Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Obscurity

The floor softly creaks as he walks carefully along the hallway of his house and raises his arm to block the bright sunlight that is penetrating his eyes. He is in no particular hurry as he passes from room to room, half-hoping and half-dreading seeing her on his way out. As he turns the corner, he catches sight of her sitting near the pond of their backyard with her back facing him. Nonetheless, he keeps walking forward to his destination to the entrance of the house.

"I'll be going now," Neji says, indifferently, as he passes by her.

Her whitish-grey eyes turn to look back at him emptily. She tries her best to at least give him a half-smile. "Alright." She is the first one to break the eye contact to look back at the surface of pond water. Neji resumes his pace and is out the door the next second.

"Come back home safely." A soft voice floats into his ears. He thinks he must have imagined it but whether it's his imagination or not, it lifts his spirit slightly. He remembers that she has a mission today but it's too late to go back and wish her a good luck.

NxHxNxH

Their relationship was strained, maintained only by the legal papers that bounded the two twenty-year-old together. Others would say their match was perfect as Neji was strong enough to lead the clan forward as the Clan Head and she could assist him accordingly with clan matters. Inbreeding would assure Byakugan would stay within the Hyuuga clan and it would create peace with both the Main House and the Branch House. With the exception of their feelings, everything was set to create harmony within the Hyuuga clan.

Neji believes that Hinata is blaming herself to the point that she cannot look him in the eyes properly or hold a proper husband-wife conversation. Since Hinata mostly falls into silence when they are together, he mostly observes even though he knows much about her already.

During the marriage ceremony, when they were waiting for the priest, she put a slight pressure on his hand and mouthed the word "sorry" that was barely audible to him. He wanted to demand, "What exactly are you sorry for?" But before he could ask, it was time to say their vows. Everything was so formal and carefully arranged that they were only left to play their roles accordingly.

Their first night was just…awkward. Even though they had gotten to the point that there was a mutual agreement of truce between the two after the Chunin exam, they were nowhere near the intimacy of marriage life. The only bed that was situated in their room demanded that they sleep together. Hinata just said nothing and walked to the far side of the bed after showering, sitting there staring blankly ahead. The slight shaking of her hands was the only indication that she was nervous. Neji assured himself that this marriage was bound to happen but nonetheless he couldn't keep his guilt at bay. When he reached out with his hand, she closed her eyes, like she was going to accept this fate and have given up. He just ended up touching the side of her cheek and made her pearly eyes look up at him. "We'll take things slow."

She just nodded and quietly asked, "Which side…would you prefer?"

Neji took the edge as he would be able to get up quickly Hinata when he is suddenly called by the Hokage. Hinata looked toward the ceiling and closed her eyes while turned to his side, away from her. He waited until her breathing steadied and she fell into a deep sleep. Instead of looking at her through his peripheral vision, he opted to stare at her openly by turning to her side. She was pale, paler than she usually was and Neji guessed that it was due to stress of unexpected marriage that was thrown at her; she was bound to him, the one person who spent a big part of his life hating her.

He was feeling ambivalent about all this. He gained even more prestige and honor by accepting the title of the head of one of the most powerful clan. However, that also meant having a wife who might never love him. He knew that he had to atone for his mistake of taking his anger out on his cousin but never expected that it would lead them to marriage. Hinata was kind…kind to everyone. She also turned red whenever Naruto showered his attention on her, a habit that she never grew out of. Neji guessed that she still had longing for him. He clenched his fist, knowing that he took her only chance away and caged her in.

He closed his eyes and he could see her face, looking hauntingly depressed, staring back at him. He tried to clear his head, and then was slightly alarmed when she turned to her side toward him, eyes closed and breathing deeply. She was asleep and it took him only seconds to be calm again. He leaned a little closer, wondering what it would feel like to be close to his wife. She smelled like berries and pomegranate and the scent surprisingly soothed him. As he closed his eyes and reminisced back to their happy days of childhood, he felt all the stress being washed away, seeping out of his being. Maybe they had a chance? He was finally lulled into deep, bottomless darkness with the unanswered question on his mind.

NxHxNxH

It's been a month since then and he wonders why hardly anything changed except that she now allows him to wrap an arm around her when they are asleep. But then again, she has no say in this matter because he has somehow found comfort in sleeping close to her that he eventually gave up trying to stay far from her on their bed.

When he thought about it, he had that right but…his thoughts are interrupted when he realizes that he had already arrived in front of Hokage's room. He carefully knocks, which is followed by the familiar voice of a blond, who had achieved his dream and at the same time, left someone heartbroken.

"Come in," Naruto says, enthusiastically. Neji steps into the familiar room and faces the man who he has sworn loyalty to as the representative of the Hyuuga clan. "Sorry to be doing this to you but I have a highly dangerous mission that I need you to undertake as the ANBU," he claims as he gives Neji a scroll. "I'm sure you could finish this mission but I need to be sure that this gets done, which is why I picked you."

Neji accepts it without a question and nods. "I'll be going now." He disappears in a puff of smoke.

NxHxNxH

There was nothing like coming home to an empty room, knowing that she wasn't back yet. Normally, she would hurriedly prepare a warm bath and dinner just for him when he gets home late from mission or work. Sometimes she would heal him with medical jutsu when he was injured, which he preferred rather than going to the actual hospital. He takes a warm shower and prepares himself to go to sleep. There is faint lingering smell of her when he slides under the sheet and thinks of what she could be possibly doing at this late hour. She was on her mission with her three genins this week, which is supposed to end tomorrow.

