Bluebird (Naruto Fanfiction)

Part One: 11, cuddles & confessions

*Aiko's Perspective*

The light beaming on my face from the window woke me up. As I fluttered my eyes opened I noticed I felt a lot better than the previous day, I also realized there was weight on my lower body. I glanced down and saw Neji peacefully sleeping with his head on my thighs, using them as a pillow.

I blushed as I admired his sleeping face, he had a really gentle expression as he slept and I realized he had long dark eyelashes that contrasted his pale violet eyes, his lips were slightly parted and I couldn't help but notice how soft they looked. I quickly looked away from his sleeping form to distract myself from those thoughts.

Neji was my teammate and it might cause complication if I were to start having feelings for him, but the little voice in my head disagreed. As I looked around the room in hopes to distract myself even further I saw Kiyomi and Naruto sleeping beside each other in the same bed. Although they weren't quit cuddling , their bodies were really close. I smiled, they were kinda cute together.

I wanted to get up and stretch considering I've been in bed practically motionless for almost two days but also didn't want to wake anyone up. Especially the boy sleeping on my lap, but I couldn't bare sitting here any longer. As gently as I could, I lifted Neji's head and put a pillow under it and slowly slipped out of the bed. He stirred, but remained asleep.

I didn't want to make any noise that would cause anyone to wake up so I decided to go into the hallway and do some stretches. I bent over and touched my toes then lifted my arms as high as I could and then lowered them and twisted my torso side to side. It felt really good to move again, I even jogged on the spot for a minute and sighed in content. I seemed to be back to my regular self.

I turned around to head back into the room but saw Neji leaning against the wall, holding back a smile.

"How long have you been standing there?" I asked genuinely curious.

"Well I heard you get up, so I came to make sure you were doing okay. I can see that you're doing perfectly fine"He smirked. I fixed my shirt, pulling it down making sure everything was covered.

"I am fine, actually."I said sheepishly.

"Well since you're up, would you want to go for a walk?"Neji asked, now coming closer to me.

"A walk around the hospital, how romantic"I said quietly, with a small grin.

"What was that?"Neji questioned.

"Oh, nothing"I smiled innocently. I turned my head away from him and looked down at the floor. The two of us began walking down the long hallway.

"So, what did you and Kankuro talk about? You never ended up telling us"He asked bluntly. My cheeks got hot as I remembered the moment I had with my childhood friend. I still couldn't believe that Kankuro had felt that way about me after all this time, I guess Kiyomi was right. In a way, maybe I knew, but I just didn't want to believe it.

"He-uhm- well he told me he was in love with me.. Then he kissed me"I answered, feeling as if Neji's straight forward attitude was rubbing off on me. He turned and looked at me now, his eyes were wide in shock.

"Well, I guess I didn't really expect you to say that"He admitted awkwardly.

"I wasn't expecting it either, trust me. I never imagined my first kiss would be in a hospital bed with Kankuro of all people"I said, I always imagined a first kiss the way others portrayed it to be. Something amazing, something romantic. But instead, I was laying in a hospital bed feeling like death itself.

"Well, how do you feel-"Before Neji could finish, we were interrupted by Lady Tsunade.

"It looks like you're feeling better' Tsunade said, now looking at Neji and I. It was true, I felt almost good as new. The pain I had previously felt had completely vanished now, all that was left was the memory.