Chapter 4: Reality Or A Dream?

"What's going on Neji?" she asked softly, her voice neutral. Neji snorted inwardly.

"You tell me." he replied. She turned to look at him, her eyes full of question.

"I don't understand." She said honestly. He remained silent for a while, gathering his thoughts and figuring out exactly what he was going to say. When he finally looked up at her, she took a sharp breath inward. There was so much emptiness, regret, and sadness in his eyes.

"You're dead."

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"What?" Hinata softly chuckled, "Neji that's impossible. I'm right here."

"No! You died! A year ago yesterday, you died!...You died right in my arms." He started out angry that she would turn this into a laughing matter, but then, remembering that day, he ended in a soft whisper. It was as if it was yesterday, her blood soaking into his clothes, staining them. Her limp body in his arms, her last words echoing in his brain. Hinata immediately regretted her joking manner after seeing how distressed he was.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, "But Neji, look at me." she said softly, gently turning his face with her small hands, lightly brushing her fingers against his cheek.

"I am no ghost." She told him softly but firmly. And how he wished that were true, but it couldn't, it just couldn't. When she saw that he still didn't believe her, she leaned forward, intending to lightly kiss him, but he leaned back away from her. Hesitation and suspicion grown in his eyes.

"You may not be a ghost, but you are not Hinata." Neji said, his voice becoming hard. "The Hinata I know is in love with Naruto, and wouldn't even dream of kissing someone else." He nearly growled at her.

"Neji, we've been through this. Naruto was just a crush." Hinata sighed with frustration.

"No we have not been through this!" Neji hissed, getting more and more angry. "We're not married. We don't have kids. You're not alive, you're dead! Hanabi had to become the heir but since she was too young Hiashi-sama had to come out of retirement to lead the clan again till she came of age…" Neji continued to ramble, being filled with confusion and panic again.

"Wait, wait, wait. Hanabi-chan isn't the heir, Hizashi is…and…" she suddenly found herself harshly pinned against the tree, Neji's eyes furious.

"What is that, some sick joke?! My father was not the heir, though he should have been! I should have been!" he yelled at her, rage consuming his mind and body.

"What?" Hinata looked at him with wide shocked eyes, "Ouch, no Neji! I wasn't talking about your father, I was talking about our son." She said urgently, beyond confused and a little hurt. Neji slowly relaxed as her words started to sink in, leaning away from her, releasing her from his strong grip. Hinata gingerly rubbed her shoulders while looking at him, perplexed.

"Hanabi-chan coming of age? How old do you think we are Neji?" she asked him.

"Twenty-one." He said, reminding her exactly how old he was. But a deep frown started to appear on her face, making him wary of his answer.

"But…Neji…that was twelve years ago." Hinata said softly. He stared at her, not wanting to believe, yet why would she lie? He knew she looked different, but he never would have guessed that it was because she was twelve years older.

"We…we were married eleven years ago. Well, almost, tomorrow will be our anniversary. Don't…don't you remember?" Hinata asked him, trying to keep her tears at bay, trying not to feel hurt that he would forget when they were going to celebrate their anniversary tomorrow.

"No…no I…but…the war…" he said aloud, trying to straighten everything out, trying to make sense of everything.

"Our wedding took place almost a year after the war." Hinata told him, panic and despair starting to take hold of her. He just sat there, looking so confused.

"You…you don't remember anything?" she asked, tears starting to fall from her eyes. But Neji's face was downcast, trying to figure things out, feeling so lost and alone, trying to keep himself sane.

"No." he said simply, softly. Hinata bit her lip and covered her face as she cried softly to herself. He could remember the far past, he obvious could remember his hatred towards her when he was younger, but he couldn't remember the first time he softly and reluctantly told her that he loved her. He couldn't remember the first time she told him that she loved him too. He couldn't remember the day their son was born, he couldn't remember how he felt when she told him that she named him after his father. He couldn't remember any of their happy times together. All he could remember was the war and her supposed death, and the animosity he held for her at the time.

"Why?" she asked softly, "Why can't you remember? Was it…was it the mission you just got back from?" she asked, feeling just as confused and lost as the man beside her. The man who looked just like her husband, who had the same name as her husband, but wasn't her husband. He was like a stranger to her now and they only got up just a half hour ago.

"I don't know. I don't remember going on any missions lately. Just the war, your death, and the year after. That's it." Neji replied, feeling exhausted. All this life and death and time skip and everything was starting to give him a headache. All of this was obviously caused by the girl who he was talking to the other day in front the of memorial stone. Either that or what she was saying was just coincidence, which he really didn't believe in.

