A/N: In this chapter I decided that Neji wouldn't remember much about the fever, so just kind of disregard the last chapter when something about the last time he woke up is mentioned… kayy.
Also, because I never said it earlier, I don't own Naruto, or any of the characters. But if I owned Neji, he would have a lot more screen time, and Naruto would have like a ¼ of what he has.
Blah conversation
Blah Author's note
Blah Neji's thoughts
Chapter 8
Neji twitched his eyes, and slowly woke up. He felt groggy, but better than the last time he remembered waking up. He looked up at the IV pole. Four IVs, and none are red… They must have finished my blood transfusion then… He turned his head to get a glass of water, but… "NEJI!" The Hyuga blinked at the bowl cut hair styled boy.
"HOW ARE YOU FEELING? YOU LOOK SO MUCH BETTER! I CAN NOT WAIT UNTIL YOU ARE REALESED AND WE CAN SPAR EACH OTHER AGAIN!" The boy went on and on, being as loud as possible. Neji cringed at the sound of his voice and moaned slightly. "Lee, this is a hospital. Please keep your voice down," Neji pleaded. Lee acknowledged his teammate's request, "Oh yes! I am so sorry Neji! I shall keep my voice down, or I will make myself do 1000 push-ups!" The Hyuga rubbed his eyes, "That's not necessary, but thanks for understanding," Neji tried to sit up but struggled greatly, luckly, Lee was nice enough to help him, "Thanks, Lee... Can you hand me a glass of water?" Lee turned around to grab the glass, leaving the bedside table in view for the Hyuga to see a digital clock. Neji took note of the time, "Is... Is it really 11:30(A/N:a.m)?" Lee looked at the clock, " It appears to be so." The Hyuga's eyes widened. "I've been asleep for over 12 hours?" He asked, remembering he had fallen asleep around 5 pm. "Oh-no! You have been asleep much longer than that!" Lee responded. "What? No. Yesterday, Tenten, a-and you, and Gai-Sensei came to visit me, right? A-and then Shizune came in and you all left, then she talked to me and after that… after that, Hiashi-sama came in. Then I fell asleep around 5… Right?" Lee could only stare with his mouth slightly open. Neji was now very concerned, "Well?" Lee blinked and responded, "Neji… you have been unconscious for 2 days now. Do you not remember what happened?" Neji dim-wittedly shook his head no. "Well, you had a very terrible fever the other day." Neji just stared at Lee. "It was quite bad, 107° at its worse. Lady Tsunade said that she woke you up, but you were unresponsive for most of it. Eventually, they took you into the hospital showers and ran cold water over you until your temperature went down. Afterwards, no visitors were allowed for the rest of the day and all of yesterday."
Neji was dumbfounded. He didn't understand. How could he, a genius, get so sick? "That can't be possible. I'm never sick. I haven't been sick since we were in the Academy, and even then, it was only a slight cold. How could I get so ill so quickly?" He questioned Lee. Neji took a sip of his water and handed it back to his teammate and waited for a response. "Gai-Sensei said it had something to do with an allergic reaction to a medicine they gave you, to ease your back pain." Lee responded. Neji soaked in all the information. Then he winced slightly at the pain in his chest. Damn. It still hurts to breathe. "Neji, are you alright? You are breathing very heavily." The Hyuga snapped out of his thoughts, "Hn? Oh, yes. It's just hard to breathe…sometimes. Where's Tenten and Gai-Sensei?" "Right here!" The Handsome Green Beast stormed into the Hyuga's room. "GAI-SENSEI!" "LEE!" "GAI-SENSEI!" "LEE!"
The Hyuga had experienced this scene a thousand times, in fact, if he wasn't bedridden, he could probably take over for Lee or Gai. But instead, he just mouthed what the 'green beasts of Konoha' said. The Green Beasts went on for about 5 minutes, until Neji decided to interrupt. "Where's Tenten?" Gai and Lee paused their ritual and turned to the bed occupant. "She's on a mission with Shino and Hinata to the Village hidden in the Wind. They should be back by tonight though," answered Lee. The Hyuga simply nodded, followed by a wince of pain. Gai acknowledge this slight discomfort. "Lee, why don't you go get us some Ichiraku Ramen? Neji, do you want anything? You must be starving!" The Hyuga blinked, hn. Must have been lost in thought again. (A/N: Guess which certain brunette he was think of! ;D) "Ugh, no. I-I'm fine," he replied. "Nonsense! You deserve it!" said his sensei. Neji shifted a bit and winced again, "No, it's fine. I don't really like Ichiraku. It's a bit too spicy for me." Gai nodded, "Very well then. Lee! I want you back here in under 30 minutes or else you have 500 pushups on each arm!" "YES GAI-SENSEI!" And on that note, Lee sprinted out of the hospital.
