Hope
The boy gasped. He dropped to hands and knees panting. As he sucked in the cool morning air his black hair flapped in the slight wind. His face was covered in sweat. He pulled his Konoha headband off his forehead and let it drop. He pulled a length of short cloth from a pocket and wrapped it just above where his headband was. The teal mark he had lived with for the last nine years showed clearly underneath it. He kept training.
Half a mile away another young shinobi collapsed exhausted. Rock Lee wiped the sweat off his forehead with his sleeve. He looked ruefully at the log he had been practicing on. It was shattered. He sighed and walked to look for another practice spot.
The first boy fell. His head hit a stone on the ground. There was a sickening crunch. He winced in pain and stood back up. A jagged cut across the temple made him see stars for a moment. He bit his lip. Despite the blood dripping down his face he kept training just as hard as he had been before.
Lee continued to look for a good training spot. The sun began to rise slowly. The morning fog began to clear. He heard something. A smashing noise that seemed to come from near by. He picked up his pace and hurried through the wood to the spot.
Neji collapsed again. He was loosing blood fast and could barely stand. With a muffled grunt he pulled himself to his knees then fell back. The blood he had lost dripped down his face and pooled around him. Neji was dying.
Lee arrived at the clearing. There were drops of red splattered around it. He touched one with the tip of his finger. It was blood. He rushed onward. A crumpled figure lay in the center surrounded by a shallow, deformed, slightly circular ditch. The person, whoever they were, moved slightly and raised their head. Pale white eyes met Lee's dark ones. It was his teammate, rival, and almost friend, Hyuuga Neji. Neji snorted. His shaking hand tightened into a fist. He pulled himself upright again. Lee froze for a moment.
"Neji, stop that! You're killing yourself! What's so good that you have to die training to do it? Stop, you need to rest!" Neji ignored him. His breathing came rapidly. "Why are you doing that?" Neji raised both of his hands to his face. He closed his eyes and tried to regain his calm. The blood stained his fingers leaving them red. Lee stepped forward. He moved quickly. Neji held up a hand angrily.
"Stop that yourself. I'm training, don't get in my way or I'll beat you up like last time." Internally Lee thought of the mentioned "last time". Neji had beaten him in minutes leaving him lying on his back gasping for breath. Neji had simply walked back to his training unharmed. But now the tables had turned. Neji was hurt, dying perhaps. Didn't he owe it to him, not to mention Tenten, to try to help him?
"I don't care. You're in no condition to be able to beat me up. You're the one whose almost dying from blood loss. Stop training and go to the hospital." Neji shook his head obstinately. He quivered weakly.
"I'm still going to train here. You can't make me stop." Lee opened his mouth to protest. "Don't you do the same thing? You train until your body is in even worse condition then mine is now. You have no right to tell me to quit training. I know my own needs, strengths and weaknesses better than you. This is what I need to do for my training." Lee shook his head at Neji's tenacity. He did have to admit that Neji did have a point. He did train until he was in a very feeble condition.
"That doesn't justify it. I need grueling training. You don't. And besides, why do you even need to get stronger? You're perfectly strong as it is." Neji snorted in amusement. He bit down on his lip again as the blood continued to flow from his wound. "Also, I've always trained this way. This way, with endless draining work, is the only way for me to improve my techniques. Killing yourself won't help you at all. All it will do is destroy you. Do you want that?" Neji shrugged. The jagged gash on his head made Lee wince himself. "At least bandage up that cut. You can't go on with it bleeding like that. You'll loose too much blood." Neji shrugged again. He made as if to commence training once more but fell down. "Neji?" Lee rushed to his teammate's side and knelt down. Neji was out cold. "This isn't good. Not good, really bad. What am I supposed to do?" he carefully turned Neji over. He pulled the piece of cloth that had slipped down over Neji's forehead off. He could see the seal, dark against Neji's pale face. "What the… what is that thing?" he murmured. He turned his attention back to the problem at hand, bandaging the wound. The cloth wouldn't be enough. Moving quickly he pulled the wrap off his left arm. It was more than long enough. He lifted his unconscious teammate's head and gently wrapped the fabric around his injury. Neji moved faintly as though the slight pressure had hurt him. Lee bit his lip. He picked up Neji's headband and tucked it into a pocket. He carefully picked Neji up and carried him into the shade.
