She nodded understandingly and fell back into place beside him. They walked in companionable silence the rest of the way to the training grounds. Lee was already there waiting for them.

"YOSH! LET US TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS FIERY YOUTH AND DO OUR BEST TO ENJOY OUR SPRINGTIME OF LIFE!" he yelled, eyes burning with inner passion.

"Hai, hai, Lee. You do that," Tenten said exasperatedly. Geez, its seven o'clock in the morning and he already is fired up. What a weirdo.

Neji went the stream nearby and splashed water on his face to wake up. The cold water revived his nerves and revigorated his mind. Tenten was right; it was extremely odd for him to be so later, even if only by fifteen minutes. He sighed. He had stayed up until all hours thinking about her. Her perfect voice, quiet, yet enough to capture your attention. Her beautiful face, often marred with an expression of worry. Her silky hair, like a raven's wing. He couldn't bear the thought of her hating him. He had tossed and turned for hours, her face in his mind's eye. Every five minutes he would get up and find her, his eyes watching her delicate movements as she slept. He had finally drifted off into an uneasy dose when the constant use of his eyes wore him out. He had awoken to sunlight in his eyes and a worried maid peering at him, wondering if he was feeling alright.

Neji shook his head, trying to clear the thought from his mind. No use worrying about it now. He splashed more water onto his face and straightened. Hopefully a good session of training would help distract him.

"Come on, Neji! Maa, are you going to make us wait any longer? Let's get going!" Tenten shouted. Lee was dancing around, already excited for the results the day would bring.

Neji groaned and started back. Geez, Tenten can be annoying sometimes. She is a great help, and a good fighter, and she was really nice to help out with my training for the Chuunin Exams, but seriously.

Neji was sparring with Lee when a messenger from the Hokage came. "Ah, Neji-san, the Hokage would like to see you as soon as possible."

Neji blocked a blow from Lee and stopped. " Hokage-sama wants…..me?"

"Hai, sir. You. Soon." With that, the messenger disappeared in a small puff of smoke.

Why the hell does the Hokage want me? Neji glanced at Tenten. She shrugged. Lee grinned as he saw an opening. He ran and swung a leg at Neji's face in a roundhouse kick. Surprisingly, Neji had completely dropped his guard and was unprepared for the kick. It sent him flying, although he managed to lessen the damage by blocking at the last second. But it still sent him flying. Lee, of course, was jubilant.

"AH-HAH! THIS TRULY IS THE SPRINGTIME OF LIFE! I HAVE FINALLY PROVED THAT A GENEIUS CAN BE OVERPOWERED BY HARD WORK!"

Lee was so happy that even Neji didn't want to dampen his mood by pointing out that usually Neji could have blocked that kick completely, even use it to his advantage to attack Lee. But whatever.

"Well, I guess I better see what she wants," he told Tenten.

"Mm, good idea. Ja ne, Neji."

"Yeah, see ya."

He ran full speed back to the center of Konoha. The guards at the Hokage's office waved him by as he slowed down. Tsunade looked up as he entered the room.

"Neji! Thanks for coming on such sort notice. Hope it wasn't any trouble."

"No trouble at all, Hokage-sama."

"Hmm, that's good. Anyway, I called you here because I have a mission for you."

Neji was surprised. A mission? He was a Chuunin; he had passed the test after the one where Naruto had beat him. Chuunins got missions all the time, so why was he so taken back?

"Uh, hai, I accept whatever the Hokage-sama assigns me, ma'am."

Tsunade tipped her chair back and laughed. "Ne, ne, you haven't even heard the assignment yet. And stop being so tense. It's not a death sentence, you know."

Funny, didn't Tenten just say something like that?

"Anyway, it's pretty dangerous, normally we'd give this the Jounins or maybe even ANBU, but we're a bit short of possible candidates right now. So it goes to you. Basically, you have to track down these five people." She slammed a folder of personal files down on her desk, "And, if possible, we want you to kill them."

Neji starred. That was way more difficult than any regular Chuunin job. He picked up the folder with a nod from Tsunade.

All of the targets had bad pasts, full of murder. Each seemed to have a unique quality of fighting style that made the group even more powerful.

"They are sort of like the Akatsuki, but less powerful. Nonetheless, they are S-rank criminals and need to be dealt with. Soon," Tsunade told him, putting emphasis on the last word.

"B-but, Hokage-sama, isn't this a little to difficult for one Chuunin to handle?"

She tipped her head back and laughed, which thoroughly startled Neji. "Oh my, I'm sorry, but that's funny. Did you really think we would send you out on a mission this dangerous by yourself? God, no. Don't worry; we've assigned someone else to this mission too."

Neji frowned. "Only one person?"

Tsunade's chair landed back on all four feet with a thump. "Oh, don't worry. Your partner is extremely capable. And besides, we have faith in your skill. That's why we picked you, you know." She grinned at him.

Neji inwardly groaned. He wished they didn't believe in him that strongly. This was going to be difficult.

He looked at her. "So, who's my partner?"

Tsunade's grin widened. "You can come in now," she called.

A side door creaked open and a girl came out, walking with an air of quiet grace. She smiled shyly at Neji, and his heart set off on an extremely rapid pace. He felt blood rush to his cheeks as her opaque eyes met his.

"Neji-nii-san, it's a pleasure to be working with you."

Author's note

Whoa, I finally got my fist fic posted…..anyway, I hoped you liked, it's only the first chapter so nothing much happened……so read and review - what you think, what could be improved, etc etc etc. thank you!