Neji x Reader Collection

You Hit Like A Girl (Neji x Reader)

"Too slow!" Pale irises tracked you sharply with intense disinterest or distaste—which you couldn't tell and as of right now, you didn't much care. You were far too busy tightening your stance and pulling your own weight to try to match the other shinobi's speed.

You narrowed your (e/c) eyes a bit darkly and feinted, quickly turning what looked like a right jab into a hand-over-hand flip that brought your foot down in a cruel axe kick. You caught the dark-haired Hyuuga across the shoulder, and could feel that it had been a solid hit. However, he didn't even flinch.

"How pathetic." Neji ducked out from under your geta, sliding backwards gracefully. Instead of lowering himself into another fighting stance, he just glowered at you, stiff-spined and obviously unwilling to continue your sparring training.

"C'mon, what's the deal?" you demanded hotly, swiping sweaty (h/c) strands away from your face with the back of your hand. "Gai Sensei said to spar in ten minute rounds! It's barely even been three!"

The slightly older boy scoffed and openly rolled his eyes, plain as any day for you to see. "You aren't even remotely worth my time," he sneered, gaze cold as chilled iron. "You hit like a girl."

"Excuse me?" Your own eyes narrowed further as an uncomfortable prickle raced across the backs of your arms and head. Had he just—? Your mind was racing unpleasantly as the words rebounded against your skull. You'd like to think you knew the young man better than to think he'd say something so disregarding and sexist, but...

"I'm sorry, was that too complex for your plebian mind to comprehend?" The condescending smirk the Hyuuga wore was enough to set your mind and your resolve. "I called you weak and unworthy of my time."

When you snorted and consequently loosed a sharp laugh that held zero mirth, it became obvious that he had been expecting to get a rise out of you. His expression fell and he regarded you with a bit more malice than before. "What a shitty, misogynistic thing to say."

Instead of the ire he'd been hoping for, he was going to get a healthy dose of righteous anger.

"I beg your pardon?" The boy actually had the gall to sound offended as he regarded you in contempt.

"So basically, you're equating women to the weaker of the two sexes, and you're trying to insult me by saying I hit like a woman. Which, when you break it down, is entirely you being sexist and petty, all because I don't weigh up against your ridiculous notion of perfection. And even if you're just saying it to rile me up, since I know you're not sexist and petty like you currently sound, that doesn't take away the fact that it's a pitiful thing to say. I'm sure you'd never try to insult TenTen by saying she hits like a girl, despite her being one, because you know it's a rude thing to insinuate. Ne?" You smiled sweetly, head cocked to one side and eyes half-lidded, but it came off as anything but sweet.

"That wasn't what I—"

"No, that's exactly what you insinuated. And even if I do hit like a girl, so be it, fine by me. If there's some specific way women hit, then I'll be glad to carry on that legacy. I'll still whoop you if I try hard enough." Neji still looked too cock-sure and scornful for your liking. Even if he hadn't intentionally been crude, you felt he needed a bit more of an example. "Let me show you how a girl hits."

Suddenly far more serious about training, you went in fast and hard at the brunette. He had a split second to look utterly shocked and affronted before a sharp heel drop broke well into his personal bubble and he was forced to retaliate or take the brunt of the hit.

You both fought hard, and well, your sparring match hitting the ten minute mark Gai Sensei had placed for you and then some. The Hyuuga had always had a bit of a superiority complex with you since you joined the team a few months back—you felt that now was no longer the time for words, but action. If he couldn't understand why you'd been offended by such a boorish remark you had nothing left but to show him. It was told, after all, that when high level shinobi traded blows, they could sense each others' thoughts without uttering a sound.

By the time the two of you broke—each of you jumping back to opposite sides of your sparring circle—both of you had various scuffs and scrapes and were winded and panting. Your geta had made thick gouges in the dirt beneath you from a few swiping blows and another missed axe kick. And despite the harsh exchange from earlier, despite having taken your own beating, you wore a triumphant grin.

One of your last attacks had finally landed, catching Neji across the cheekbone and leaving a small weeping cut.

"So," he said with a smirk of his own, wiping the blood off deftly with a pair of fingers. "You hit like a girl after all." You nearly spat something vicious at him when he continued on, purposefully talking over you. "Nice job. We'll fight again tomorrow, partner."

There was something in the way he said partner—the way he acknowledged you as his equal—that had you grinning harder than before. You couldn't lie and say you hadn't fallen into his little verbal trap; he'd only told you that to get a rise out of you once again and this time it worked. You could, however, feel a surge of acceptance welling in your gut, warming you even as the cool autumn winds rifled through your hair almost affectionately. "You got it, pal!"