Well, I'm starting a new NejiIno fic because I don't like my other one. Plus I haven't updated it in forever so I'm just giving in to the little voices in my head that have demanded that I give up on it. So, I hope this one proves to be more enjoyable than the last.

Yay, for NejiIno-ness!

Chapter 1: The Best Days

Prologue

The sun had been setting, and it was almost time to head home. But Yamanaka Ino's gaze lingered on the horizon as she sat on a swing in the park, watching the purple, orange and yellow colors that were the sky.

At seven years old, you'd think she'd be afraid of walking home alone in the dark.

Well, truth being told - as bold as Ino was - She was afraid of the dark. Who knew what kinds of creepy things were out there, and she was only seven! But it was worth it, to watch such a gorgeous sight before escaping to her house. Her parents didn't know that she was still out, and would worry them selves to death if they'd known she was gone.

"Hi." Came an unfamiliar voice. Ino gasped and turned her head to see whom the voice belonged to. It was a boy, and he had the strangest, most enchanting eyes she'd ever seen. She'd seen him at school, but never really paid much attention to who he was. Being a year ahead of her, he wasn't in her class.

"I'm Hyuuga Neji." He stated formally, holding out his hand to shake hers.

"Yamanaka Ino." The blonde little girl said happily and smiled as she took his hand.

"Why are you out so late? Aren't you afraid?"

"Yes. But I can't miss this." She gestured to the sunset.

"Isn't it pretty?" Ino said, her gaze turning to the horizon once again. "So many colors…" She awed.

The boy walked to the swing beside her and sat himself on it. "It is real pretty." He agreed, and turned to her. "Kinda like you."

Ino felt her cheeks warm. "You… You really think so?" She stammered.

"Yup." He nodded and grinned.

"Th-thanks…" Ino stared at her feet and kicked the sand underneath them.

"I'd better be heading home." She said and hopped down from the swing.

"Sure you wanna go alone? I've been training hard. I could fight off the bad guys." Neji got off his swing as well and clenched his fists, posing in a fighting stance for show.

Ino giggled, "Well, if you want, you can walk me home."

"You'll be safe with me!" He stated proudly.

The two walked in the dark, empty streets of Konoha, but somehow, Ino still felt safe with Neji, even though she'd just met him

"Wait." Neji commanded as he stopped. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

A growl emitted from behind the two and they turned quickly to see an enormous looking dog prowling toward them.

Ino squealed in fear and cowered as the dog set his eyes on her. She felt tears sting her eyes.

Neji immediately stepped in front of Ino, having a determined look in his eyes as he glared at the dog. The large canine's fangs showed as he growled and jumped at Neji. The small boy held his arm in front of his face for protection and the dog bit into the flesh of his forearm. He winced in pain and cried out as he took a Kunai from his side and slashed at the dogs face. By this time Ino was nearly bawling. The beast yelped and turned away for a moment.

"Ino, run!" He called and grabbed her hand, sprinting away from the animal. Ino's eyes filled with worry as she stared at his arm while they ran. It was bleeding profusely. Why would he do that for someone he only just met?

They ran into an alleyway and sat at a wall, leaning against it as Neji's arms were wrapped protectively around Ino. She couldn't help but blush furiously, in spite of the situation they were in.

They heard a growl, and watched, as the dog sniffed around just outside of the dark alley. He'd eventually given up on tracking his prey and walked away.

When Ino was finally at home and in bed at the end of that night, she couldn't stop thinking about the boy who rescued her. If he hadn't walked her home, who knows what would have happened to her.

What she didn't know was that she wouldn't speak to him again in years. It was around that time that Neji started having problems with his life, and the main branch of the Hyuuga family. It was after that time that Hyuuga Neji had changed completely.

End prologue

The music was loud enough to almost feel the bass pounding in her chest. But Ino loved it. An intoxicating feeling rushed through her, as she danced in the midst of the crowd of people.

