Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto there would be Byakuugan babies everywhere! So I guess it's not mine.

Hinata- 17/going on 18

Neji- 19

Warnings: Language


Fate is an elegant, cold-hearted whore
She loves salting my wounds
Yes, she enjoys nothing more

-The Spill Canvas, Polygraph, Right Now


Chapter 6: For Your Precious Person

Just as Hinata had predicted, the whole village knew by the next day that she was pregnant. This included the nurses in the pediatrics ward, who apparently didn't know how to keep their gossip quiet from the children. So when Hinata walked in for her shift at noon, a dozen small hands immediately grabbed at her, smiling faces asking breathlessly if she was really going to have a baby. This had resulted in her spending nearly ten minutes letting the children touch her rounded belly and answering different questions they had about pregnancy and giving birth (a few of which she had to tactfully steer away from).

She worked her eight hour shift and offered to stay longer since they were short-handed, but was immediately shooed away. No one was about to let a pregnant woman work more than she already had, so she leisurely made her way home, deciding to stop and eat somewhere rather than cook that night since Neji was gone on a mission. She opted for ramen, paused and found the baby agreed with her choice, and headed for Ichiraku's. When she got there she was pleasantly surprised to see Lee and Tenten.

"Hinata-chan!" Lee crowed the moment he spotted her. "What are you doing out so late on this fine evening?"

Hinata smiled wanly at Lee as she took a seat and didn't bother to point out that eight o'clock really wasn't that late. "I just got d-done with my shift at the hospital, so I th-thought I'd get some dinner."

"Oh? Shouldn't you be home cooking for Neji?"

Hinata raised an eyebrow at Tenten in surprise. Not really from the question itself, but more from the way she had asked. Like she was annoyed by something. "Ah, n-niisan is on a mission."

"For ANBU?" Lee asked excitedly, and Hinata nodded. She liked how the fact that Neji was even in ANBU was supposed to be a secret; and how the Konoha twelve had thrown him a congratulations party the day after he had been accepted.

"Niisan?" Tenten laughed, but it was far from a kind or happy sound. "You still call him that after you've slept with him?"

Hinata paused, a bit startled by the callous words and scorn in the older girl's voice. "I... it... i-it's more of a n-nickn-name than anything else. I've j-just called him that s-s-since we were children." And I also never really slept with him...

"Heh." Tenten took a sip of her drink, eyes cold as she observed the Hyuuga girl. "So exactly how long have you and Neji been screwing each other?"

Lee gave his teammate a look of pure shock, and Hinata blanched a little, starting to feel very uncomfortable. "Ex-excuse me?"

"Well, that is what you were doing right? Screwing? Because Neji said himself last night that you two were never really dating." She offered the smaller girl a sweet smile, but it was obviously fake. "What's wrong? Can't you get a real boyfriend, Hinata-chan? Is that why you decided to fool around with Neji?"

"Tenten!" Lee admonished, looking very angry with the leering brunette. "That is not appropriate conversation, nor is it any of your business to pry into the lives of our friend and teammate."

Tenten didn't even bother to glance his way. "Relax, Lee, it's not like I'm saying anything that isn't true. Right, Hinata-chan?"

"W-w-well... I..." Hinata felt like she wanted to cry. Why was Tenten being so mean?

"Though it is kinda sad you couldn't just wait until you had a real boyfriend. I mean, normally only whores wouldn't be able to control themselves, right?"

Lee looked absolutely horrified and Hinata felt a little sick to her stomach. Why would her friend, Neji's friend, do this?

"Um..." Hinata looked up to see Ayame watching at her apprehensively. "Sorry to interrupt... Did you want to order something, Hinata-san?"

Hinata opened and closed her mouth several times, but no sound came out. Finally, "Sumimasen, Ayame-s-san, but I h-have to be g-going now." The girl jumped down from her stool, ignoring how her pregnancy made that a bit awkward, and took off after shooting once last glance Tenten's way. The girl was smirking maliciously at her, and she didn't understand.