"What I am I going to tell the children?" Hinata asked herself aloud, sighing deeply. She couldn't tell them that he wasn't their father when he didn't look any different than yesterday. But if he had no memory of them…she sighed again, she didn't know what she was going to do.

"They…they're really…" Neji stumbled, the subject of children was always awkward with him, let alone children that were supposedly made by him and Hinata.

"Yes. They are yours and mine." Hinata answered him, feeling a stab to her heart. They had gone through so many challenges and difficult times together but they pulled through, yet he couldn't remember a single one. When they were married it was arranged, she didn't love him and he didn't even like her. He had hated her and it had taken her months to gain his respect and almost a year to earn his love, and now she had to start all over again? To have his love for almost a decade, to see that side of him that no one else saw, and then suddenly have it ripped away from her…how was she supposed to deal for that? How was she supposed to react? What did she do to deserve such treatment? Sighing again, she pushed her mind away from the dark thoughts, determination building in her heart. She was not the same girl he remembered. She had been the leader of their clan ever since they were married. She was a skilled Jounin and a medic nin. She was different, older, wiser, and stronger; she would be able to get through this.

"Come on, we should be heading back. You can go ahead and get dressed and I'll…I'll talk to the children. I'll tell them…something." Hinata hesitated, wondering again just what she was going to say. Neji nodded and stood up, glad that she wasn't insisting that he be there when she talked to them. He didn't know how to talk to children, let alone ones that were supposedly his and Hinata's. Which he still found awkward, he never would have seen it coming. Sure she was built and all, but, he hated her. He just couldn't see himself do that with her.

They walked back in silence both lost in their own thoughts and trying to make sense of it all. When they got back to the compound he headed towards the bedroom while she headed towards the courtyard, pausing as she watched her son train with his grandfather. He was exactly how Neji would have been had he grown up in a happy household. Hizashi was a serious child, taking his responsibilities as the older brother and heir seriously, but he also wasn't afraid to smile or laugh. Unlike how Neji grew up, Hizashi didn't harbor any kind of hatred, any animosity. And both Neji and Hinata made sure to raise him to see the Branch House as family, not just servants to be sacrificed for him.

"Hizashi-chan." Hinata called to him. Both Hiashi and Hizashi paused and turned towards her.

"Yes Kaa-san?" Hizashi answered back.

"Come inside, I need to speak with you and your sisters." Hinata said, waiting for him to respectively bow towards his grandfather and to find his sisters. Hiashi looked towards Hinata with curiosity, he knew she wouldn't interrupt their training session just for anything, he knew by her look that it was something important.

"Everything alright?" he asked her. Hinata hesitated, unsure if she should tell him about Neji's memory loss or not. Not wanting to appear as if she couldn't handle her own life and not wanting to spread rumors about him, she decided against taking her father into her confidence.

"Yes Tou-san, everything is fine." She said trying not to look guilty. She always had a difficult lying to anyone, let alone her father.

"Hinata, you've been able to change many things about yourself…but you've never been able to lie." Hiashi said, keeping his face neutral. He was now insanely curious as to what she was hiding. Defeated, Hinata lowered her head and sighed.

"Tou-san…please…do not ask me. I cannot tell you." Hinata urged him softly

"Is it about Neji?" He asked. She looked at him with surprise which confirmed his suspicions. But before she could ask, he answered the question he knew she was going to ask him.

"The girls were a bit upset about the way he was with them this morning." Hiashi explained. Hinata nodded her head, she had witnessed the scene. Neji was naturally a hard man but he was never so with the children when there wasn't reason. The girls probably thought they did something wrong that had upset him.

"Kaa-san!" they suddenly heard two childish voices crying from across the courtyard. Looking up, Hinata could see her two daughters, Hitomi and Haruko, running towards her looking upset with their brother trailing behind them. Quickly looking at Hiashi, she silently asked him for some privacy with her family. Understanding her, Hiashi nodded and turned away.

"I'll just go see what Hanabi is up to." He murmured softly. Turning back to her children, she watched as her daughters clung to her kimono asking her questions about Neji while Hizashi stood in the background, silent as his parents.

"Ssshh hush my daughters. That is what I want to talk to you about with Hizashi." Hinata told them, trying to quiet them down.

"Is Tou-san mad at us?" Hitomi, the seven year old, asked, worried.

"I'm sorry Tou-san." Haruko whispered into the folds of Hinata's kimono. Kneeling down, Hinata gently caressed Haruko's cheek.

"He's not mad at you, he's just…not feeling well." Hinata explained, hoping they would buy it.