She hardly ever got to go out with the girls anymore. It seemed as though everyone was so busy with their lives that they'd forgotten how to relax. And after begging everyone over, and over again, they'd all finally given in the Ino's constant whining, and agreed to go to a club that Friday night.

All of the girls were glad they agreed to Ino's clubbing idea. They were having more fun than they had in months. Sakura was always busy with her training with the Hokage, Tenten couldn't get Lee to stop convincing her to train vigorously with him every day, Hinata and Naruto were getting married in a week; and so young, too, Ino thought. They were only eighteen, after all. But, they were so in love, and everyone could see that the two were doing well for themselves.

Temari and Shikamaru were engaged as well, finally, Ino thought. They'd been going out for a few years and it took Shikamaru forever and a day, as well as a lot of advice from Ino, to finally pop the question to the female sand kunoichi. Temari didn't hesitate to say yes.

Ino had her flower shop, and a lot of missions going on, as well as training with Sakura, to keep her busy.

And so, she'd finally convinced the girls to a night out on the town, and she was basking in every second of it.

Ino stopped dancing for a little while to get a drink. As she sat at the bar and ordered her beverage, Temari soon sat on the stool beside her.

"Great idea coming here, Ino." Temari laughed.

"Yeah, we all needed some time to ourselves to just relax." Sakura, who walked up and sat on the stool on the other side of Ino.

"I'm just glad you all gave in to my justified whining and came along." Ino chuckled as she held her drink in her hand, bringing the rim of the glass to her lips and sipping the liquid from it.

As soon as she saw some familiar figured in the corner of her eye, she turned her head to look, and groaned. "What are they doing here?" She questioned in a disappointed tone as Naruto, Lee, Shikamaru, Gaara, Kankuro, Kiba and Neji all walked into the club. The other girls, aside from Sakura and Ino, ignored the question and all walked to their significant others.

While Naruto wrapped his arms around Hinata, Tenten gave Lee a peck on the lips.

Temari simply raised a brow at Shikamaru. "This is girls night. Why are you all here?"

Shikamaru opened his mouth to answer, but Kiba cut in. "We wanted to get in on the partying!" He exclaimed as Kankuro grabbed his arm and pointed to a different group of girls. "Excuse us, we have some business to attend to." Kiba winked and the two began to walk away.

"We heard you were all here. And decided to crash the festivities." Naruto said to Hinata. She smiled and nodded. "Well, I'm glad you're here, Naruto-kun." She stood on her toes and kissed the blonde young man lightly on the cheek.

"Well, why are Neji and Gaara here, then? They couldn't have fun if their life depended on it!" Temari joked, and continued to laugh even as Gaara glared daggers in her direction. Neji simply looked uninterested in the whole scene.

Ino took a glance toward Neji. He looked different. But then, she'd never really stopped to look at him for very long. Not since they were children. They'd crossed paths occasionally, but never gave each other any more than a short glance.

"We needed designated drivers." Naruto laughed.

"'Drivers'," Temari snickered, "You guys walk everywhere!"

Hinata's eyes widened. "Naruto-kun. But d-do you really intend to drink that much?" She disapproved.

"Don't worry, Hinata, I won't drink a lot." He reassured, ignoring Temari's comment. "Those two never have fun, so we convinced them to come." He winked at her, as if devising a plan. He continued as the music stopped and the lights dimmed while the DJ began to play a slow song,

"Hinata, may I have this dance?" Naruto held out his hand toward her, and she gladly took it. Temari grabbed Shikamaru's arm and dragged him to the dance floor, not even asking if he wanted to or not. The scene amused Ino. It was entertaining, watching Shikamaru getting bossed around by Temari, since she, her self, had done it for so many years.

Lee and Tenten walked to the dance floor, as well. And everyone seemed to be paired up, with the acception of Ino and Sakura. They both sighed and twisted their stools to face the bar again.