He set him down without hurting him. He glanced around. Neji's pack lay only a few meters away. Lee stood up. He could see a bottle of water attached to the side of the pack. He walked to it and untied the container. It was still half full. From where Lee had left Neji with his back against a tree he heard a noise. Lee hurried back. Neji twitched slightly. His eyes were still closed. Lee, holding the bottle, bent down. He unscrewed it hastily, but carefully, not wanting to waste any, and tipped some of the liquid into Neji's partially open mouth. He was able to swallow some. Lee poured a little onto the boy's face. He wet the bandage so that it would keep the wound clean and cool then made sure it wasn't too tight. "Why would he be doing something so stupid?" he muttered, "Every one always said that Neji was a genius and this isn't a "genius" thing to do."
"Lee, what happened to him?" Surprised, Lee turned around. Tenten was kneeling behind him. "What was going on?" Lee rolled his eyes slightly. Tenten was surprised herself. Rolling his eyes was not the kind of thing that Lee often did.
"Neji the genius decided to train himself until he collapsed. When I got here he was already bleeding badly. I told him to stop, go to the hospital, at least bandage it but he was being headstrong and he wouldn't. He tried to keep training and he passed out. I wrapped it up and got water from his pack." Tenten nodded. She could see the blood everywhere, Neji's blood. She could tell from her experience as a shinobi that Neji couldn't lose more blood with out it being fatal. Lee nodded. "That's what I was thinking too. It very well could be a fatality if we don't get him immediate medical attention. And face it; we're in the middle of nowhere. The chances that a medic will come through here in time to save him are slim at best. We can't really carry him all the way back; it'll make the bleeding get stronger. The only chance he's got is for one of us to wait here with him and the other to go for help. Which do you want to do?" Tenten considered knowing that Neji's life was in her hands.
"I'll wait here with him. Sorry to be lazy but you're a whole lot faster than me. And hurry, we don't have much time if we want him to live. I think you should take off the weights. Sensei will understand. I mean, we have to go fast if we want him to survive." Lee agreed. He bent down and took off the weights he always wore on his ankles. He put them in a neat pile. He straightened up again.
"I'll be back with help." He promised. He bent down again. "Don't die." He murmured to Neji before speeding off. Tenten watched the dust clouds disappear. Her teammate was moving much too fast for the eye to follow. She had only seen the weights off a few times when Guy-sensei adjusted them. They were heavy; she had picked one up and instantly dropped it. Accustomed as she was to heavy lifting, those weights were no easy feat.
In less time then it took Tenten to think about it, Lee got into the village. He rushed to the hospital and ran in.
"There's been an accident!" he yelled, "My teammate was training alone in the forest when something happened to him, something serious. I found him there bleeding from the head and close to unconscious. I told him to stop and rest but he wouldn't listen. He kept training and passed out. I bound up his head, gave him water, wet the bandage and ran here. It's 15 minutes away. I left my other teammate with him. Can someone come and quickly? It may already be too late!" a medic rushed toward him.
"In the forest? Head injury?" she confirmed. The woman grabbed a package of medical supplies and hurried out after him.
"Please hurry!" Lee yelled as he raced ahead. "I don't want my teammate to die!" the woman nodded and picked up her pace. Lee slowed to almost match her but still show her the way. "I came through here when I was first looking for a place to train. Then I found my teammate. Neji was always headstrong." The woman nodded again.
"So, how severe do you think the injury is?" she asked anxiously. "How deep and what part of the head? Jagged or smooth?" Lee answered quickly as they approached the scene of Neji's accident.
"I think it's really severe. I'm no medic but there was a lot of blood. It was everywhere. I have no idea how deep but when I bandaged it I thought I saw a bit of his scull underneath." He shuddered. "It was a really jagged wound, it was long and not at all like a cut from a kunai. It was wider and it looked like he lost a lot of skin. Like it was scraped off. Its over his temple, from above his eye to by his ear." The woman groaned slightly at the somber news. The clearing was in front of them. Tenten looked up with hope shining in her eyes. Neji's head was in her lap and he was still out cold. They stopped beside them. Tenten eased Neji's head off her lap and gently laid him flat. Lee and Tenten stepped back to give the woman room to work. First she stripped off the bloody bandage. The cut lay exposed and still bleeding heavily. Tenten caught her breath as she saw the wound. The woman noticed the seal on her patient's forehead. She looked at it quickly.
"So, your teammate's a Hyuuga. And Branch Family too." Tenten and Lee stared blankly at her. She looked puzzled. "You don't know?" they shook their heads. "Its that seal. Only the Branch Family of the Hyuuga clan has it." Tenten's eyes widened in surprise. Sudden understanding flooded her face.