"Will Tou-san be alright?" Hizashi asked, concerned. Hinata looked up at him.

"He'll be fine." She told him, relieving him of his worries.

"Does Tou-san need to see Sakura-oba-san?" Haruko asked, thinking of the only doctor-like person besides her mother.

"No honey, he's just having a hard time at work. So I want all of you to be extra good, okay?" Hinata said, looking into the eyes of each one of her children. All of them nodded. Satisfied, Hinata stood up again, ushering her children off to continue whatever they were doing before she called for them. Turning back, she headed for their bedroom, finding Neji sitting, dressed, on their bed with a pensive expression. He looked up once she closed the door and leaned against it.

"What did you tell…them?" Neji asked.

"Just that you were have a hard time at work." Hinata replied walking over to the bed and sitting next to him, but making sure not to touch him. It seemed he didn't like her touching him anymore.

"Would…would you like to know about them?" she asked softly, hardly believing her own words. Neji just looked at her, but didn't say no. Taking his silence as a 'yes' she continued.

"Hizashi's ten and he just graduated from the Academy. He'll be meeting his sensei tomorrow. He's…he's a lot like…his father." She supplied, as opposed to saying 'you'. "Hitomi's seven, she's more like me, is still learning how to master her Byakugan. Whereas Haruko, she's four, she's been learning how to control it. All of them though, show great promise." Hinata told him softly. She would have added that he should be proud of them, but she didn't think he would feel that way.

Neji remained silent as while she spoke softly of these children, which were supposedly his. He inwardly shook his head. Just yesterday he was in his somewhat normal, if not, depressing life, and now he was a father of three and Hinata's husband. Her husband! And by the way he woke up this morning, by the way she acted, and the atmosphere of the compound, it didn't seem as if their supposed marriage was as he would have thought it would be. It seemed that in this lifetime he didn't hate her, he didn't lay the blame of Fate's mistake on her; in fact it was as if he was expected to…love…her.

"Maybe…maybe we should go speak with Hokage-sama about…this." Hinata said, interrupting his thoughts. Turning his head to look at her, her thoughtful expression was pointed straight ahead, not at him. "Maybe he'll know what to do." Neji could feel a small twitch in his eye at her mentioning the Hokage being a man.

"Naruto?" he asked her, wondering.

"Yes." She answered, finally looking at him. Neji smirked as his gaze wandered from hers. It seems that no matter what lifetime he was in, Naruto was destined to be the Hokage. At least that hadn't changed from the time and life he had lived yesterday, at least there was some sort of constant between the two. Agreeing with her idea, Neji nodded and stood heading towards the door.

"Wait!" Hinata cried softly, leaping up from the bed. Annoyed for delaying him, he turned a cool gaze towards her, making her stop short. To her, it had been years since she had seen that expression directed towards her. It sent a cold sharp stab to her heart confirming once again that her beloved husband was no longer with her and that in his place was a man who only held contempt for her.

"I…I have…a-a request." She stumbled and stuttered. It had been years since she had done that, but she once again felt nervous and unconfident around a man that, unknowingly, held her heart in his icy hands.

"What?" he asked, quick and sharp. He didn't have time for this, he wanted to know everything he could about what was going on. He liked this change of reality even less that the one he was in just yesterday. Yes he regretted her death and yes he wanted that off his shoulders, but he didn't think he wanted it badly enough to, not only have her back, but married to him as well. No, the reality he was in was better than this. Loneliness and darkness and order was better than this chaotic world with her by his side.

"Please…don't….don't tell anyone about this. Especially to the children." Hinata pleaded softly. Neji crossed his arms and looked at her pitiful form with harsh eyes.

"Don't insult me Hinata-sama. I am not as stupid as that." He said with a hard edge to his voice. Hinata looked away and fought back the tears that once again threatened her eyes. Her chest tightened with pain and anguish at the way he spoke to her, treated her, he was reducing her to her younger weaker self. It was his love that had made her stronger than ever, and without it, she felt as if she was once again powerless and weak.

"Is that all you had to say?" Neji asked impatiently.

"Yes." She whispered.

"Then let's go." he said before walking out the door.

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AN: OMG I am so sorry that it took me forever to upload this. I kept meaning to but with my computer out of admission, I couldn't even turn it on to retrieve my files. I hope you guys like this chapter as well as the others. I'm so excited that you guys are interested in this lil story of mine. Thank you all for your wonderful reviews. I wouldn't mind getting more, lol. Anyways enjoy and I promise that I won't take as long to upload the next chapter. Ja!