"Guys are useless anyways." Ino muttered, as she felt slightly tipsy, having already consumed three glasses of alcoholic beverage. Sakura nodded her head in agreement and took a swig of her own drink, as Neji and Gaara sat on the two stools beside them. All was silent for what seemed like forever, but Ino knew it couldn't have been, since the same song was still playing.

"So Gaara, you wanna dance?" Sakura blurted, blushing slightly. Ino knew Sakura had liked Gaara for a while. She was the only one that Sakura leaked the information to.

Ino didn't know why she liked him. But if Sakura liked the whole mysterious, brick wall, anti-social type of guy, then he was perfect for her. After all, she was in love with Sasuke for quite some time. But Gaara was a large helping of twice the anti-social. Ino supposed he'd gotten much more friendly throughout the years, however. So she could understand, in a way. He was a nice guy, once you got down to his core. Or so she was told.

Gaara Stared at Sakura for a moment. He seemed to be a bit surprised at the question. He remained silent for a bit, every second hesitating being another second that Sakura regretted asking him.

"Sure." Came his long-awaited reply.

Sakura smiled and grabbed his hand, leading him to the floor.

Ino sighed. Now she was alone. And she sure as hell wasn't going to ask Hyuuga Neji to dance. The only response she was bound to get from him was a hard glare and a walk away from her. She glanced toward Neji, who was sitting two stools away. He'd changed so much from a child, to now. She sighed and took another swig from her drink. Feeling nauseous, she decided to put the drink down. "You know, you guys are so complicated." She blurted. Surprised at her own lack of self-control, she figured she was slightly drunk.

Neji simply glanced at her. "Hn." He replied.

"Jeez, you're worse than Sasuke." She slurred. Neji stiffened and turned to her, giving her one of his trademark cold glares served on a silver platter.

"Don't you dare compare me to Uchiha." He spoke through clenched teeth.

"Alright, alright. Sorry." Ino defended, "It's just that you're such an ice block, I'm sure if you were thrown into molten lava, you'd freeze it over." She mumbled, acquiring another glare from Neji.

Her nausea was getting worse. She groaned and stood, quickly making her way to the door that lead to an alley.

There, she couldn't hold it in any longer, and threw up next to a wall just outside the door.

"Maybe you shouldn't try to drink your loneliness away." Came a voice. Ino sighed when she saw that the voice belonged to Neji, who was leaning on the wall on the other side of the alley. Did he follow her just to be a jerk?

"And what makes you think I'm lonely…?" She wiped the liquid from her mouth. She felt gross, and needed a shower. She was a lightweight drinker, which is why she didn't drink a lot of alcohol most of the time. She could barely keep herself standing.

"Please, Yamanaka," Neji scoffed. "You barely have time for your friends, as they don't have time for you. And while everyone is so happy with their significant others, you have…well, no one. You're worthless. And you're drunk." He shrugged, and gave her a smug smile.

His words cut Ino like a dagger. She felt a mixture of anger and hurt boil inside of her. How could he say something like that? She turned to him and narrowed her eyes into a hard glare.

"How dare you." She spat out as she took a threatening step toward him. "Don't assume that you know anything about me, Neji!" She couldn't control her anger, and threw a drunken punch at him, which he easily dodged. She felt her forehead collide with something, and felt darkness consume her as she fell unconscious.

Ino awoke in the morning, in a room that she didn't recognize at all. The bed she was in was extremely comfy, she noted and felt her forehead, which held a large bruise. She winced in pain as she poked at it.

"Ah, so you're awake." A cheery, familiar voice called from the door. Ino glanced over to see Hinata, smiling brightly, holding a tray of food in her hands.

"Hinata? Why am I here?" Ino questioned.

Hinata chuckled and set the tray down on the nightstand next to the bed, sitting on the side of the soft mattress.

"Well, from what I heard, you were drunk, and tried to hit Neji." She couldn't help but giggle.

