"Nngh... N-nii-san..?"
Large pearly white eyes stared deep into her own with worry, a noticeable crease in between his eyebrows.
Neji heaved a sigh of relief as if he'd been holding his breath for so long. Cupping her face with both hands, he brightly smiled at the damsel. "Don't you dare worry us like that anymore."
Hinata felt relief in just being with him, hiding her small figure in his broad arms. All the worry and nervousness she'd felt slowly melted away as she felt his warmth;the security she needed.
Tenten and Lee sat on the couch just by the entertainment area with Chōji and Karui. She sat up and immediately felt the stabbing pain on her head, clutching it while leaning on Neji.
The male Hyūga and company found her unconscious on the floor by the staff room earlier. Knowing Neji, he'd been very freaked out and worried, running all over the place and unsure of what he was supposed to do. With the help of Tenten and Lee, they were able to secure her back at their room. And to be completely sure and safe, Neji also set out to the Naras and Yamanakas to ask for permission to have Hinata stay with him instead.
Everyone was supposed to be gathered downstairs in 3 hours for some fun as suggested by the smartest people in the bunch. Namely Naruto and Kiba.
He kindly asked Hinata if she would just stay in his room to get plenty of rest but she stubbornly refused, reminding him of the reason why they were all at this resort in the first place.
Laughing in embarassment, he got up to hand her some pain relievers and water. Running his hands through her hair, he swore to himself to be more aware of her every action. Call him creepy but, Neji Hyūga might just be the top and most overprotective man of all time. Talk about caring, right?
Lee knocked on the door and peeked, smiling at the Hyūgas who spoke softly to each other. He sat by Hinata, petting her and asking about her condition.
The female Hyūga beamed in return, even copying Lee's usual good guy pose with a chuckle.
A loud knock on the door disrupted their quality time, having Chōji answer the door for them. A man with messy black hair wearing a suit and glasses sternly stared at them, reminding them to be down at the lobby in an hour.
Everyone nodded except Chōji, who rolled his eyes and scratched his head simultaneously before slamming the door at the stranger's face.
Karui and the other couple snickered, welcoming Chōji back. He was most likely to be hungry, they thought.
"Well, we should probably go get ready now."
-----
Naruto repeatedly tugged on Sasuke's collar, jumping up and down like a little child. "TEME, TELL ME IF YOU REALLY SERIOUSLY LIKE HER!"
Sasuke gritted his teeth, trying his hardest to button up his shirt. To his bad luck, Naruto found him alone in his room, and the question he'd dreaded had finally decided to come up.
"TEME, HOW HARD IS IT TO ANSWER A YES/NO QUESTION!!!"
Blowing a fuse, Sasuke roughly grabbed Naruto by the collar as well. "Dobe, if you don't shut up, you're gonna be sorry you ever met me."
The blond's crystal blue eyes stared into his deep onyx ones in surprise, blinking in confusion. Sasuke never really took Naruto seriously when it came to this kind of matter, but it was just that something was so fishy that he had to try and ask.
Chuckling nervously, he grabbed Sasuke's hands that were going pale from the lack of circulation. Naruto gently rubbed them. "I'm sorry."
Carefully letting him go, he starightened his shirt once again and got back to buttoning it up. After finishing, he slapped on a wristwatch and looked at Naruto.
His cold gaze made the blond man freeze, and he cleared his throat in embarassment, leading him out of the room for the arranged meeting.
-----
Neji shifted his weight from side to side along with the two other men and Hinata. Tenten and Karui were still in the bathrooms, applying heaps of make up on their faces.
Lee simply had a grin on his face, awaiting the arrival of his wife. Chōji was just the exact same, except rather impatiently.
After a couple more minutes of fussing about their appearances, Tenten and Karui finally finished, grabbing their husbands and dragging them down the halls. The Hyūgas who were trailing right behind them snickered at the sight.
Their group coincidentally ran into Sasuke and Naruto on their way downstairs too, much to Sasuke's pleasure. Naruto was beaming like a child, then subsequently smirking mischieviously as he recalled his good old perverted conversations with the rowdy brunet that is Kiba Inuzuka.