"That's what Hinata meant. That symbol is what she was talking about." Lee's eyes were curious. "I asked Hinata, his cousin, why he hated her so much. She told me that it was something she couldn't help and that it was out of her control. She said that she wouldn't tell me since Neji hadn't but she did say that he would tell me himself when he was ready. He would just have to do battle with his inner demons and conquer his past. I thought it was really strange of her to say something like that but now I understand. That symbol somehow represents his past and why he can't get along with his family." Lee nodded slowly. He turned to the woman who had sealed the cut.
"So, what is that thing exactly?" she took her time answering and glanced sideways at Neji as she did so.
"Your teammate has a painful past behind him. From what I know of that seal his life can't have been trouble-free. You two don't know what it does to you. But I'm sure that he knows, maybe even knows from experience. The life of a Branch Family member is never easy and straightforward. They have always been thrust aside for the Main Family. Some of them pushed back and those some were punished and punished ruthlessly. Almost inhumanely. Attempts to change things were put down forcefully, never well for the poor man, woman or child. Cruelly were their attempts received. I've treated patients."
"That's what happened to my father." Everyone turned in surprise at the sound of Neji's voice. "He tried in his own way to fight back and he was disciplined harshly. Through these seals the Main Family has absolute control." His tone was flat and emotionless. His eyes stared up at the sky as he spoke. "Yes, Tenten. That's why I hate my cousin so much. Because of this and what it does."
"What does it do? Why is it her fault that you have that?" Tenten looked at him curiously. "I want to understand." He sighed and looked at her as she stood a few feet away. She stepped closer and knelt by his side. Her earnest eyes looked back at him.
"I'll tell you someday. But not today, this isn't the day where you begin worrying constantly about me." Tenten looked at the woman who appeared to know so much about the Hyuuga family. The woman caught her eye and shook her head. Tenten exhaled in disappointment. She was hoping to be told the truth about her teammate soon. Lee was having similar thoughts. The woman broke the silence.
"Time to get you to the hospital." She said briskly to Neji. "The hospital will make you feel a lot better." Neji grimaced. He had been hoping to escape with out medical attention. The woman gently helped him stand up and turned her head to Tenten and Lee who had remained motionless. "Well, are you going to help me get him there?" she asked impatiently. They nodded. Lee strapped his weights to his ankles again and met the woman's disapproving stare. His teacher's idea of using weights to train with was not popular with those who had chosen the medical profession. He lifted Neji's pack and the water bottle now nearly empty, the contents being on Neji's old bandages. The woman had wrapped a new cloth around the boy's head. Her cloth was not blood stained as the other one was. Lee decided to leave it. He wouldn't be able to use it after it was so bloody.
They carried him gently back. Every time he was jolted he winced in pain. They tried to carry him more smoothly but the forest was not the easiest place to carry someone. The hospital loomed in front of them after 20 minutes of walking. Instead of leading them to the main entrance of the hospital the woman led them to the side entrance, the emergency entrance. Neji had his eyes closed and was biting his lip. His face was still pale from loosing so much blood so quickly.
"Through here." She pushed open the door and got Neji inside. She guided them through a hallway to a room filled with medical equipment. A bed was in the middle of the room with clean white sheets on it. She laid Neji down carefully and immediately motioned Lee and Tenten to step back. They obeyed and watched with widened eyes and bated breath the proceedings. First the woman pulled off the bandage. The wound was fully visible now that the bleeding had slowed to a steady trickle. Tenten covered her eyes. The woman pulled a miniature bottle of green ointment from one of the tables. She unscrewed the cap and poured a small amount onto a damp cloth.
"This might hurt a little bit." She warned, "but it will help you heal. Are you ready for me to put it on?" Neji nodded grimly and clenched his jaw. When the bleeding increased from the pressure he had no choice but to relax it. She dabbed away with the cloth. There was a slight hissing noise and Neji cried out sharply. She paused and lifted the cloth. "Do you need something to grip while I do this?" she asked, "I can't have you clenching your jaw." Neji shook his head. He tried to relax his jaw again but bit his lip instead. "That's not allowed either." She told him. "I'll find something for you to hold onto."
"That's not necessary." Tenten had moved to the side of the bed. She slipped her hand into Neji's. He smiled weakly in thanks. As the cloth descended once more Neji gripped Tenten's hand tightly. She could feel his hand go rigid. His shoulders stiffened and he tried not to cry out. Only a little cry of pain escaped his lips. Off to the side Lee bit his lip in sympathy. He knew the green ointment from experience. When he had broken his hand from learning the lotus they had put it on him. He had clenched his jaw and they hadn't noticed. Neji closed his eyes. Lee was struck again by how much blood Neji had lost. He had always known his teammate was light skinned but now, with his long, black hair around his face and the vibrant red of the blood that hadn't been wiped away, as well as the loss of blood that drained his face of color, he looked almost a ghostly white.