"I remember that part…" Ino mumbled, embarrassed.

"Well, right as he dodged your fist, you ran right into the wall, rendering yourself unconscious."

"Ah, so that explains this bruise." Ino said thoughtfully, gently touching the tips of her fingers to her forehead.

"Neji carried you into the club, and I forced him to let us bring you here. He disagreed, of course, and said it was too much trouble. But he finally gave into my pleading and unwillingly carried you back here." Hinata continued, and picked up the tray, "Here, this is for you. I figured breakfast in bed might make you feel better."

Ino figured that Hinata knew breakfast wouldn't heal a bruise, but it was a thoughtful gesture, nonetheless.

"Thanks, Hinata." Ino smiled and took the tray of eggs, bacon and toast. "You didn't have to go through the trouble… I don't want to be a burden."

"Oh, but I wanted to." Hinata replied happily. "You're no burden at all." And with that, she stood. "Stay for as long as you'd like. I've got to go run some last minute wedding errands." She turned, but paused, facing Ino again. "Oh, and I hope you don't mind, but I washed your clothes. All of my stuff is packed a little early. I guess I'm just eager to get marred." She smiled as Ino looked down at what she was wearing. "So I convinced Neji to let you wear a T-shirt of his." Ino's face reddened slightly. It was awkward, wearing the shirt of a man she'd just previously tried to attack. "Your clothes are drying outside on a line." Hinata smiled and waved before exiting the room.

Before Ino could say anything, Hinata was gone. Ino got out of bed, and noticed the T-shirt was the only thing besides her underwear that she was wearing! What if Neji was in the house? On the bright side, the shirt was large enough to be the length of a mini dress, at least.

Ino inconspicuously tiptoed out of the room, pulling the shirt down, trying to cover her self up as much as possible. As she walked through the house, she was awed at how huge it was. Well, it was a Hyuuga mansion, after all. She couldn't say she was completely surprised.

Just as Ino passed the kitchen she knew she was in the clear. She stepped outside and grabbed her clothes from the line, then headed back inside to change. As she passed the kitchen a second time, she glanced inside, to see Neji, staring at her with a slightly surprised expression. Naruto had been sitting beside him, his eyes wide. "Um, hey, Ino. I was just here looking for Hinata." The blonde shinobi said, looking thoroughly embarrassed. Ino's face tinted pink. "I, uh, was just…getting my clothes." She stammered and quickly rushed away from the room and to the safety of the room she had slept in. She changed quickly into her own clothes. Though still flustered, she thought it would be nice if she'd washed her dishes. It would be the sensible thing to do, since Hinata went through the trouble to make her comfortable.

She reentered the kitchen, not looking at Neji or Naruto, who were talking about the up-coming wedding. They grew slightly quieter when they noticed Ino enter the room. Ino headed to the sink, and began to scrub the tray, and the rest of the dishes she had used.

"Well, I should get going." Naruto announced. "See you guys later." He waved before leaving.

The room was silent as Neji sat at the table, appearing to be in deep thought, and Ino scrubbed the dishes. She was in deep thought as well. She remembered most of the goings on of the previous night. And she remembered what Neji had said to her. Maybe she was lonely. Was it that obvious? But that didn't give him any right to point it out!

Her anger rose as she scrubbed a plate fiercely.

"You're going to break it."

Ino jumped with a start, and turned to see Neji standing behind her as the plate slipped out of her hands. In one quick movement, Neji easily caught the plate and rescued it from shattering on the floor.

"And I almost did, thanks to you." She said, the attitude obvious in her tone. It's not like she wasn't still going to be angry with him, just because she was sober. He still said it, and so, she was still mad.

"And thanks to me, you didn't." He said with a smirk, as he handed the plate to her.

Ino simply grunted and stuck up her nose as she turned back to the sink to finish the cleaning.

