Title: Crash
Author: Ugly.Beautiful
Genre: Romance
Rating: T
Pairing: Neji x Ino, mentions of Lee x Sakura, mentions of Naruto x Hinata
Spoilers: None
Summary: You do not choose your destiny. It chooses you.
Word Count: 1,098

Disclaimer: Neji is hot and Ino is the shit, but both are, unfortunately for me, not mine. Summery belongs to Tim Kring, since it's a line from Heroes.

Dedication: Everyone who wanted me to continue this one-shot into a story (ish thing).

Neji blinked slowly. He opened his mouth. Closed it. And blinked again. "What did you say?" He asked when he finally found his voice.

Hiashi frowned at the boy, now a young man really, and said, "You need to get married."

Neji arched one slim brow at his uncle, even though internally he was seething. "Care to explain this… news?"

His frown deepened. "You are twenty years old and a jounin. And you. Need. To. Get. Married." He made to leave, but paused when Neji opened his mouth again. "Are you deaf? Or simply incapable of finding a suitable woman?"

Affronted, Neji said, "Of course I could find-"

"Good. Because I am being remarkable too lenient with you. Anyone from a Clan. Not too difficult for a genius, yes?"

"How do you expect-"

"It is not a difficult thing to do." He paused and stared at his nephew, fighting with himself as to whether he should remain cold and impassive or offer some out of character advice. "You will just know Neji. It will hit you. Now. Go. Find. A. Wife."

As Neji walked away from the Hyuuga Clan complex, his fists clenched in anger. This was ridiculous! After his twentieth birthday a month ago, his uncle had been relentless. Now, it seemed, he would be forced to take a wife. Main House pulling rank again, he supposed.

At least he was allowed to marry outside the Clan-line. Hiashi seemed remarkable pleased (at least, Neji thought he was pleased) at the fact that Hinata was marrying the Hokage. Whoo-hoo. What Hyuuga in his right mind would want to be related to that hyperactive, ramen-inhaling fur ball?

I don't know why this is suddenly a problem. I'm Branch House, his lip curled even as he thought it. It's not like they need me to-

He grunted as something slammed into him at a thousand miles per hour, practically knocking him to the ground. "What-" he questioned, glancing around the Konoha marketplace he vaguely remembered walking into.

"Sakura… boyfriend… crazy…" The person panted in front of him. Someone in the background called something Neji didn't understand, but the person in front of him apparently did, because their head shot up in horror. Neji caught a lightning quick glance of wide blue eyes, before his hand was grabbed; he was spun around, and then pulled off.

"Hey." He slowed, disentangling his fingers from his kidnappers. And then he heard something that made his blood run cold.

"My eternal rival Neji! The power of youth has brought us-"

The Hyuuga didn't hear the rest, since he had already bolted off beside his kidnapper. I don't have time for this! Somewhere in the background, a shouted 'yosh,' was heard.

"Sakura gave him… sugar…" His fleeing partner said.

Neji held back a shiver. Lee on sugar was like Gai on sugar. And Gai on sugar was like Naruto, only like, a thousand times worse. Suddenly, he was yanked sideways and slammed into a wall. He opened his mouth to protest, but a hand suddenly covered it, and a body pressed into his. Two sets of eyes darted to the entrance of the alleyway they were now in and both breathed sighs of relief as a green blur raced by. The person stepped back and Neji finally caught a good look of their face. He arched a brow in surprise. "Ino?"

She turned around from where she had been glancing around the corner. "Neji," she echoed.

He tried to unobtrusively observe her in the dim alleyway. He didn't see much of the rival of his teammate's girlfriend. He knew who she was, of course. Had seen her fight in the Chounin exams twice, before he applied to be jounin and passed her in rank. But he'd never actually looked at her.

She'd cut her hair, he noticed. It was shoulder-blade length now, and perfectly straight, and unbound. Shining a healthy sunflower gold. Her eyes shone, too. Like twin pools of water.

"-doing in town?"

"Hm?" Neji glanced at her, hoping she didn't notice he hadn't been paying attention because he was distracted by her curves.

She rolled her eyes. "Never mind." She gave the street anther glance. "I think it's safe now." She sighed, blowing her bangs up. "Stupid Forehead, volunteering me to train with that lunatic while she's on a mission." She peered over her shoulder, sending him a saucy wink. "Catch ya later."

Neji watched her walk back into the marketplace. His brow furrowed. Had he ever spoken to her before this? Not that Neji actually spoke much at all, but still… He'd seen her fight in two Exams. And heard her name dropped in a few conversations. But he'd never… spoken to her. And he'd certainly never realized how beautiful she was.

It'll hit me, huh? He smirked. I don't think Hiashi-sama meant to be so literal, but she did almost barrel me into the ground. And she's from a Clan. He told himself, walking into the market and following the none-too-far-off head of blonde hair he could see.

So she's from a Clan, he told himself as he walked after her, mentally tallying up the things he would tell his uncle. And is a jounin. Took some medical training under Sakura. Is working for Ibiki-san now. And she's… umm… beautiful. And curvy, he continued, not realizing he was now completely off track. And has really long legs. His eyes glazed over, so it was really no surprise when he walked right into the person he was walking after.

"Neji?" She asked, turning around.

He opened his mouth to tell her… what? Marry me? Come to the Hyuuga Complex so I can okay you with my uncle. Then marry me? That would go over well. So what he wound up saying was, "Train with me."

She arched a brow. "Are you ill? From what I've gathered from Lee, this is… abnormal."

"Train with me," he repeated.

"I mean, sure, it's better than training with Lee, who's insane. But at least he speaks."

When she turned to go, Neji's arm moved before he could tell it to, and his hand latched onto her wrist. Surprising himself again, he leaned down and brushed his lips across her cheek. Leaning up to whisper in her ear, he said again, "Train with me."

When he pulled back, he noticed with that egotistical male pride that all men possessed that she was blushing. "O-okay." He smirked as she took his hand and pulled him off to the training fields.

He should've let her run him over a long time ago.

A/N: Eh. What can I say? The plot bunnies know things.