"That's it for the ointment." Neji opened his eyes in relief. "Now all I have to do is wrap it up again. That shouldn't hurt too much." Neji flinched at the words "too much". "Could you lift your head a little? It will only be for a moment." He lifted his head. It appeared to strain him greatly. Tenten helped him by supporting his head. The woman expertly bound up the wound. The seal disappeared from sight under the cloth she used. Neji exhaled. "Now, keep it dry. Change it twice a day and put some of this on it when you do." She handed him a bottle. "If it hurts you too much to do it yourself then find someone who will help you. It's some of the medicine that I just put on you. Apply it the same way, with a damp cloth. If the bleeding starts again then come back here. Do you understand?" Neji nodded his head but still looked anxious. "What's wrong?"
"One thing. When can I begin training again? Immediately?" the woman shook her head firmly. "Why not?"
"To begin with, your teammates tell me that you got into this condition by training yourself too hard. Besides, the technique you are trying to learn requires too much motion." Neji opened his mouth in shock. "Don't think I haven't seen the heavenly spin before. I know that you had to be learning it on your own. A medic learns a lot." Neji grudgingly acknowledged that he was trying to learn the heavenly spin. "In about a month if that wound is completely healed up then and only then may you begin training again. If it isn't fully healed then you can't begin until it is. It might scar but you can tell the difference between a scar and an open gash. Now tell me, what did you hit it on?" Neji answered and winced slightly as he moved his jaw. He tried to talk with out moving his jaw at all.
"I hit it on a rock. When I was training I fell. A jagged rock was in the way and when I fell my head twisted to one side. The rock cut my head open as I fell onto it." Tenten winced. Her eyes showed concern.
"A rock huh? That must have been very painful. In addition to slicing open your head it also chipped your skull. It shouldn't be a problem for you later. I hope not any way. When you begin training to learn the heavenly spin again, I have a feeling that you will soon, make sure to clear the rocks out of your training area. Does that sound too unreasonable?" Neji shook his head. "And don't worry, I won't tell the Main Family that you are learning that technique. It would only get you into a lot of trouble." Neji nodded in bitter agreement. He looked at the medic before sitting up. She smiled slightly and pushed aside her bangs. Neji was the only one who noticed a glimmer of teal on her forehead. He nodded slightly.
"I thought so." He said softly. Lee and Tenten looked at him in confusion. He shook his head. "It's nothing." He released Tenten's hand and she helped him to stand. Lee came closer and lent a hand also. Together, Tenten and Lee supported him as he walked out of the room. When they got out of the hospital Tenten turned her head slightly to look at her two teammates. They stopped walking also. They turned to her. Neji brushed Lee's arm off of him and stood on his own. Tenten gravely asked them about plans.
"What are we going to do? We really should tell Guy-sensei." Lee nodded but Neji rolled his eyes. "In any case, I'm going to tell him." Neji shrugged, "Then what? Neji needs to lie down. He can't keep walking around. And he can't walk on his own." Neji decided to argue the point in the hope of gaining even that minute amount of independence.
"The woman never said that. I can walk on my own. I'll give you that I have to lay down but I can get there on my own." Lee shook his head slowly. He was learning that Neji could and would be headstrong to the end. Tenten contemplated the situation. Neji tried to look begging but failed.
"All right. Fine." Neji's eyes held a self-satisfied triumph. "But there are two conditions." Neji wilted visibly. "first, I'm coming to check on you in a few hours. And I will keep checking on you until you recover. I'm going to make sure that you change your bandages and put that medicine on it." Neji sighed.
"All right. But what's the other condition? Is it something that I really won't like at all? How bad is it?" Tenten continued as if she hadn't been interrupted.
"The condition is that you tell me what that thing on your forehead is. If you won't then you have to let Hinata tell me. Either way I have to learn and it's got to be the truth that I get told." Neji shook his head.
"I was afraid that you would want to know that. Sorry, it's the one thing that I won't tell you. I don't want to be worried about me." Tenten smiled sweetly.
"Then I suppose we'll have to help you back. Lee, help me support him." Lee obediently grabbed Neji's arm. Neji rolled his eyes.
"You know, Tenten." Lee said as they half dragged Neji, "those conditions wouldn't have been satisfactory. I would have had to know also." Neji disagreed vehemently.
"I never would have told you. It would be bad enough to tell Tenten but you too…" he left the sentence unfinished.
