#verse;default

Peering down the street, Neji hadn’t expected to see anything of interest at the small fishing village, yet here he was, observing the unmistakable blue fleshed man.  How had Konoha not noticed this before?  He stood out like a fish walking down the street.  Surely it had to be him.  Even viewing from the distance, there was only one person he knew of with such a physique.  Activating his byakugan, he confirmed it.  They’d only met the one time years before but the man he was looking at now appeared exactly like Kisame.  Why was he here?  Why was he alive”

Closed starter for Sheppard @artiiis​

Ignoring the stares of passersby, pale eyes looked down at the teacup in front of him.  He was to meet Sasuke here, in a small village near the border though the Uchiha seemed to be running late, leaving Neji with time to sit in front of a little tea shop and have a cup of tea.  He decided that he didn’t mind it.  He was comfortable on the warm spring day and it gave him time to contemplate their objective. It wasn’t often that two doujutsu were necessary for a task, a curious thing.  But then, he wasn’t even sure if that were true. They only had an ancient scroll to go off of, telling of the ruins hidden underground, accessed from a cave near the little town.  The scroll was older than Neji had ever seen.  He wondered if it was even accurate.  If it was then it was fascinating, the scroll alluding to ancient histories and forbidden jutsu held inside.  Perhaps they’d get lucky.

It didn’t take the byakugan for Neji to notice Sasuke’s presence, turning to look behind him as he felt him approach.  How long had it been since they had spoken directly?  He couldn’t recall. It wasn’t on purpose but it seemed that their worlds had not been fated to intersect until now.  “Sasuke.”  Neji gave him a little nod, keeping distant but polite.  Though he held no disdain for the Uchiha in the time after the war, it felt as though he no longer knew him, if he ever really did at all.  “Sit.  Have some tea.”  He still wasn’t in a rush.  “I have our instructions here.  It’s a long read.”

Neji’d thought he was all alone in the Hyuuga gardens, kneeling in front of a small pond as he watched the mandarin ducks swim with more intensity than was necessary.  Meditation had always proved a useful tool to him in the past but today it wasn’t working for him.  Those ducks were bothering him, pulling him out of his peaceful state as they swam around.  

Mandarin ducks didn’t usually make it this far east.  They must have traveled a long distance, far away from their families.  Of course, there were two.  They weren’t really alone.  They only looked at each other, as if nothing else in the world mattered.  But then, he pondered whether the other birds they’d left behind felt the same.  It brought a deep frown stemming from a sense of melancholy to the Hyuuga’s face.  Did the other birds know they were alright?  Did they miss them?  Did they feel abandoned when their family flew away while they stayed behind…  

The sound of his cousin’s voice brought him out of his contemplation.  He hadn’t even heard her approach.  “Hm?”  It took him a moment to understand her question, reaching up and touching his cheek where she’d been looking with a bandage covered hand.  His face was wet.  He hadn’t even realized when the tears fell.  He should be more careful not to be so foolish in public.  “Ah, it’s nothing so bad.  You don’t have to worry.  Hanabi planted some new cypress trees.”  He pointed to some small trees near the water’s edge.  “I think I’m allergic.”

The Hyuuga had been kneeling for hours, unmoving and unspeaking.  He he heard Naruto inside the building which he was guarding, working away at his training to prepare for the Hokage position.  He was unbothered, devoted to his task of guarding his boyfriend, even if it meant kneeling all morning in mediation.

closed starter for @multipackers​

It was a strange reversal in roles, someone else being the realistic one while Neji looked upset but there was only one thing that could bring such emotion from the Hyuuga.  As he stared down at the unconscious Rock Lee as he lay in his hospital bed, Sakura’s words seemed to drag him down.  He’d been there three days, waiting for him  to wake up, barely sleeping, certainly not eating.  Gai wasn’t in Konoha right now, off doing whatever he did when he wasn’t being an embarrassment so Lee had no one.  If Neji left he’d be all alone and he couldn’t allow that, even if it meant sitting himself at a chair at his unconscious friend’s bedside for three days, looking an absolute untidy disaster.  

If it would really take Lee months to recover from his head injury, Neji worried for his friend.  He always pushed himself so hard, unwilling to rest more than even the rest of his team.  He was afraid that he’d hurt himself, make it all worse, potentially beyond repair.  He didn’t think his friend knew just how much his recklessness weighed on those around him.  It brought such a heavy burden down on Neji, especially after the war.  He was just so tired, unable to bring himself to move or really do anything while he knew he was all his friend currently had, and that when Lee woke up, the only person he’d ask for was their sensei.

With the warm weather brought on by the early arrival of spring, all the doors and windows of Neji’s little home on the edge of the Hyuuga compound had been opened.  He’d been cleaning all morning, the smell of winter’s dust and cleaning solution wafting out into the calm gardens nearby as he scrubbed.  Though he’d always been fond of cleanliness, Neji was being particularly thorough today, ensuring that every corner was free from dirt.