Chapter: One. The Question Game.
I crossed my arms and pouted. I don't want to pout, but I know I am. I can’t help it.
Stupid, arrogant boy.
"You have the superiority complex!" I all but shouted.
The stupid arrogant boy looks up at me from the fire and I can feel the pout coming back. It takes all my will to keep the pout at bay and look into those eyes.
"You’re laughing?" I ask, shocked, and sit down with a loud thump. "You are actually laughing?"
Well, it wasn't a loud laugh. Or even a laugh-laugh. More of a snicker.
"You are quite amusing today, Kimmi."
Do not scream. Do not scream. "Amusing?!" I roar. "Amusing?! How am I amusing?"
There's that smirk again. I think he enjoys making my life hell.
"You get all worked up over nothing." That's all he said. That’s it! And then he went right back to watching the meat roasting over the flames.
I'm so over pouting. I'm glaring. If only looks could kill. I'd kill him now. Neji Hyuga would die. And I'd leave him here, in the middle of the forest. Let the bugs decompose his body.
"Ew," I made a face. In my head i pictured him covered in bugs, and decided maybe I would just kill him, and then take him to back his family. Wouldn't want any one to come across a bug infested body and get sick.
"Are you plotting my demise again, Kimmi?"
I must have been smirking. "No."
We sat across the fire from each other, like we have a couple times before. He'd rather stay in town, in a nice clean inn. But I'd rather sleep out under the stars. Breathing the fresh air, listening to small woodland animals, and staring into sky alight with hundreds of stars.
In the fire light his opal eyes had a red tint to them and with his little frown he looked quite creepy. His creamy skin also reflected the light. Making him seem almost glowing. His long hair was pulled back in a simple tie, with a couple stray hairs framing his face, and looked absolutely flawless as it did every morning. His Konoha hitae-ate sat across his forehead, right above his thin eyebrows. His nose was small and slightly pointy, and his thin lips were frowning again.
"What made you join the Abnu?" he asked suddenly, breaking through my thoughts..
I couldn't help it. I know I had a shocked expression on my face. Really, some kunoichi I am. My face is basically a book, open for all to see and read. That's why I joined the Abnu. No one had to see my face behind the mask.
I shrugged, and then poked the fire with my stick. "Keeps me busy."
I could feel him staring. His big eyes still reflecting the fire light. I could just picture him lifting one eye brow, and looking at me in the same haughty way he'd looked at me every night of this damn mission.
"That's it?" he asked. "It keeps you busy?"
I shot him another glare. "Since when do you ask personal questions?"
He looked surprised. Good. He also looked a little hurt. Which is not what I expected. I mean, I might want him dead. But in the most painless way I could think of.
"We've been working together for almost two months. I know only a few things about you for sure. I thought maybe it would be nice to have an actual conversation. With out the yelling."
I looked at him trying to decide if he was joking or not. Not that Neji Hyuga has ever said a joke in his life. But... "You're serious. You want to talk?"
He gave a half smile. "Better than you sitting there plotting my death."
And not for the first time I wondered if he could read minds.
"Alright, what did you want to talk about?"
He just sat there and stared at me, looking a little dumbfounded. Obviously he didn't have these conversations very often.
"Well," I said with a small frown. "If you're willing, we could play a little game."
"A game?" he repeated. And there was that damn little smirk again.
"My little brother loves to play it. It's simple. You ask the other person a question. They answer it truthfully, and then you answer. Then the next person asks a question. Both answer. It just goes back and forth."
I watched as he pulled the meat off the skewers and divided it up. "What kinds of questions do we ask?"
I shrugged. "Any questions. Start with easy ones. And gradually work up to more complex questions."
I watched as he brought over two plates with meat and bread on it. He handed one to me, before sitting next to me. Which is odd, because we've been sitting across from each other since our first night of the mission together.
"Alright," he said after blowing on a piece of meat. "I'll ask first."
I scrunched up my nose in disbelief. Neji Hyuga was actually going to have a full conversation. Well, a full question conversation. Um. Well. We were talking. And I wasn't yelling. It was a first.
"What's your favorite color?"
I snuck a peek at him from the corner of my eye. The great genius Neji's first question was 'What's you favorite color?'
"Green," I said and ripped a small piece of bread off the slice. "What's yours?"
"Black."
I couldn't help it. "That's a shade. Not a color."
"Hn."
Oh, right. No arguing. I can do this!
"Okay. Fine. Black. That's a nice color."
"You know. Some people wouldn't find it very polite to patronize their captain."
I made a face. He was right, I suppose. "My turn. When is your birthday?"
"What does it matter?" He asked and put another piece of meat in his mouth.
I rolled my eyes. "I was thinking about getting you a birthday present."
"Do not lie, Kimmi."
I threw my hands up. "I can't deal with you Neji. You seriously drive me insane."
"Fine. The third of July."
I smiled. I couldn't help it. He was funny. Not in the I’m funny on purpose way. But the sneaky funny. "Mine is February 27th. And I like chocolate for presents." I poked him in the arm. My birthday wasn't for a while. But it never hurt throwing out a couple ideas.
He made a face. "I don’t much care for chocolate."
I nearly had a heart attack. "Are you serious?" He shrugged. I couldn't believe it. How could someone not 'care' for chocolate?! "I love chocolate. It makes me feel good." He shrugged again. "Seriously Neji. You drive me insane." But this time I didn't mean it. And I think he could tell. Because he smirked again.