She heard Lee call out to her to have a good night, but her mind didn't really register the kind gesture, too stuck on Tenten's odd behavior. Odd, hurtful behavior. Shit. Is that what everyone thinks? That I'm a whore?

She shook her head, immediately dismissing the idea. Maybe some other people did think that, but not everyone. Hinata was positive Ino didn't think that way, knew her boys didn't think that way. With the way Lee was looking at Tenten, she was pretty sure he didn't think that way. Naruto had been too genuinely happy the night before to think that way.

She made herself calm down and take a deep breath. Even if some people did think that, not everyone did. She still had friends on her side no matter what. She still had Neji on her side no matter what. She smiled. That's right, she always had Neji.

Besides, she would do whatever it took to keep her baby safe, even if that meant being called a whore. There were a lot worse things she could be called, after all. It was just surprising how much those words hurt when they came from a friend.

Unfortunately for her, things didn't get much better the next day. She slept horribly, nightmares plaguing her relentlessly, so when she woke she was already in a bad mood and still exhausted. Her shift at the hospital started at seven, and it was a rough day. For some reason they seemed inundated with children with broken bones and cracked skulls.

Then, when she was in the middle of healing a boy's fractured arm, her chakra had decided to take a nosedive and completely sputter out, forcing her to stop half-way. This in turn caused some slight (and she did mean slight because she'd already numbed the whole area) discomfort for the boy, and just her luck he was a whiny little brat. His mother had had a fit when her kid started complaining of being in 'unbearable pain', and went on a rampage about how incompetent the hospital staff was. Hinata, too tired to put up any sort of defense, had simply allowed the woman to berate her until Tsunade-sama herself had appeared out of nowhere. She'd personally fixed the boy's arm and sent the mother a withering glare, asking in an overly nice voice if the woman had a complaint with any of her staff. Then she'd sent Hinata home two hours early, assuring her that she wasn't being punished, she just obviously needed some rest. Hinata was torn between being ashamed of herself and grateful towards the Hokage.

That was when the worst part of Hinata's day came waltzing out of the compound just as she reached it. Hanabi turned to her older sister with a sneer and said, "Hello, neechan, how are you?"

Hinata sighed and said wearily, "I'm f-f-fine, imouto. And yours-self?"

"Oh, I'm okay. Heard something weird in the market earlier, though."

"Oh?" Hinata wasn't sure she wanted to know where this was going. Things rarely went well when her sister decided to talk to her, and with the obnoxious little smile she had on, there was no doubt in her mind this time would be no different.

"Hai. Something about you and getting knocked up." Hanabi batted her eyes prettily at her older sister and gave her a fake pout. "Neechan, why didn't you tell me you were pregnant?"

Hinata scowled. So that's where the brat had been going. She should have expected this. "G-gomenasai, imouto, it must have sl-slipped my m-mind. Well, now you know."

She attempted to make a clean getaway but only made it a few steps when Hanabi said condescendingly, "So I heard it was Neji's. Really, neechan? Stooping so low as to fuck a branch house member? Even you could do better than that."

Something inside Hinata snapped. Without thinking twice, she turned and pinned her startled sister to the fence surrounding the compound, wrenching her arm painfully behind her back and smashing her face into the wood unforgivingly. She had absolutely no chakra at her disposal, but it didn't matter, she didn't need it. She'd already gotten Hanabi pinned and could use the angle and her superior weight to keep her in place. And if Hanabi struggled too much and tried to get out of this particular hold, she would snap her own arm in two. She wasn't going anywhere, something the younger girl quickly caught onto. "What the hell, Hinata?"