It was silent for a while, and Ino figured Neji had left the room. She'd just finished drying the last piece of silverware.

"Ino."

"What." She replied rudely and turned, to see Hinata across the room.

"Oh, Hinata! I'm sorry. I should have known it was you, considering you have a woman's voice, and Neji never uses my first name when addressing me." She said apologetically.

"That's all right." Hinata smiled. She lifted a paper bag and set it on the table. "I need your advice for something, on the wedding. You are the maid of honor, after all."

Ino nodded and moved toward the table as Hinata brought out two centerpieces. "This is for the tables at the reception. And I can't choose between the white, or blue one."

Ino thought for a moment, "Hmm… The white one; it will reflect the innocence of yours a and Naruto's relationship. It's so adorable I could just squeeze you both till you can't breathe!" Ino squealed.

"I can't believe I'm actually getting married." Hinata said with excitement.

"I know, and so young, too!" Ino replied. "You're lucky, Hinata. I haven't even found a good guy yet, to go out with, even, let alone marry one." Her cheer was slowly fading.

"Oh, don't say it like that, Ino. I'm sure you'll find the right guy soon enough." Hinata reassured. "Maybe even sooner than you think…" She mumbled, almost inaudibly.

"What was that last part?" Ino strained to listen.

"Oh, nothing!" Hinata said happily, grabbing the centerpieces and setting them back into the bag. Ino raised an eyebrow, but shrugged it off.

"Oh, yeah, Naruto was here looking for you. The circumstances were uh…awkward, considering my clothes were outside…" Ino began, still slightly embarrassed.

"Oh, Ino! I'm sorry. I just…I didn't know Naruto would be here." Hinata explained. I thought I explained to him what I was going to do… This whole thing is his idea, after all. The Hyuuga girl pondered.

"But you knew Neji would be here." Ino stated. "Hinata, just because it's Neji, doesn't make it any less awkward." She laughed. "But it's fine. He probably won't even remember later. It's not a big deal, anyways."

"Well, good." Hinata smiled.

Ino was glad she became such good friends with Hinata. She admired her for her many kind and hospitable traits. Naruto couldn't ask for a better wife, Ino thought. The shy, young Hyuuga girl had grown into a confident, gentle young woman. Ino envied her. Hinata had so much going for her. Ino couldn't help but be so happy, and excited for her best friend who was a bride-to-be, to a man whose only wish was to make her happy. She wondered if she would ever find a guy like that. It was hard to find a nice guy lately, and all of the good ones were spoken for already.

Hinata would be getting married in less than a week, which lie just a few days before Christmas. A wedding in December; it couldn't sound more perfect.

"I was thinking maybe You, Me, Neji, Naruto and Kiba could go out for lunch today. Sound like fun?" Hinata asked. "We'll talk about last minute wedding plans."

Ino hesitated for a moment. She could barely stand a few minutes talking to Hyuuga Neji, let alone have lunch with him. Why would he go anyway? Kiba was the best man, so of course he would be going. But Neji was only a groomsman. She sighed, "All right, yeah." She would endure it for Hinata.

"Well don't sound too overjoyed." Hinata laughed.

As Ino sat there, listening to Hinata and Naruto discuss weddings plans, Kiba was flirting with the waitress, and Ino couldn't help but notice Neji hadn't said a word the entire time.

'Not that he's very talkative anyways.' Ino mused as she observed him.

He was sitting across from Ino, leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed, eyes closed and eyebrows furrowed.

She began to wonder what he was thinking, or if he was simply snoozing.

It would be out of character of Neji to be falling asleep at a meal, therefore that entertaining thought soon slipped Ino's mind.

She found herself admiring his features. He was a very attractive young man; one of the most eligible bachelors in Konoha. If only he'd let people in, instead of pushing them away, maybe he'd actually find a nice woman to settle down with. He had many fan girls swooning over him many a time, of course.

Who could blame them? He became a jounin at age sixteen, and was well on his way to becoming an ANBU squad member.

