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It all happened in an instant. One second she was fighting a white Zetsu clone, defeating it. In the next second, before she found another enemy to target, she was on the ground. Blood filled her mouth, spilling down the corners of it.
Pain seared through her torso and abdomen. Her skin beneath her flak jacket separated, as if she'd been impaled by several large spikes. It didn't take long at all for her green jacket to be soaked in crimson.
Breathing was tiring. A wet cough escaped her, trying to clear her lungs, but it didn't work. No matter how she tried, she just couldn't clear her lungs or gain any kind of air.
"Hiyori!" It was the frantic voice of Tenten, though she sounded so far away...
Her body was being lifted, but she wasn't aware enough to tell who it was. Darkness started to descend, her eyelids closing.
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"Okaasan, why do you and Otousan get hurt the same way?" White, pupilless eyes stared, curiosity swimming within them. Her face was framed by black locks of hair. Based on the girl's looks, she was only eight at the most.
Identical eyes turned to the child, looking down at her daughter. Thoughtfulness spread across the woman's features, as she debated how best to answer the answer. Simple was usually best when it came to answering a child. "Well, Hiyori-chan, because we're soulmates."
"What's a soulmate?" The child inquired further, not appearing to understand at all. "The Academy's never mentioned that."
"Someone that you're meant to be with, always." Her mother answered. "It's not something you'd learn about in the Academy, since it has nothing to do with being a shinobi."
"Really?" A gasp escaped her, her eyes wide with wonder.
"Yes." Her mother chuckled a little, resting a hand on her hip.
"Do... Do I have a soulmate?" It was an innocent question from a young girl.
"I don't know. Not everyone has one, but more often than not, people do. If you have one, you'll know when you meet them." Her mother nodded her head, giving a slight smile.
"Okay. I hope I have one! Like you and Otousan!" A grin spread across the young girl's face. "So, are soulmates a good thing?"
Silence. Her mother bit her bottom lip, looking a little bit troubled, as if she weren't entirely sure how to answer that particular question.
"Okaasan?"
"Well, yes. Overall, they are. You have someone you are destined to be with, for the rest of your life. Just be careful, Hiyori-chan. As much as they can be a blessing, they can be a curse as well. Simply because if your soulmate gets hurt, you also get hurt."
"Don't worry, I'll be careful, Okaasan!" Hiyori reassured her mother, keeping the grin on her face.
"I know you will." Her mother lifted a hand to ruffle her daughter's hair.
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She was thirteen years old now. And yet, she still hadn't met her soulmate. With each year that passed without it happening, she asked her mother how long it could take to find her soulmate. Every time it was the same answer. That it just depended, and when you met the person you were destined to be with.
Her eyes widened, a quiet gasp escaping her. White pupilless eyes stared back at her, eyes that mirrored her own. The boy was a few inches taller than her, despite being a year or two younger than her. His hair was long, and brown, tied at the bottom with a hair tie.
There was a bandage on his cheek, on the same exact spot that she had one. An injury she got on her last mission, not that it was serious. Something that would heal easily on its own.
"I... Are you...?" Words were failing to come to her, heart ramming in her chest that this... This might be the person she'd been waiting for.
"Am I what?" The look on his face didn't give anything away.
"I..." She motioned to the bandage on his cheek. "What happened?"
Silence. It was almost deafening. Just as she thought he wasn't going to reply, he let out a sigh. "I don't know. But I suspect you do."
"Happened on a mission." She replied, her eyes still wide. "Um... I'm Hiyori." Then she bowed to him, as she introduced herself, before straightening once more.
"I've heard your name before. Neji." He didn't bow in return, but she found that she didn't really care.
Of course she'd heard his name before. He was hailed as a genius at the Academy. He hadn't been in her class, since he was younger than her, but that didn't stop her classmates from giggling and fawning over the rumors about him.
Despite being part of the same family, though the relations were very distant according to her mother, she hadn't personally met him before. The first time she saw him was a couple of years ago, while on the way to the Academy. Neither talked to the other, and it was just a mere glance at him.
Come to think of it, that was when she started getting random minor injuries here and there. A scratch she didn't have before, a scrap or a bruise. But she didn't know who it could have been. Most of her classmates had the same kind of injuries, though none were exactly the same as hers.
"So, we're soulma-" She began, but she was cut off.
"I'll never be free of destiny, will I? It just won't stop laughing in my face." Neji's face twisted somewhat, as he looked at her. Based on his expression, he didn't share the sentiment of being relieved to have found the cause of the scrape on his cheek. And the other random little injuries he'd ignored over the years. "Speak of this to no one. The destiny of the clan binds me enough."
"Oh." Her entire being deflated.
"Do your best to not get injured. I don't need any unnecessary injuries."
With that, he walked away without another word. He didn't even glance over his shoulder at her.
She was left there, mouth hanging open somewhat and a tear dripping down her cheek. That wasn't how she pictured the meeting of her soulmate going.
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She was already a Chūnin by the time Neji took the Chūnin exams. No surprise that he made it to the finals. He was known as the best Genin among the Genin. Up against Uzumaki Naruto? It seemed like the win there would be obvious, based on what she'd heard of Neji's skills. The only thing she knew about Naruto was that he acted out for attention, and that he'd been the worst in his class at the Academy.
