The spring flower Neji FF

Chapter 22

The last exam was getting closer and Akina had not seen her little brother since he woke up. He came in the evening also nothing home but slept under the starry sky. In this time the Uchiha felt somewhat lonely. Even if she often visited Lee or did something with TenTen, it was empty in the apartment. With Neji she had trained now and then but not talked much. He wanted to concentrate on his fight, which she could understand.

The day the fights took place, the stadium was full. Everybody was feverish and the Hokage had asked the Uchiha to keep an eye on everything. Actually it was a job for the Anbu but she could mingle a little better.

"Excuse me, are you Akina Uchiha?" asked a girl next to her who looked at Akina smiling. "Yeah, why do you ask?" "I..I wanted to thank you." "For what?" "For coming between me and Neji," the girl murmured a bit shyly. Friendly, she looked at the Hyuga who was accompanied by a boy who had his dog on his head. "Don't mention it, Hinata," the Uchiha grinned and put her hand on her head.

A short time later, the first fight took place. Neji against Naruto and Akina watched every move of them. Even though Naruto wasn't the smartest, he knew how to fight. His technique was special or he did everything on good luck and relied on his gut feeling. Even though Sasuke couldn't consider him his best friend yet, she knew he liked him. Naruto had something about him that could not be explained. With his kind he could already pull some on his side only if he spoke with them.

Even with Neji, it started to work when he talked about the curse of the extended family. Akina could hear for the first time what he really thought and felt. She would have liked to hug him, which would not work. She would postpone it to later and looked at her behind her. Actually Kakashi should already be here with her brother. Naruto and Neji's fight had been going on for a while. Even Lee came here to see it. Akina should have known that Kakashi wasn't on time.

"Naruto Uzumaki won the fight!" the Uchiha heard a little later and was confused. Neji had lost even though he trained so much? What had she missed that it had suddenly ended? Akina had thought too long about her brother and heard that his fight had been postponed. Until it was, she would talk to Neji. He surely needed someone at his side now.

Before Akina could get to Neji, she could see his uncle come out of the door and look briefly at the Uchiha. She couldn't see his emotions and narrowed her eyes. What did he want from Neji? The head looked the girl again briefly in the eyes before he ran past her. He had already noticed Hinata thanking her, so he didn't have to do it as well.

Outside the door, the Uchiha exhaled once more and opened the door. "Hey Neji." she said, seeing him holding a scroll in his hands. He hadn't even put his headband back on and hadn't answered anything yet.

Slowly she walked towards the Hyuga and stopped in front of him. "Is everything alright?" she asked, suddenly finding herself in his arms. "Ehm Neji? Are you sick?" she asked, somewhat amused. "I'm so sorry about everything.", he spoke and told her what his father had written for him. He voluntarily sacrificed himself to protect his family.

So he was not forced and had done it of his own free will. Neji had always believed that his father was sacrificed just because he was from the side family. "I had such a hatred for them and only looked in one direction. Everything around me stayed black even though you tried everything. It was always hard for me to ignore you but I had to. You always made me weak with your happy way. But I wanted to be stronger and that's why I tried everything to get rid of you," Neji spoke, not being able to look at her.

"Naruto told me that I could choose my own destiny. I wouldn't be a bird in a cage that was locked up," he smiled. "Akina, I hurt you. Didn't really talk to you anymore and wasn't there for you when your clan was killed. I have to admit that you kept bugging me but at some point I missed it. I missed everything, even your flowers that you used to clap in our faces."

Neji had to smile at that thought. "I can understand if you're mad at me," he hung on, hearing her laugh out of nowhere. "Why are you apologizing? You're my best friend which you've always been by the way. I was never mad at you, and I made it my goal to get the old Neji back. It was worth the wait," she smiled and watched Neji wipe away his tears. Laughing, she hugged the Hyuga, who returned the gesture.

Neji had not deserved it. She had never left his side and had never given up on him. For years he thought he had lost her, but she saw him as his best friend all the time. The Hyuga was relieved. He had Akina back and he had to admit that he liked her more than maybe he should.

 As Neji was about to say something to her he was interrupted by a tremor. Akina reacted immediately and ran out of the room. Clouds of dust gathered in the sky and she knew exactly what was going on. "Hey Neji.", she grinned which he replied. "I'll talk to you later, okay?"