A/N: Sort of companion fic to Cross. An alternate view to what happened. I'm not saying that this is what really happened after. Just a "what if it wasn't what I thought it was" continuation.
Disclaimer: Kishimoto Masashi owns Naruto.
And I Cry
"Uchiha."
Sasuke looked up from what he was reading. "Hyuuga." He turned back to the scroll.
He just stood there, waiting. Neji had always been a patient man. It took a while, but Sasuke tied the scroll, returned it to the shelf. He went out of the library.
The Uchiha was outside, leaning against a wall, arms folded across his chest. Neji allowed a small smile. He was so predictable, it wasn't funny.
"He's not as stupid as you think," he started in a we-both-know-what-we're-talking-about-cut-the-crap tone. He didn't know what Naruto said earlier to him that morning before leaving for a mission with Kiba and Ino. It didn't matter. Sasuke ought to know the whole of it. "He knew it was you."
Hard onyx eyes stared stonily at him. "Don't presume you understand me, Hyuuga."
"Hmmm?" Neji was smug. "And those aren't red-rimmed eyes of a person who cried all night. And what you're feeling is not an all-consuming anger because you don't understand what his motives were." When Sasuke started to walk away, he laughed. "And as you've always done, you escape. You hid under the covers, actually."
The Sharingan spun furiously. "The purity of white," he spat.
"The purity of white," Neji echoed evenly. "Sees what the crimson of rage does not. It perceives the despair of azure. It recognizes what the finality of black chooses to ignore."
A tear made its way down his cheek, unbidden and unnoticed, just as it did the night before. Though this time, Sasuke was watching as it traveled, the contrast it made with Neji's impassive face. In the sunset, his eyes were tinted with a fiery red. No sign of tears.
Silence. A few moments passed, or was it a lifetime?
"Thank you."
The Hyuuga nodded. What was the gratitude for? Should it matter? It was there. "Right, Naruto?"
A/N: So it was Neji who cried! Well, in this version. Please tell me what you think!