One of two parts. Just a drabble that's been floating in my head.

You get to decide if this is NejiXHina or not. I'm undecided, so I'm leaving it vague.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Hinata watched in horror as kunai after kunai flew at Naruto. They were on a mission, along with Lee and Shino, and they'd been ambushed by some very skilled rogue ninja who wanted to steal the artifact they were transporting, having mistook it for one of very great value.

Naruto was engaging three of them with his shadow clones. It was possible that there were more out there hiding, and Lee and Shino had both been knocked out early in the battle. Naruto was attempting to take out the three rogues. He'd told Hinata to stay back and he would take care of it, and she didn't want to get in his way. She was planning to set up a trap while Naruto distracted them.

The problem was that Naruto wasn't doing so well. He had to be running low on chakra by now, and she couldn't tear her eyes off of him. Besides, if Naruto-kun couldn't defeat them, then what chance could she possibly have?

She was completely shocked when she was tackled. She reached for her kunai, but a hand grabbed her wrist and twisted her arm to prevent her from fighting back. She landed with an 'oof', and she and her attacker rolled on the ground for several feet before stopping with him on top.

Then he let go.

Hinata opened her eyes to see Neji rolling off of her, and behind him she could see Kiba and Akamaru drilling a fourth rogue into the ground with Gatsuga.

"Neji-nii-san!"

He winced and shot her a Look.

"Stay here…Hinata-sama." The contempt in his voice made it clear that he was pissed at her, and she nodded meekly as he stood up. When he turned to join the battle, she saw a kunai embedded in the back of his shoulder. He pulled it out with a soft grunt, then tossed it to the ground at Hinata's feet without turning around.

"In case you need to defend yourself," he said scornfully. Then he ran off to join the battle.

She thought about running after him, or joining the battle along with the reinforcements. But then she realized that she would only be in the way, and a silent tear rolled down her cheek.

She looked at the kunai that had been meant for her, but that Neji had taken. Her father was right.

Neji should have been the heir.

Later that night, the battle had finally been won, thanks to Tsunade sending Neji, Kiba, and Tenten as reinforcements. They had just finished setting up camp not far from the battlefield, and Tenten was boiling water to make stew.

Hinata emerged from the tent she would be sharing with Tenten later that night and walked over to Neji. He didn't acknowledge her presence as she approached; instead, he just continued to clean the dried blood off the weapons he'd used in the battle. She could see the wound on the back of his shoulder through the hole in his jacket and shirt.

"Nii-san?"

"Hn."

"I…I'm sorry. It's my fault you were injured today."

"How do you expect to be a good shinobi if you aren't aware of your surroundings? If you're frozen in fear, or if you're too busy watching someone else? What use will you be to anyone?"

She didn't have an answer. He was right; she'd failed completely. He went back to cleaning his weapons. After a few tense seconds, she spoke again softly.

"I know I failed. Please allow me to dress your wound, since it's my fault?"

He glanced up at her out of the corner of his eye, and for a moment she thought he was going to say no. Then he gave a half-shrug, as if to say 'why not?' and started unclasping his short-sleeved jacket.

It didn't take long for Hinata to clean and dress the wound, and it wasn't too deep. It would probably leave a scar, but there was nothing she could do about that.

There was something nagging at her, and she knew she shouldn't ask, but she had to.

"Nii-san?" she asked timidly.

"Hn."

"Why...why are you always so...cold?"

He slid his eyes around to look at her over his injured shoulder. She paused in applying her special ointment long enough to meet his eyes, then he looked back to the front.

"Someone has to be."

Hinata bit her lip and returned her attention to his shoulder.

He sat perfectly still the entire time she was working, and neither said another word. There was no need; after all, they both knew exactly where they stood. Hinata's incompetence had put her in danger, and it was Neji's duty to protect her regardless at all costs –even his life. It wasn't right, but that's the way it was.

She finished taping the bandage over the wound and sat back. "There."

He didn't bother with his shirt, but just slipped the jacket back on and zipped it up. He silently nodded his polite thanks, and Hinata smiled sadly and went to see if Tenten needed any help with the stew.

"Why do you just cower like that, Hinata?" Tenten asked as Hinata helped her open and slice packets of dried meat to go in the stew.

"What?" Hinata looked up at her with large eyes, but her hand kept chopping skillfully.

Tenten sighed. "I mean you're a good fighter, if you just wouldn't freeze up at all the worst times! You just need to grow some balls."

Hinata blushed furiously, and she paused in the slicing. "Tenten!" she whispered, embarrassed that her friend would say such a thing in front of Naruto. Or Neji. Or any of the boys, for that matter.

Unfortunately, Naruto had heard the comment. "She's right, Hinata-chan! If you just had more confidence, I'm sure you'd do better in fights!"

Hinata's eyes wandered from Naruto to Tenten, down to the kunai in her hand. Then she looked at her teammate, who was playing with his dog, and then to Neji. Neji was looking at her, and he cocked his head to the side with one eyebrow raised as if to say that they were right. Something in her stomach clenched when she saw that, especially in light of the kunai he had taken for her earlier in the day. She nodded.

"I will work harder," she whispered to nobody in particular except herself.

So, whatcha think? The next and (i think) final installment will be a few months later. Leave me a review? Pretty please?