And, to be honest, he was drop-dead-gorgeous, in Ino's opinion.

He could have nearly any girl he wanted in Konoha.

However, he just refused to let anyone get close enough to him.

But looks and reputation weren't ever enough to win Ino over, - not since she was fifteen, anyways. – His personality was enough to repulse her; he was a jerk!

Neji popped an eye open, his opal orb catching Ino's own lingering bright blue ones.

She quickly turned back to Hinata, pretending to listen to whatever it was that the Hyuuga girl was saying. But it was evident to Neji that she was simply trying to pretend she wasn't staring.

He grunted in slight amusement and closed his eye, but his ears perked as something Hinata said caught everyone's attention.

"The entire wedding party will be staying at an inn near the church where the wedding will be held, three days before the ceremony, which is in two days. I figure since everyone in the wedding party has been so helpful, we could treat them to the inn. We'll be getting three of the finest suits and there are hot springs. Of course, my father will be paying for this." Hinata said to everyone at the table and giggled at her last statement.

"Sweet!" Kiba cheered.

"We could all use a little break, and some time to spend with our friends." Ino added, taking the idea into agreement.

"Some, more than others." Neji spoke for the very first time, sitting straight and opening his eyes to stare at Ino with a smirk, reminding her of their conversation the night before, and her attempt at a drunken brawl. But more importantly; what he had said to her.

'And while everyone is so happy with their significant others, you have…well, no one. You're worthless. And you're drunk.''

Those words lingered in the back of Ino's mind, repeating over, and over again.

Her eyes narrowed momentarily at Neji, then faded to a more hurt expression. "Excuse me." She said and abruptly stood, rushing out of the restaurant.

"What was that about?" Naruto said, surprised at Ino's behavior, as Hinata stood and ran after her maid of honor. Kiba shrugged and Neji's expression was unreadable.

"Ino, wait!" She called after exiting the building and catching up to the blonde kunoichi.

"Ino, what's wrong?"

"He's what's wrong, Hinata!" Ino stopped and turned on her heel to face her friend, pointing inside of the restaurant.

"I tried to hit him that night at the bar because he told me I had nobody." Ino's voice cracked in frustration. "And he said I was worthless." Her hand fell to her side. "And the thing is, that's exactly how I feel; alone, worthless."

Hinata gasped, "What an awful thing to say! I'm so sorry, Ino!" She lifted a hand to cover her own mouth. "Don't believe what my cousin says. You're not worthless, Ino. You've been a huge help to my confidence. Without you, I could never have told Naruto how I felt!" She set a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder. "And I wouldn't be getting married in five days."

"Thanks, Hinata." Ino mustered up a smile. "It's all right. I overreacted. I think I'm gonna head home, though." She nodded in agreement to her own statement and turned to go, leaving Hinata feeling slightly helpless, standing in the road.

"I can't believe you would say something like that!" Hinata yelled as soon as she and Neji arrived back at the Hyuuga mansion, catching the male Hyuuga prodigy off guard. His eyes widened in surprise. He'd not seen Hinata so angry in years. "This has been stressful enough, planning a wedding. And you seize an opportunity to once in your life say a few words to Ino, and they happen to be cruel!"

"I don't want any tension at my wedding, Neji. Do you understand?" Hinata's glare seemed to shoot daggers straight into Neji's soul as she stared him in the eye. "You will apologize to Ino-san." With that, she turned and left the room, leaving a shocked Neji behind.

As soon as Hinata turned the corner to the hall, she gasped and pressed her back against the wall, breathing heavily. She couldn't believe what she'd just said to her cousin! Normally, he would have her hide for something like that. She wouldn't have been surprised if he knocked her unconscious right there! She held her chest as she walked back to her room. The stress of the wedding was really getting to her.

I hope you like it, so far.

It was written quickly, so I apologize if things don't exactly make sense.