My Belated Apology - Hyuga Neji x OC Fanfiction

Chapter 25

A/N: Thank you all for 800 reads! ^^*

3rd Person's POV

Shiyuki puts some clothes and necessities in her backpack. She goes out to the village gate to wait for her teammates. They're going on a mission.
"Hm? I forgot something, didn't I?"  She wonders while going. "Nah, maybe I'm wrong."

The mission is to go to a faraway village and help them send away the beast that's been disturbing them. Kinda simple, she thinks. It's gonna take some days.
Here the gate is. Someone is waiting for her there.
"Hyuga! You're early." Shiyuki slows down.
"Hey." Neji smiles at her. "Let's go, I've been waiting for you."
"What? What about Lee and Tenten?" She's surprised.
"They are sent to another mission at the last minute. They've gone for a while now, it's an emergency. Shall we go?" Neji explains, then looks at his crush with a warm gaze.
"...Ok." Shiyuki sighs. Great, now she's stuck with the person she hates.
They set off for the destination.

The night falls. Neji and Shiyuki are still running to the location. Out of the sudden, a drop of rain falls.
"Shiyuki, stop. We'll take a break here til the rain ends." Neji calls.
Shiyuki immediately stops. She is amazed.
"It's raining! Why is it raining at this time?"
"We'll set up camps here." Neji calmly says.

He takes out a folded tent from his bag. He quickly sets it up with the help from his teammate. He's surprised to see that Shiyuki's standing there, playing with her toes and doing nothing after lending him a hand.
"Shiyuki, where's your tent?"
"I... I forgot to bring it." Now she realizes what she forgot.

The rain becomes heavier.
"You can stay in mine."
"No thanks." She shakes her head. Staying beside Neji is the last thing she wants to do.
"You'll catch a cold, and you haven't recovered fully yet." Neji tilts his head.
She sighs. She has no choice but to get in his tent.
"Go sleep. I'll guard." Shiyuki coldly says.
"No, you sleep. You're tired." Neji has spreaded his blanket and mat. He smiles lovingly and puts Shiyuki down. "Take some rest. I'll protect you." He's trying his best not to kiss her cheek.

Shiyuki accepts with an ocean of wonder. Neji pulls the blanket so that it fully covers her body. The rain becomes heavier. It's getting cold, but Shiyuki feels warm. His blanket has a subtle soothing aroma of jasmine, but a tone lower, the smell that she's been looking for. Neji is sitting by her side. He carefully caresses her hair as she doesn't fight against it. Something in a diamond shape flickers under her bang. He tucks it to one side to take a closer look at her forehead. A diamond mark.

"Shiyuki, this is..."
Shiyuki is keeping her eyes closed. She slowly opens them as she hears his question.
"Byakugou. I've just achieved it recently. My secret, don't tell anyone."
"Wow, you're really amazing." Neji grins. He pokes her puffy cheek.
"Stop that." She closes her eyes again and coldly orders.
"As you wish." He changes to gently patting her shoulder.

Shiyuki is surrounded by his scent. She feels like she's sleeping inside his arms. She feels like he's hugging her. She tries to react as if she hates it but... It's so comfortable. She can just stay in his embrace forever.

She is enjoying his fragrance, the fragrance that she lost long ago. She thinks that she hates him, but why can't she relax without his soothing scent on his scarf? This subtle scent of jasmine really helps her remove all of the stress. Why? Why is she obsessed with his smell? Is that because she still has feelings for him?

She didn't pay the scarf back to Neji, because she just can't. She can't push him thoroughly out of her mind. The more she tries to push him away, the deeper he imprints in her nerves. Why...?

"Sleep tight, my snow princess."
Neji's soft voice echoes in her dreamy heart and mind. His words and his pats are slowly sending her into a dream. 'Snow Princess', huh... Why does he call her that? Why does he take care of her? Why is he so soft and gentle? Does he hate her anymore? Shiyuki brings those wonders into her sleep.

Can they just stay like this for eternity?

Neji raises his eyebrows and watches her peaceful face.
"You already sleep." He smiles closed-eye. "Good night, my love."

They spend the whole night like that.

***

Day. Neji and Shiyuki have arrived at the village.
"We are shinobis sent from Leaf Village to help you." They inform and bow in front of the village elder.
"I understand." He nods. "The beast arrives at night. It destroys our crop, everything is smashed. We've suffered from that problem for a long time. Please help us."
The pair nod and leave.

"Hey, what do we do till night?"
"Hm, what do you like to do?" Neji smiles.
"Mm... Maybe I'll help the villagers with the crop." Shiyuki puts a finger on her lips, thinking.
"Then I'll do the same." He grins.

They come to the paddle and offer to help people out. The duo remove the weeds. Shiyuki puts her hand up to wipe away the sweat. Looking at her smear face, Neji smiles. He takes a tissue and cleans her dirty cheek. Oops! She turns out to have wiped the dirt on her cheek.
"Be careful." Neji laughs at her confused face.
Shiyuki pouts. She smears dirt on his nose.
"Hey!"

People around them giggle. Shiyuki is puzzled. She looks around her body to see whether she's dirty or not. Neji does the same. What are they laughing at? Noticing nothing, they look at each other.

"Mom, they make a perfect couple!" A little girl rings up, pointing at Neji and Shiyuki.
They both blush. Neji smiles at his crush while Shiyuki frowns and looks away from him. Her face is still as red as a tomato, though.