Neji's Romance

The awakening

She awoke and her life seemed a blank slate. Who was she, where was she, what was she? The light filtered through the dense trees that seemed to go on forever, whichever way she looked, turning her head from side to side, feeling the earth move beneath her head. Lying there on her back, she closed her eyes as the soft warmth of the filtered sun touched her upturned face, she smelt the soft loamy earth and the smell of slowly decaying leaves, mixed with the scent of crisp fresh air, as can only be smelt in an area surrounded by densely packed trees.

In his high backed chair, situated in a circular room overlooking an expansive spread of colourful houses, a white haired man jerked his head up in a startled motion, the paperwork he had been busy with spilling into the floor as he looked up. He stared out of the windows overlooking the village that fell under his care.

"Hokage-sama?" came a low masculine voice from the other side of the room, the youth, his long hair tied up in a spiky ponytail high on his head, looked curiously at him with bright, intelligent eyes, that despite his lazy drawl, were focused sharply on his superior. The sound of him clearing his throat snapped the white haired man, whose face was mostly covered by a dark black cloth, back from his intent study of the village, which showed signs of a recent destructive battle. No, it was beyond the village, whatever it was.

"Shikamaru, get Neji, Kiba and Hinata, tell them I need them for an important mission right away", his selection choosing those that he knew were best suited for the task of search and find, those that were available any way.

The youth called Shikamaru nodded and turned, running out of the round office, wondering if it had anything to do with the strange pulse he had experienced just a moment before, and knowing full well that probably every other ninja in the surrounding area had just felt the same thing.

Walking briskly out of his office, the man with the spiky white hair, also known as Kakashi, as his feet hit the grey concrete floor outside his office, he bit deeply into his thumb. He tasted the iron taste of blood as his teeth penetrated his skin, with the resulting overflow of blood he drew a line on the floor, yelling "Kuchiyose no jutsu", with a not so subtle amount of smoke there appeared a group of dogs, each one stranger looking than the last, and seated on the head of the largest dog was the smallest of the lot. Dressed like they all were, in a similar garb to what the man that summoned them was wearing, with some variations. The green and blue combinations of what seemed to be a uniform amongst several of the people wandering around the village, including the youth who was now running down the street.

Shikamaru had run into a team of three youths, two young men and a girl, and quite luckily, he thought, a fourth young man who stood talking to the group. The striking similarities between two of them instantly placed them in the same family. They both had long sleek hair, one the darkest shade of blue black, and the other a deep shade of mud brown, but the similarity that classed them in the same blood line was their eyes, the iris was of the palest colour, almost translucent, and the absence of a pupil made them look almost ghostly. The boy was wearing a loose combination of white pants and shirt, the pants covered in a second layer of dark green, that went up to his knees.

The girl in turn was wearing almost all blue, from the dark blue pants, strapped down by a bandage wrapped around her thigh, to the loose jacket that was just tight around her ample chest, which sleeves lightened from the shoulder on out. They were accompanied by two more boys, one with short brown hair and an animal like face, the features enhanced by the two triangular shapes painted on his cheeks, the other, also with short brown hair only had his eyes visible above the collar of his coat, and these in turn were covered by heavy duty dark goggles. The rest of his head was hidden in the folds of a deep green hood.

"Kiba, Hinata, Neji! Ohaio!"Yelled Shikamaru, "Hokage Sama is asking for you, he wants you for a special mission!", at his yells, a huge white hound emerged out of the nearby bushes, looked at the youth with the red stripes on his face and bounded in the direction of his voice. Without any hesitation three of the four peeled off and followed the hound, which was now following Shikamaru as he turned on his heels and ran back down the street.

"What about me?" mumbled the youth in the hood, as he stood, once again just the forgotten member of his team.