"Then where should we take him?" asked Tenten, "I mean, we have to take him somewhere since he won't tell me." Neji ground his teeth.
"I'll ask Hinata to tell you. But first you have to leave me alone. I promise I won't go straight to training." Tenten smiled happily.
"I knew you would come around. Lee and I will leave now. Can I tell Hinata that you said it would be acceptable if she told me? Or do I have to say that you were going to ask her to?" Neji scowled. He allowed her to make the plans and waited patiently for when they would leave him alone as he desired. Lee started to interrupt but Tenten shushed him. "Neji can tell you himself when he's ready." Neji scowled.
"That will be never." He muttered in annoyance. Lee and Tenten left obediently. Neji sighed again and continued on his way to where he lived.
Lee and Tenten split up after a minute. Lee walked back toward the forest where he had been training. Tenten headed for where she knew team Kurenai trained. Sure enough she saw them there when she neared the place. Hinata was practicing kicks. Shino was gathering chakra bugs. Kiba and Akamaru were practicing a technique Tenten couldn't even understand. They had become a giant two-headed wolf. Kurenai watched and encouraged all three. Tenten stepped up to beside Hinata. Hinata looked nervously at her.
"Wh-what is it?" she asked. She tapped her fingertips together apprehensively. Tenten looked around. Kurenai glanced in their direction. She walked over to where they were standing. She cocked her head as she saw Tenten.
"Can I talk to Hinata for a moment? Something important has come up that I need to talk to her about." Tenten asked. Kurenai glanced at Hinata. Hinata nodded slightly. Kurenai nodded also. Tenten tapped Hinata on the shoulder.
"Can you come over here?" Kurenai walked away. Hinata followed Tenten. When they had reached a place secluded enough Tenten spoke.
"Something happened to your cousin earlier. When I got there he was out cold bleeding from the head. Lee was trying to take care of him and he told me what had happened. When Lee got there Neji was loosing a lot of blood from a gash across his temple. He wouldn't stop training and he collapsed. Lee wrapped it up and then I stayed with Neji while he brought a doctor. She took him to the hospital and bandaged it up again. Lee and I were helping him back to somewhere he could rest when I realized that he didn't like the arraignment. I made a deal with him. He informs me what that symbol, yes I saw it even though I don't understand it, is and I let him get back on his own. He agreed and was going to ask you to tell me. Can you?" Hinata nodded in agreement. She tapped her fingers together again.
"How badly is he hurt?" she asked, breaking the silence. "Will he be alright?" Tenten confirmed that Neji would be fine. "It's a long story. It began before either of us was born. It begins when the Hyuuga clan decided to safeguard our kekki genkai, the byakugan." Tenten nodded. She wanted to hear the story from the beginning. Hinata explained about the Main Family/Branch Family split and how Neji was a member of the lesser family. She told her about how his father died and how he had never forgiven any of them for it. She described the way he stayed aloof from every one and she imparted her theory that Neji had never fully recovered from his father's death when Neji had been an innocent, guileless, trusting four-year-old. Tenten listened with bated breath. Neji's life had been so sad. Small wonder that he never trusted anyone and refused to have hope for the future. She saw Neji as a child in her mind's eye, small and scared, trying to help his father when nothing he could do would ease his pain. She saw Neji crying when he learned that his father had died. She saw him decide that he would never cry again and vow to never let the worst find him unprepared. She imagined how bitter anger had become his only way of coping. Hinata stopped talking. Tenten thanked her. Hinata murmured words about being concerned for Neji and a hope that he would get better soon. Hinata also mentioned something that made Tenten pay attention.
"Neji might regret letting me tell you. He never liked talking to anyone. Tell him to take care of himself. Say that his father wouldn't have wanted him to die like this. Make sure he finds a way to hope. It's the only way that he can survive this." Tenten nodded and promised to pass on the message. Hinata walked back to her training while Tenten walked a little away. She slumped against a tree and let a tear drip down her cheek.
"I knew it would be too much for you to handle. That's why I never told you about me or my past." Neji's voice came from right behind her. He emerged from the brush behind Tenten. In the shadowy bushes the bandage showed like the moon on a dark night. "I heard what Hinata told you, all of it. As if she has any right to tell me not to give up, she gives up on everything." Tenten surprised him by hugging him suddenly. He looked startled for a moment before hugging her back. She buried her head in his shoulder and sobbed. She knew that Hinata had been wrong. Neji didn't need reminders of the past to keep him alive and trying to stay that way. All he needed was a little love. And Tenten intended to give him that love and caring that he needed so much.