"My turn," he said in his quiet voice. "Your favorite fruit?"
"Lemon."
It was his turn to be shocked. And shocked he was. "Lemon? People actually like lemons?"
I laughed. "Well. I like lemon flavored things. Shaved ice with lemon juice is amazing. But I guess I really just can't bite into a lemon. So, I’ll go with cherries. I could eat cherries all day long. What's yours?"
"Apples. The Gala apples are by far the best."
I brought both my knees up and wrapped my arms around them. "I don't think I've ever had a Gala apple."
His little smirk popped up again. "My mother used to give them too me when I was younger for a treat. Sometimes she would melt down caramel, and we'd dip the apples in it."
I smiled. "That sounds delicious. Apples and caramel? Yum." I was surprised that he'd share such a memory with me about his mother.
Hm. It was my turn… What to ask. What to ask. "Who was your first crush?" I asked quietly.
There was a flash of surprise across his face, but he quickly hid it. "Crush? Like on a girl?"
I laughed. "Or boy."
He looked insulted. "You think I like men?"
I shrugged. "Well. I've never heard any gossip either way. But I am only asking who your first crush was. Not if you like men or not."
"Hn."
"We don't have to play any more, Neji." I say it with a slight frown. Because whether or not I want to admit it, I'm actually starting to enjoy talking to him. Even if he doesn’t 'care' for chocolate.
"No. I was just thinking. I guess Tenten would have been my first crush."
I scratched my nose. "Tenten? I don't believe I know her."
"She has a weapons shop in town. She was my team mate when we were genin."
I thought really hard. When Neji was twelve, I was only eight and still in the Academy. I vaguely remembered him from those times. "Who else was on your team?"
He sighed. "Rock Lee."
I smiled. "Oh, Lee was on your team? He is such a sweetheart."
"You know Lee?"
I nodded. Despite Lee's awful fashion sense, he was truly a great guy. "Yes. After I broke my back a couple years ago he helped my through the recovery. He was so upbeat and positive. I remember being really annoyed by him in the beginning. But after the third or forth day it was really contagious. As were his 'youthful' ideals." I couldn’t help but laugh. Oh, Lee. I was going to have to visit him when we got home.
Neji smiled. "Lee and Tenten are dating."
"Oh. Are you sad?"
Wow. That sounded lame.
He shook his head. "No. I haven’t liked Tenten like that in a long time.”
I tried desperately hard to think of a girl that could date Lee. And be the center of Neji’s affections for a while. Needless to say, I couldn’t think of anyone like that.
“So, Kimmi. Who was your first crush?”
I smiled. “Kiba Inuzuka.”
He frowned. “Kiba?”
“You know Kiba?” I asked and scooted closer to the fire. For the end of May it was rather cool out. The sun was all but set, and so the heat was leaving the ground.
“Yes, I do. Not very well. But he and my cousin Hinata are good friends. What made you like Kiba?”
I smiled at the memory. “Well, he lived down the road from me. So we used to walk to the Academy together when we were younger. He used to tell me secrets and let me play with Akamaru and him after class. I probably just liked him because he was nice to me. But I remember when he graduated from the Academy, I was nine, he was so excited about passing he kissed me on the cheek. I nearly fainted.”
“You liked him because he was nice to you?”
My smile of the memory faded and I glared at Neji. “You make it sound like a bad thing.” And he did. Neji rarely put emotion into his sentences. But he defiantly said ‘nice’ like it was bad.
“So do you like everyone who is nice to you?”
I rolled my eyes. “I was nine, Neji.” I shivered slightly and pulled my black robe closer. “That’s how little girls get crushes. If you’re nice to them or give them stuff, they’ll like you.”
“Why?”
I sighed. “Because they’re being sweet.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“Neji. It doesn’t need to make sense. It’s a crush!” I seriously wanted to rip out my hair. “You’re driving me insane again.”
“Do you want first watch?”
I looked at him. He was picking up my plate stacked it with his. “Is that your question? Or are we done playing?”
He shrugged. “If we want a decent night’s sleep, we should rest now.”
“That’s fine. I’ll take first watch, since you had it last night. And I’ll do the dishes.” He nodded and walked to his pack. I watched as he silently pulled out 2 blankets and laid one on the ground near the fire. He wrapped the other around him and used his pack for a pillow.
I don’t care how long the mission is, or how rugged it has to be. I will never sleep with out a pillow. I looked back at the dark brown pillow at the end of the blanket I was sitting on. It wasn’t any bigger than a shoe box, and was rather flat after all these years, but it was a hell of a lot better than my pack.
I took a deep breath. And released it slowly. And took in another. And then released.
After my blood pressure was back to normal, I focused on my hearing. Which was better than most peoples I know. Actually, it was better than everyone’s I knew. My eye sight too. Well, maybe Neji’s was better as he could see through things. And Kiba’s hearing might still be better, but since I had no doujutsu and my blood line limit had nothing to do with eye sight or hearing, I figured my sight and hearing was a lot better than most people I knew.
I listened as Neji’s breathing slowed down, and could hear squirrels and rabbits running in the woods.
It was a calm night. The stars were shining in all their glory. And other than Neji driving me crazy (as usual) and it being a bit chillier than I normally like, it was a fun night.