Gai looked back to his student. Neji stared back, breathing heavily, and wincing every now and then. "I'm proud of you Neji." The Hyuga showed no emotion. "Not many genin make it out alive of their first A-ranked mission," his sensei continued. "Yes, well, it wasn't exactly a walk in the park," Neji replied with a smirk. Gai smiled and sat down next to the bed. The Hyuga tried to turn slightly, but to no prevail. Instead he cringed in pain. "Your shoulder still hurts?" The Sensei said. It was more of a statement rather than a question. No idiot. I nearly died, and spending part of my life in the ICU because I like the scenery of the room. My physical pain has nothing to do with it. Neji thought, but instead he said, "Y-yes. Mostly when I move around." Gai nodded, "Is anything else really hurting?" No. I think being treated like a cabob feels therapeutic. In fact I'm better than ever. Let's go train. "I'm fine…" he said. The Jonin stared at him. Neji stared back. Go ahead stare. I can play this game all day. I'm fine with the silence.
"You don't need to use your shoulder to sit up."
"What's your point?"
"Something else hurts"
"So what if something does?"
"I'm your Sensei; I need to know these things."
"You're not a doctor."
(A/N: Yupp. They're still staring at each other. Think of the staring contest they have in Shippuden 12 (I think that's the episode))
"I need to know what type of training you'll be able to do."
"Oh please." Neji scoffed.
"What?"
"You've been watching Lee train since before the Chunin exams. Tenten and I have being training by ourselves. I'm very capable of finding a way to train that won't stress my injuries."
"I always help you and Tenten."
"Hn. That was when we had just graduated from the Academy and you barely knew us."
"I still help you and Tenten all the time. In fact I watched you two spar 2 days before you left on the mission."
"That was only because, Lady Tsunade told Lee not to do any training the day before surgery. And even then, you ended training 4 hours early so you could keep Lee company."
"Neji, Lee's surgery had only a 50% chance of working, and the other 50% could have caused his death! I'm surprised at your selfishness!" Gai said, somewhat shocked at his student.
"Oh really? I was considered dead for 2 minutes during my surgery. Speaking of which, where were you when I was in surgery a few days ago?" Gai was dumbfounded, shocked at Neji's rebuttal. "Hn. That's what I thought. And where were you when Tenten woke up in the hospital after losing to Temari?"
"Neji, she was fine. Lee was seriously injured."
"I still found time to visit both of them, and I was still training for the finals. You know… the finals that could have made me a chunin. Everyone in the final examination had their own Sensei, except for me. My Sensei, was too busy caring for another teammate who, by the way isn't a baby, he could get around on his own. But instead, I had to practice with a certain kunoichi, who doesn't even compare to my physical and mental strengths. You know, I could have beaten Naruto if I had a proper Sensei helping me. Then I could have been captain on the retrieval mission, and maybe this wouldn't have happened to me." Alright, maybe that's a bit too unrealistic… but still...
Had Gai not been so caught off guard by Neji's comments, he probably would have laughed it off, thinking that Neji was simply jealous. However, that is not the case. Gai took note that Neji's heart monitor was speeding up slightly. He didn't want Neji to hurt himself even more, so he tried his best to calm him down. "I…. I never knew you felt so strongly about this Neji. But you must understand that I try to spend an equal amount of time with all 3 of you."
If Neji had pupils, he would've rolled his eyes at Gai. "Oh please, don't make me laugh."
"Why is that?"
Neji was surprised. What the hell. Are you serious? It's pretty damn obvious to everyone else. I was right; you are just like a child, so naïve to the world around you. "You don't spend an equal time with us at all. In fact, if I had to guess, I'd say you spend about 80% with Lee, 15% with Tenten, and maybe 5% with me… and that's been generous."
