What Will You Say?

What Will You Say?

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"It will only be a matter of time, Hinata-sama, that he notices you're stalking him."

Hinata squeaked as she shuffled into the Hyuuga Compound, whirling around with wide eyes at her cousin as he walked slowly and silently toward her.

"N-N-Neji-niisan," she stuttered. "What...what d-do you mean?"

Neji's perpetual frown deepened, and a thin eyebrow rose over a cold gray eye. "You know what I mean, Hinata-sama. What are you going to do when Naruto discovers that you always seem to be following him?"

Hinata lowered her eyes. "I...I-I...don't know...what you...?"

"Hinata-sama."

She flinched.

Neji approached her and put an awkward hand on her shoulder. She looked up again, surprised, and her eyes widened.

The look on the young prodigy's face was alien, and to see it directed at her nearly put her as on edge as when he was angry with her.

His expression had softened, and there was almost a smile on his face.

"I'm not trying to frighten you, Hinata-sama," he said softly, in a voice that matched his face - that was, completely alien. "I simply ask what you plan to do. Naruto is not a fool; if there is one thing that I know after fighting him, it's that Naruto is not a fool. He will notice at some point. What is it that you will say to him?"

Hinata bit her lower lip. "Um...I...um..."

Neji smirked, chuckling slightly. "You like him, don't you...? That is why you watch him?"

Her initial reaction was a defensive one; she wanted to heatedly deny the claim.

But looking back at her cousin, Hinata found that she couldn't. She couldn't lie.

"...Yes. I-I...do."

Neji nodded. "I figured. You do know your father would disapprove of such a relationship, do you not?"

He stepped back and crossed his arms, waiting for her answer.

Hinata couldn't answer for a moment. It was an obvious observation, that Hiashi would not appreciate Uzumaki Naruto's brash, cocky, oftentimes rude personality, and the idea of that one being in a relationship with his firstborn daughter, the heiress to the entire Hyuuga Clan, would likely cause an outburst so violent that, by the time he was done, the entire compound would cease to exist.

She had never honestly considered such a thing.

The idea of actually ever telling the blonde-headed boy she adored that she liked him, that she thought of him seemingly every minute of the day, was so mortifying that she suddenly felt like running into her bedroom and hiding.

Neji uncrossed his arms and slipped his hands into the pockets of his pants. He looked ready to stand there all day.

Hinata wondered why he seemed so concerned about her. It was sure that they had never been particularly close, and the match they'd had during the preliminary stage of the Chuunin Exams had widened that gulf considerably.

That question must have been clearly stamped on her face, because Neji smirked again.

"I simply ask because I am concerned, Hinata-sama," he said. "I've spent my entire life hating your family...it took him to make me realize the stupidity of that hatred."

That didn't honestly surprise her. He had the uncanny ability to change people for the better.

Didn't she know that...?

"After he defeated me in the Exams...well, everything changed. I want to atone for what I've done, to you most of all. My baseless anger toward you these past years has been disgusting. You have ever been a shining example of just what a Hyuuga should be, Hinata-sama, regardless of what Hiashi-sama or any of the elders may say to you. And I should have realized that much, much sooner."

She stared openly at him.

Neji actually had a smile on his face now. A sincere, open, smile. "I will make a deal with you, Hinata-sama. When you discover what to say to Naruto, I will deal with them."

He gestured.

Hinata followed that gesture, looking back at the compound, and looked back at her cousin as if she expected herself to wake up soon. This had to be a dream.

"Tell him, Hinata-sama," Neji said, with sudden conviction. "He deserves to know...and you deserve to tell him."

With that, he turned around and started walking away. "I've a mission in an hour," he said. "Tell your father it should be completed within the week."

She nodded.

"You've an obligation to hold up the pride of our clan, Hinata-sama," he added, turning his head to look at her again.