He thinks, half-amusedly, 'Since when did I start thinking this much about her?' Perhaps he was just tired. He loosens the wedding band around his ring finger and twirls it around, observing how the simple, dull gold wedding ring glistened in the moonlight streaming through the slight opening of the thin curtain. He puts the ring back where it belongs. He remembers the soft whisper of her farewell before he left for the mission.

'Come back home safely.' He holds onto the thread of hope that perhaps she cares for him.

What he wanted to answer back then…he thinks he can respond to it inside his mind as he falls into sleep. 'You too. Come back safely.'

NxHxNxH

The last thing he expected was to be greeted by unresponsive Hinata on a hospital bed. He hurriedly came after a panicked servant, who rudely barged in when he was just finishing putting his uniform on, said, "Hinata-sama's badly injured." It was all he needed to hear before he roughly grabbed him by the shoulders and demanded where she was. After hearing that she was at the hospital, Neji instantly vanished, leaving only the faint trail of smoke in his place.

He briefly listened to the nurses who were in charge, who informed him that she was injured by a severe blow to her stomach and had a big gash on her arm. She had sent off her three genins to safety before she took on her enemies. He cut her off in the middle and forcefully inquired as to where he can find her and marched straight into Hinata's room. He convinced himself that he was doing his duty as a husband whose wife was injured. Nonetheless, his restlessness could not be prevailed no matter how many times he tried to be rational with his mind that she was going to be alright. He paced around the room, checking on from time to time. She had bandages around on the side of her head and left arm. She looked lifeless to him; not only was she physically fatigued but she was probably mentally drained, weighed down by the heavy responsibilities that came with her position, most of which she probably had not asked for.

'Nothing that a kunoichi could not handle,' he reasons with himself as he checks her injuries. He sits down and just stares at her injured hand lying on top of the sheet, recalling how much kindness she has shown him. She does all that the lady of the house should without complaints and tries to handle things on her own so that she wouldn't bother him with "insignificant matters." He neither tried to change their relationship nor expressed his appreciation for her efforts. He never tried asking why she was trying to distant herself from him or asked himself as to why he knew so much and so little about her at the same time. Maybe they both accepted this as fate and their past was still hindering their current relationship that they had.

Hinata stirred and slowly opened her eyes. She took in her surroundings slowly, her eyes slowly settling on his face.

"Hinata." The simple call of her name was enough to fully wake her up and her eyes widened. She struggled to get up. "You shouldn't try to get up yet."

Nonetheless, she managed to sit, leaning on the pillows behind her. With panic-stricken voice, she asked, "Where are my students? Are they alright?"

"They are fine," Neji assured her, his voice softening. She visibly relaxed into the bed.

"Good," Hinata said, tiredly. Then she glanced at him and hesitated before saying, "I'll be fine. You don't need to-I mean, you should…go…and take care of other important matters."

Neji felt anger rise up in him. "Do you loathe me that much that you can't stand being in the same room as me?" Neji got up to leave, turning away from her to hide his hurt expression. He knew that she was putting his work above her and that made him feel much more pathetic and heartless. He reached for the knob of the door, intending to yank it open and storm out of there. Instead, he felt himself being stopped by her voice.

"Sorry."

If he stormed out of there, then the gap would be irreparable and put a deep dent into their already broken relationship. He was still facing the door while trying to form his words. "Sorry" had been the only word that she used a lot when they were together. He tried to level his voice. "What…are you sorry for?"

She responded, shakily. "For everything... From when we were young, your uncle-"

Neji cut in. "I blamed you. My father decided to choose his own fate and his decision was strongly supported by the Elders and Konoha leaders…Your father tried to refuse but my father was the one who ultimately chose his own path."

"Now I'm binding you with marriage," Hinata added, sadness evident in her voice.

"That was decided by the Elders and it was unexpected for both of us," he countered, rather forcefully. There was a long pause in which he felt all the overwhelming bitterness and fury dissipate. He turned slowly to look at her as she was staring out the window.

Hinata sounded unconvinced. "I...wasn't strong enough to take over the clan, which is probably why they asked you. If I had been stronger-"

"Stop," he commanded.

Hinata felt herself being pulled toward him and she was enveloped in a loose hug with her head on his chest. She let her tears flow. "I'm sorry...I thought that it would be best to give you space...I knew that you were busy with both the work of Hyuuga clan and ANBU. I just…didn't want to be a burden."

"I'll just make this clear," he started as he pulled back and looked at her in the eyes, which were full of unshed tears. "I don't hate you nor do I wish that you...distant yourself away from me. On the contrary..." What was that he wanted to say? Although he could not fathom what he wanted to convey, words flowed out of him. "It angers me that you think yourself a burden when you have the potential to be…a great kunoichi and a noble lady of the Hyuuga clan." Somehow something clicked right in the place and he felt that he said the right thing.

Unable to hold the weight of oncoming tears, her eyes let the tears flood. Hinata wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered, "Thank you."

His arm came around her waist and that conveyed their feelings to each other more than words could ever have.

"And that's the truth," Neji claimed, suspecting that maybe she would doubt his words later.

Hinata smiled and lightly brushed her lips on his cheek in appreciation. She blushed slightly at her bold action but did not regret what she did when she saw the corner of his lip turn up imperceptibly and his eyes soften considerably.

However, what happened next was so unexpected that it wiped all her previous embarrassment away. He kissed the corner of her lips, stepped back, and gave a slight bow. "I'll be in your care from now on, Lady Hyuuga."

NxHxNxH

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