Neji's heart monitor was speeding up again, this time a bit faster. His student also seemed to be breathing quite hard. Gai wasn't sure what to do. "Neji. You don't quite understand. Lee…. Lee doesn't have the natural talent you have. Being a shinobi doesn't come easy to him. He works at it, and needs a lot of help. Tenten, although very clever and strong, needs help too. As for you, you are the best on the team Neji! You're a true genius. Techniques and Justus come easy to you, and you learn quickly. You're more independent and more obedient than the rest, which are impressive traits!"
Neji just stared at the man. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He pushed his hair out of his face, and looked up at the ceiling…. Well he meant to be seeking heaven, but anyone else would say he stared at the ceiling. "Wow… you really don't get it do you?"
Gai was slightly confused. "What do you mean?" he said, trying to remain as calm as possible, for the Hyuga's sake.
"Being independent isn't a trait. It's not something that you inherit. You learn it. And when your own mum (A/N: Sorry, I'm an Aussie.) dies when you're born, and your father dies for his clan when you are only 4, you learn to be independent. You don't have a choice. Not when you're a Hyuga at least. No one will have symphony for you, because to them, these things happens all the time. And when you're threatened with a simple hand sign that you know will cause unimaginable pain, because you didn't bow to a Main House Member, you learn to be obedient. That's because nothing is more embarrassing than being frightened by a simple stare, or a flick of the wrist, and I'd rather be obedient than embarrassed any day. You see? I wasn't born with those 'traits'… they were burned into me." Neji's big silvery eyes glistened as tears filled them. He undid the bandages hiding his curse mark.
Gai was stunned. He had never heard Neji talk so much, after all, he wasn't much of a talker. He knew the boy had a hard life, and that his talents weren't rewarded in his clan. He couldn't relate to the boy's pain. Both of Gai's parents were still alive, living on the other side of town, so he didn't know what it felt like to be an orphan. Even though Neji technically lived with the rest of his clan, and therefore not an orphan, but nevertheless he was still parentless. He knew the boy missed his father very much, and he understood why he resented Hinata, even though the girl had done nothing wrong. But most importantly, Gai realized Neji was right.
"Neji… I…."
And of course, when the going gets tough…. Lee enters the room.
"GAI SENSEI! I HAVE RETURNED WITH LUNCH! AND IT HAS ONLY BEEN 22 MINUTES AND 12 SECO-" Lee realized he had interrupted a very serious conversation. After all, he had NEVER seen his Hyuga teammate cry, and he almost never saw his curse mark. Not even in the Academy. Neji would wrap a bandage around it, which made Lee think he was abused at home. That was until he was put on his team, and he learned the truth one day when Neji fell out of tree, and hit his head. He had fallen unconscious, and Gai had removed his forehead protector to see if Neji had a concussion. When he woke up, Neji immediately covered the mark with his hand, and refused to tell them about it until they gave him his forehead protector back. (A/N: Sorry, I always wanted to know how his team found out and I thought that was a good way I guess :) Now back to the story.) "Did I interrupt something?" Lee asked, being much quieter than before.
Neji's heart monitor was much faster than before, and he was having much harder time breathing. He was clearly in pain, both physically and mentally. "No Lee. In fact, Gai-Sensei and you were just leaving," Neji said, trying to give them both a hint. Gai acknowledged it, while Lee was still confused. "But I thought we-" Lee started, but Gai stopped him, "He's right Lee. Let's give Neji a rest. The last thing he needs is us two loud mouths disturbing him." Lee nodded and headed out the door, "I'll see you later Neji, get better soon." Neji nodded in response. Then he winced as he tried to lie back down. "Would you like some help?" Gai offered. Neji couldn't even look at the man, "I've been independent for most of my life… I'm very capable of lying back down by myself." Actually, some help would be great, but I'm not going to admit it to him. So instead, Neji endured the pain, and turned away from the door and Gai, refusing to make eye contact with either. "Very well, I'll visit again later on. Get well." And on that note, Gai stood up and walked out the door, closing it behind him.
How was that? I always thought Neji would have something against Gai. I didn't really mean to make him sound jealous, if he did… I also decided I really haven't emphasized Neji's attitude at all, which is why I wrote this up. Please comment your thoughts! I'm open to constructive criticism, but please don't be rude! Thanks! ;D