Kissing Cousins

Neji felt the sticky trickle of blood flow from his side, his arm shaking violently as he tried to staunch it. Water leaked into his vision, and it burned and blurred the crowd of enemies closing in. They were a black mass, a swarm of insects all scurrying at the stench of death and decay. Hours, he thought desperately, it'd been hours now since the siege began, as he struggled to will the Byakugan back into life. His only reassurance was the pressure of his teammate at his back. Neji knew she was equally tired, equally as tapped, his sluggish voice trying to break the seal of his mouth with words of...what? Encouragement?

He laughed in humorless cynicism, wracked with pain as he sagged a little more against the girl behind him. No, he thought, he'd leave the enigmatic speeches up to Uzumaki and those of his ilk. It was strange how Neji suddenly wished for Lee, of all people, to appear with challenges of bravery and strength.

"Neji-nii...?" That soft voice had his stomach roiling and adrenaline pumping to a crescendo, as he took down forty-three more Nin. He was sure his leg was broken, and the enemy just wouldn't stop coming. A warm and slick fluid oozed down his hip, and Neji dully realized that his puncture had torn open again.

"Keep going, Hinata-san." He panted, darting forward to use his trademark three-sixty rotation, killing at least fifty-two more.

The Nin were like rivers though - utterly unending.

Neji stumbled back into his safety, back to back with Hinata, before finally caving to one knee and coughing up wet chunks of blood. He didn't even need the Byakugan to know he was probably hemorrhaging internally. It was becoming difficult to breathe and in his exhaustion, every plane of the forest that surrounded their village looked twisted and surreal.

What the hell was he fighting to save?

"Brother. Rest for a moment, and let me protect you from here." The coolness of Hinata's shadow brushed across his face, blocking out the loud tattoo of rain and granting him a moment's reprieve. His cold, pale eyes moved over her slim body, as she slipped the heavy Chunin jacket from her shoulders and tightened the hie-ate around her head. The glare of her white tank top blinded him for a second, a second that jumbled words in his head like savior and angel, forgiveness and redemption.

Were he only worthy of Hinata's brand of redemption.

"Hinata...no, you know you're, you can't, Hyuuga - " Neji slammed his mouth shut for a moment, fighting for a scrap of the callousness he was so well known for, "You are weak, Hinata-sama. Try...try to run back towards the village, or another Shinobi. Help them."

It was as if the rain had suddenly stopped and everything but the two of them had disappeared into a puff of smoke. In an instant he knew he'd said something taboo; an understanding that with his careless words he'd torn down, revealing both their vulnerabilities.

She tilted a sad eye over her shoulder, both condemning him and forgiving him in a single glance. "We already know I will never reach your level brother, but to tell me to abandon my duty, my honor...you, for the sake of my own pathetic life is not just cruel...it's heartless."

In another time, in another place, Neji would have muttered his humblest apologies as was expected of the lower branch, all while still arrogantly holding his cousin's gaze. In another time, another place, he was thirteen years old and angry at the world, the world being Hinata and everything she'd represented.

He was glad it was neither that time nor place, and gifted her with a small smile, one she blushed insanely at. Hinata couldn't have been more pleased had he gallantly declared his undying love for her.

Okay, she thought shyly, perhaps that was going a little overboard.

"Ano, wait for me Neji-kun. I have a feeling we will both go down together."

She only heard a soft chuckle and the barest of touches graze the back of her neck.

Leaning down, Hinata raised an arm and with the stark intensity she would've been shocked to find resembled her cousin's, cried for the Byakugan.

In another time, in another place, do you think we could've been...?

A/N - reviews are always welcome. It was...sad, I think. Let me know if you'd like a happier follow up.