After a few minutes of chattering, Gaara's powerful voice echoed from downstairs, specifically calling for Naruto. The blond man shivered at the kazekage's tone of voice and he instinctively clung to Sasuke. The Uchiha shook him off with force, pushing him towards the stairs.
Naruto whined in fear but led everyone downstairs anyways, afraid to meet the kage's sparklingly-terrifying eyes.
Gaara stood there like expected, wearing a stern expression with his arms crossed. He glared at the blond with such contempt that he itched to run away from the resort.
Kiba was cowering right behind Tamaki and Shino as well, repeatedly whispering "sorry".
The redhead cleared his throat once the whole group settled and briefed them for their afternoon. The resort had an enclosed gate at the very back that led to an isolated lake, and it seemed that Kiba and Naruto found a clever bribe to have the kazekage open it up.
The females were certainly excited. Though much to their surprise, the men were even more excited than they were, eager to go and explore the said lake.
Gaara sighed and asked Neji if he could excuse Hinata. Reluctantly agreeing, the redhead quietly led the doe-eyed woman a distance away from the group. He smiled and leaned to her ear, whispering whatever message he had to relay.
Neji, Sasuke, and the rest of the group narrowed their eyes at the two, and even grew suspicious as Hinata's face lit up bright red, jumping away from the redhead. Gaara let out a hearty laugh, patting her back and tilting his head, gazing at her lovingly.
The female Hyuga pursed her lips, in a mix between being upset and happy. Before Neji or anyone else could ask, Gaara's powerful voice boomed across the room once again, prompting them to the path to the lake.
-----
The surreal greenery tucked away in the back of the resort struck them with awe as they jumped around and walked through a narrow passage in between rows of trees.
At the end of the trail was a bright, bright space, hard to identify from the intensity of the sunlight.
As they grew closer and closer to their exit, they began to take longer strides and quicker paces, eventually running all the way.
They all gaped at the beauty of the secluded lake, hard to believe it wasn't artificially built. Naruto and Kiba looked at each other, giving the other a toothy grin and glancing at the females before pulling up their shirts.
The other group of males's eyebrows twitched in irritation, almost fed up with the two. The duo laughed and gave each other a high five, tossing their shirts in the air and jumping in.
Sakura and Tamaki looked at each other and threw high fives as well.
"Hey guys, the water's pretty cool, jump in!"
They all stood by the edge, dipping their feet into the water. And surely enough, the water felt refreshingly cool.
Sasuke looked over at Hinata who wore a similar swimming attire as before. Then he looked over at Kakashi, who watched Takane and Yamato whisper and laugh to each other.
The raven-haired male cocked his head to the side, trying to make something out of Kakashi's current expression.
"Kakashi, if you need to fart, I suggest you just do it."
The silver head immediately turned to Sasuke with a bright red face, motioning him to quiet down with a finger to his lips.
The Uchiha simply smirked and crossed his arms. "You know, if you keep staring like that, you're gonna give yourself away to everyone here."
"Yeah, I could say the same to you."
Round Onyx eyes stared straight at the older man's figure as he too adorned a heavy blush at the comment.
"A secret for a secret, then?"
Holding a hand out, Sasuke offered a deal. It seemed silly now, since both of them knew they wouldn't have the guts to spoil each other to their significants anyways, but Kakashi accepted, getting caught in the Uchiha's iron grip.
"SASUKE!"
Laughing and still tightly gripping his hand, Sasuke put a hand on Kakashi's back and pushed him into the water.
The rest of the gang looked at the two of them, stifling laughters at the silver head who was now soaked from top to bottom.
"Real mature, Mr.Uchiha."
Lightly shaking his head to dry off, Kakashi ran his fingers through his hair while getting out of the lake.
With the highly unusual but attractive gesture, eyes were on him, even including Takane's.
Hinata turned around to avert her gaze though, as Sasuke noticed.
"Hey, hey, now. I'm gonna melt, guys, calm down."
---
And meanwhile, just behind the trunk of a large tree by the forest exit, the same man, with scheming eyes behind gleaming glasses, watched her very figure.
"Ahhh, Hyūga-sama. It really is difficult not to fall for you... ne?"
With a smirk playing on his lips, he quietly turned on his heels, staring at the photo he just took.
"Soon... this'll all be mine."