Title: Nightmares
Author: Spaz
Summary: Neji always felt like it wasn't enough.
Most of the time, she was the one who applied the bandages. Her skilled fingers worked quickly to ease tender wounds and erase the red drying on his skin. She always had something, some ointment or medicine that made it more bearable, dampening the pain until it was nearly imperceptible.
She never asked what happened, never pressed for him to tell her what had made that wound, or had forced him to such exhaustion. She never pressed him to tell her of the nightmares that made his sleep so restless, or what had brought about those nightmares. Instead, she merely stayed with him through the night to smooth his hair and gently wake him when it seemed too much.
But there were those rare occasions when it was reversed.
And it was him who was holding her, gently bathing blood from her skin. His own fingers, not as skilled as hers, clumsily wrapped bandages around cuts and scrapes. The first time he had done this, he had to have her lead him through her medicines; now, he could pick them out and gently ease them over painful wounds himself. He wasn't sure whether to be pleased by this or sadden by the fact that she'd been hurt that many times.
He would continue to hold her once the bandages were done, once the marks were covered, once the physical healing was done. He would hold her as she drifted into sleep, sometimes wiping away the tears she cried; she'd always been more kind hearted than her, a trait he had come to find endearing. He would try, as she did, to smooth her hair and chase away what nightmares he could. But he always felt he didn't do enough.
But Hinata would always smile to him the next morning, if tiredly, and thank him.
Because no matter how clumsy Neji was with the bandages, or how awkward he was with comforting, what mattered to her was that he was there.