beauty | neji hyuga x gn reader
masterlist
drabble | fluff, angst?, pining if I miss something let me know. I could probably write a part 2 to this
word count: 1,086
Beauty.
Defined as a combination of qualities, such as shape, color, or form, that pleases the aesthetic senses, especially the sight.
Beauty was such a strange concept. Its definition was broad and the concept itself was vague. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Everyone had a different definition of beauty.
For Naruto, you’d assume that a bowl of ramen would be next to the word in the dictionary.
For Sasuke, perhaps revenge is equated with that very word.
For Shikamaru, a long nap.
For you?
Neji Hyuga of the well known Hyuga clan.
Maybe that’s where you made your mistake.
You’d admired the man since you’d met him during the exams. He was intimidating to say the least. Just a year above you and yet he was perhaps one of the strongest and most powerful ninjas you’d ever met apart from Sasuke.
He never once acknowledged your existence, but you didn’t mind. Being in his presence was more than enough to sustain you.
But of course, this was years ago.
At the very least now, the two of you spoke quite often, yet you never seemed to make it past “acquaintance.” You didn’t mind, because once again, at least he knew you existed. That was more than enough for you… At least in the past it was.
More and more, do you notice the effects of just barely being acknowledged by the man. It started to take its toll and you found yourself having to force yourself away from the man whenever you found your paths crossed. You couldn’t allow yourself to be distracted by silly feelings that would never be returned.
“Earth to Y/N.” A snap of his fingers has you jumping and Shikamaru holds his hands up in defense. “Woah… Never seen you so jumpy before. Usually it’s Choji overthere.”
You hum unamused at your teammate, dropping your gaze to your glass of water while you wait for your sensei to come join you.
Shikamaru frowns, his brows furrowed as he tries to break down what had gotten you so under the weather in just a matter of moments. “What’s up with you? You know we can’t have you distracted, so whatever it is, you need to handle it like yesterday. We’ll be out on a mission for a month, we need our healer in pique condition.”
“Hopefully you won’t need me at all.”
“That’s besides the point!”
Choji looks up from his appetizers, his eyes flickering between the two of you. He swallows his mouthful, “Honestly, please don’t fight. The last thing we need is tension before the mission too. Just… Try to stay calm.”
“Tell him that.”
“I am calm! What’s that supposed to mean?” Shikamaru immediately gets defensive and once he realizes the point you’d made, he drops his hands to his lap, sighing. “Whatever. This is lame anyway. I’m here if you decide you wanna talk to whatever.”
“Gee, thanks.”
The next morning, after a well needed night of sleep and escape from your thoughts about Neji Hyuga, you find your way to the gates, only pausing mid step when you see the man who’d been consuming your thoughts, illuminated by the glow of the sunrise. He’s there with Rock Lee and TenTen, and you can’t help the fluttering feeling in your chest. You knew it was silly to believe that they’d be seeing you off, let alone Neji himself, but one could hope.
You and Choji come to a stop, surprised to find that Shikamaru wasn’t far behind you, plopping himself down at the foot of a tree as he waited for your sensei to arrive and send the three of you off on your own.
“Hey!” Rock Lee is the first to greet you, rather excitedly, might you add. “Haven’t seen you in ages! How’ve you been?” You can’t help but smile at him. He’s always been so sweet and often offered to train you. In fact, the last you saw each other was just a few days ago for a short sparring session.
“We saw each other on Friday, Lee.” The man goes wide eyed and then taps his chin as if he had to recall that long ago.
“Exactly. Ages.” He grins again and you simply smile, tearing your gaze away to greet his teammates.
“You three heading out?” Your gaze flickers between the two remaining teammates. Neji’s gaze remains unwavering as you look at him. As serious as ever.
TenTen nods, the two of you have never really spoken much before, so it doesn’t surprise you that she keeps her answer short and simple, “Delivering scrolls…”
“Us too. We’re going towards the sound village…”
This seems to get a reaction from Neji but before you can question anything, your sensei shows himself. Funny how he decides to be on time today when last night he was late. You sigh, sparing one last glance at Neji. Now the man doesn’t take his eyes off of you, watching as Asuma greets the three of you. Even when TenTen nudges him, he’s taking in your form, getting a sense of whether you were ready for this mission or not.
At least that’s what he tells himself.
That’s what he’s told himself for years. He was simply checking your chakra, watching your form. And if someone ever told him that he was staring, he was simply examining the competition he had to become the best ninja. He had tried to convince himself for ages that nothing was actually taking place. That he wasn’t conflicted when he saw how close you and his own teammate were together, let alone yourself and Shikamaru. He didn’t even want to think about that.
“You’re staring.”
That’s all he needs to tear his gaze away. His cheeks are flushed and he growls softly, “I was examining their form and chakra. If they didn’t sleep well last night then they’ll end up getting themselves killed and their team killed.”
“Y/N knows what they’re doing. They’d never intentionally do anything to put their team in danger. You and I both know Neji.”
“Yeah.”
You take one last glance over your shoulder and Neji finds that his heart is racing and he wants nothing more than for your mission to end soon and for you to come back safely.
In Neji Hyuga’s dictionary, the word beauty could once been defined by being accepted by his clan.
Today, Neji was beginning to wonder why he was seeing you more and more as something beautiful.
