Neji's Grief

Kakashi was carrying Neji on his back. Neji had injured his legs, and was panicking. He, cool as a cucumber Neji, was terrified. Kakashi was done. He'd used all his chakra. Naruto was at his limit too, Neji could see the blue chakra draining from him. The Hidden Bone ninja were still on them. There must have been a hundred of them. One hundred against one. Naruto stopped running, looking at Kakashi and Neji. They stopped too. It was then Neji knew what he was going to do. "No!"

Naruto turned to face, the dozens of ninja coming their way, "Get him out of here, Kakashi."

"I'm not leaving!" Neji cried over the roar of the approaching force.

"Now!" He then summoned that red chakra, and threw himself into the heart of the oncoming warriors.

"No!" But Kakashi had turned and leapt in the opposite direction. "No!" Neji scrabbled trying to get his legs to struggle with the rest of them. "Let me go! Let me go after him, you coward!" Kakashi didn't look back. They stopped a mile away, Kakashi put him down, then without a word ran back toward Naruto. Neji got on his knees and began to crawl after them. Before he was even fifty feet away, a trail of blood in his wake, Kakashi returned, with the blonde in his arms. "Naruto!" Panic set in, as Kakashi laid him down on the ground next to him. He struggled to keep his calm. Those bright blue eyes looked up at him and smiled. He didn't have to say a word. Neji smoothed the blond hair, stained with blood.

"Last bastard got in a lucky blow." Neji let out a nervous laugh, it was short and raspy, "I'll be fine."

Neji's eyes filled with tears, "Liar."

Neji awoke where he remembered falling asleep. Right next to Naruto. He sat up and a blanket fell to his lap. Hinata was asleep against the grave marker. He crawled to her and nudged her gently. She opened her eyes and smiled, "You're up."

Neji nodded, "Hinata?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sad."

"Me too."

He sat back on his haunches, unable to say anything. His throat closed up, and it was hard to breath. He felt so alone next to his cousin and it made him feel guilty. He'd built up so many walls, and they all had crumbled with the loss of Naruto. It was time to remove that last brick. He needed someone right now. Who shared his grief, who could help him back to the light the way that blue eyed boy use to. He needed a companion. "I need to tell you something. I think you're the only one who can understand. I've kept a terrible secret from you. From our family. I have to tell someone or I'll burst. I have no one to confide in because of it. Please let me lean on you. I need this. I've never asked anything and I'll never ask again." Hinata nodded, confused. "Promise you won't hate me." He sounded like a child admitting he'd been bad. But there was some true sincerity in it. He truly thought she'd hate him. He was about to cry.

She rolled her eyes, "Alright. I won't hate you."

"Me and Naruto... We..." He looked at the grave and took a breath. "We were... lovers."

Silence. Five long, excruciating minutes of total, deadpan silence. Suddenly she throws her arms around her cousin's waist. Neji who was about to cry, blinked in disbelief, "Hinata?"

"Look at me, wallowing in my self pity. Oh, Neji forgive me! I didn't see it. I swear if I did I would have-"

"Hinata! Don't you see! I've committed a major sin! I've slept with a man, loved a man, held a man, touched a man! Uncle would never forgive me! He'd never-" He cut himself off. "I've sent Naruto to hell. The purest person I know is going to hell and it's all my fault." He returned Hinata's hug. He'd never been so close to his cousin, let alone a girl. But the need for comfort, for companionship was far to great. "Hinata... Why don't you hate me?"

"Because you made Naruto happy. I thought it was just your friendship, but you gave him your heart. That means the world to me that it put that spark I saw in him back. I loved him to Neji. As much as I wanted him to love me back, I preferred him happy."

"You don't think it's wrong, because we're both-"

"No. Not if you loved him. There's to much hate and suffering in this world. I think love should be encouraged. No matter who it is between. Life is to short not to give all the love we can." She sighed, relaxing for the first time. "What did he say?... Before he died, I mean."

"He said he loved me deeper. Better. More."

"More than who?"

That caused the tears to overflow, "Sasuke..." He let out a short sob, "I'd never said I feared he hadn't let him go. Never aloud, anyway. I still can't believe he knew." He squeezed her, "I'm such an idiot!..." He sighed, "You're a good person Hinata."

"You are too. I wish I could help."

"You have... You do. You're here aren't you. You could have just left me alone."

"No I couldn't. I know what it feels like to be alone. I don't think I could ever let someone feel that way."

It was then Neji saw it. A note, and an urn with S.U. and a fan engraved in the side, were on the gravestone.