The two of them hadn't talked since Neji turned his back on her and refused the connection they had. If they happened to run into each other, if others were around, Neji offered a curt greeting, before continuing on his way. She didn't push it.
Still, she went to the finals of the Chūnin Exams to watch. She seated herself at a back row, on an end seat.
The match began in Neji's favor, but in a surprising turn of events, the tables turned. After Neji aired out all of the dirty laundry about his father's death for everyone to hear.
Hiyori hadn't been expecting that. None of the audience had. It took everything she had to keep the pained noise in, her jaw clenching and going rigid when Naruto landed that hit up into Neji's chin. Everything swirled, and her stomach churned. But she managed to stay up right. Once the room wasn't spinning, she pulled herself up and left the audience.
She needed to get away from anyone that could possibly see her. The chaos that ensued took her mind off of the headache she now had.
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To her surprise, Neji sought her out. It'd been some time since the Chūnin Exams, since his loss to Naruto. Something she hadn't been expecting. His demeanor was different than before, the look on his face not nearly as tense as before. He was more at ease.
"Hiyori." He started, almost hesitantly.
"Neji-kun." She bowed her head to him. What could he want? He made his stance regarding her very clear.
"I wanted to... Apologize." A sigh escaped Neji, his attention not once pulling away from her.
Well, that definitely wasn't what she'd been expecting.
"Apologize?" She echoed the last word, confusion overtaking her features.
"For the way I spoke to you before. For treating you unfairly." Neji clarified. "I didn't want another thing about destiny thrown in my face, that I had no control over."
"Oh, I... Well, it was hurtful, but I understand." She waved her hand in the air, letting out an awkward chuckle. A hand lifted to tap the hitai-ate on her forehead. "It's something we're both bound by."
"Can we... Start over?" Neji asked, tone suggesting that he wasn't entirely sure she'd agree to it. He certainly didn't think she would. He'd been a jerk to her after all.
But Hiyori surprised him with her answer. " I'd like that." She even smiled at him.
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She just had to make it to the Hokage. That's all. Remain conscious long enough to make it there. But everything felt so heavy, and darkness threatened to consume her at any moment. One step forward. Then another. There we go. Good. A slow pace, but it was working, with her hand pressed over the deep wound in her left shoulder. Only for her to collapse outside the Hokage's residence, barely clinging onto consciousness.
"Hiyori-chan?!"
A feminine voice escaped, before the sound of foot steps rushed to the collapsed Hiyori.
"Shizune-san.." Hiyori's voice was weak, strained as she forced her eyes to open. However, they soon fell closed again.
"We need to get you to the Hospital!" Shizune lifted a hand, waving over two familiar looking Chūnin. Izumo and Kotetsu. Quickly, she performed hand signs. A green glow overtook her hands, and she put it over Hiyori's left shoulder. The bleeding only slowed somewhat, the rest of the injury persisting. Her brow furrowed, lips pressing together as the wound resisted her healing. "I've never seen anything like this before."
"Shizune-san?" Izumo's voice first, followed by a gasp. A gasp shared in unison with Kotetsu. "Hiyori-san?!"
"Lift her please." Shizune shook her head, letting her Jutsu fade away.
"Tsun... Nade-sama.." Hiyori sucked in a sharp breath when one of the two hoisted her up. She didn't know which one it was. Her eyes didn't want to open. "I nee... Need to talk to her..."
"Shizune-san..?" Ah, that was Kotetsu's voice.
"I.. Take her to the hospital and I'll get Tsunade-sama."
That was the last thing Hiyori heard before she lost consciousness.
When the darkness faded away and Hiyori opened her eyes, Shizune was there.
"Oh, Hiyori-chan! You're awake."
"Neji-kun..." Hiyori's voice was horse, cracking as she spoke. "He... He's..."
"Don't worry. He's stable, and recovering. It was thanks to you, actually, that we were able to figure out how to approach his injury once the Medical Corps got him here, since we'd already tended to your injury the same way." Shizune told her. "But you also need to recover."
Oh, good. He was okay...
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Hiyori inhaled, then slowly exhaled. Her Konoha hitai-ate replaced with the one of the shinobi alliance. "This is going to be... Rough."
"I agree." Neji gave a nod of her head, the shinobi alliance hitai-ate on his forehead now too.
"Can't lie, I'm nervous. Since we've never fought in a war before." Hiyori lifted her hand to run it through her hair. "And, well, you know..."
"I understand." Neji agreed with her, gaze shifting so he could meet her eyes. "Hiyori?"
"Yeah?" Hiyori let her gaze connect with his.
"When the war is over, marry me."
His words stunned her, her mouth opening and closing.
"Wh.. What? Did... Did I hear right?" She stammered, not sure she heard right. Better to be sure incase she had hallucinated that. Wishful thinking before marching off into war.
"You did. When the war's over. marry me." Neji held his hand out, palm up, for her to take.
"Of course I will." Hiyori reached out, placing her hand on his.
His fingers wrapped around hers, giving it a squeeze. "It's a promise."
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The feeling of her body being laid down had her opening her eyes, just barely. Whoever picked her up laid her down so she was next to Neji. His forehead was bare, no sign of his curse mark. He was gone.
Neji-kun... We'll be together again soon...
Then her eyes closed again, never to open again. Her breathing ceased, and she was unmoving beside Neji.