"Let's get one thing straight," Hinata hissed, sick and tired of her sister's superiority complex. "I don't care what you say about me, I never have. You go around with your nose in the air and keep telling yourself how wonderful you are, how much better you are than me. Whatever makes you happy, imouto." She leaned close so she was whispering directly into Hanabi's ear now. "But I will not tolerate you speaking down about Neji-niisan. He is your cousin, your elder, a jounin and ANBU, and he has earned your complete respect. So you had better pray that I never hear you've spoken of him in that manner ever again, are we clear?"

Hanabi nodded, scratching her own face against the rough wood, a frantic look in her eyes. "H-hai, neechan, we're clear. I won't do it again."

"Good." Hinata released her little sister, watching as the girl slowly turned, still looking terrified. Apparently having your sweet, older sister, who's never even contradicted you before, suddenly attack you when you always thought they were weak and harmless was a scary experience. Hinata just smiled brightly before chirping, "Have a lovely day, Hanabi-chan," and bouncing away, completely ignoring their old aunt who was standing there frozen after having come out and witnessed the whole thing. She was just too damn tired to care.

The Hyuuga heiress managed to take a short nap before another nightmare woke her, and she found herself not wanting to sleep anymore, despite how tired she was. So instead she started making dinner a good two hours earlier than she usually did, purposely choosing a recipe she normally didn't bother with because of its time-consuming preparation.

Just as she was finishing up, a hand fell onto her shoulder with no warning, making her yelp and spin around, kunai in hand. "Niisan!"

"Gomen," the startled boy said immediately when he realized he'd scared her. "I thought you would have sensed me. Your chakra's not working again?"

Hinata snorted, turning back to stir the pot on the stove. "Not at all, it's disg-gusting. H-h-how was your mission, n-niisan?"

"Oh, it was all right. Uneventful luckily."

"Th-that's good. Well, you c-can go take a bath. Dinner will be r-r-ready when you're d-done."

"In a minute."

Blinking in surprise, she turned to see Neji giving her the strangest look. Like she was a complex puzzle he just had to figure out. "Niisan? I-is something wrong?"

He stared for a moment longer. "Hinata-sama... did you attack Hanabi?"

"Ah." Hinata felt her face light up like a Christmas tree and pointedly turned back to her cooking. "Well, I wouldn't r-really call it 'attacked'. More I j-just... made sure sh-she didn't leave while I helped her s-see the error of her ways."

"And how did you do that?"

"I pinned her to a fence."

Neji's eyebrows raised, but he showed no other outward signs of surprise. "I see. And why did you find the need to suddenly do all this?"

"I-I... it's s-s-stupid really. I don't w-want to talk about it." There was no noise for at least a minute and she actually thought Neji must have left the room to wash up until he said, "Hinata-sama if there's something-"

"Look, I was having a bad day all right?" the girl snapped, slamming the wooden spoon she'd been holding down onto the stovetop. "Last night Tenten called me a whore, I got absolutely no good sleep, I messed up at work because my chakra completely disappeared, I got sent home early, and then that little brat just had to go and run her mouth off about you. I know I shouldn't have done it, and I know it was risky for the baby if she'd managed to hit me, but I was so fed up with everything. So excuse me if I lost my temper a little bit."

The silence after her outburst was deafening, and she found herself slowly feeling very silly for suddenly acting like that. Especially since Neji was staring at her stupidly, like she'd just grown not one but three extra heads. Finally, "Hanabi was talking about me? That's why you... helped her see the error of her ways?"

"I... m-maybe." The girl bit her lip and carefully studied the ground, too embarrassed to look him in the eye. "You've been so g-good to me, niisan, and... and I don't think it's r-r-right to let anyone t-talk about you. Esp-pecially Hanabi. She has n-n-no right to... to..." Okay, she was rambling and sounding stupid and she knew it. But she couldn't really explain how she felt. She didn't truly understand it herself. She just knew that when Hanabi had started talking bad about Neji, she had lost it. Had needed to defend him.

"Hinata-sama, there's no need for you to fight with your sister over me." He gave her a small, kind smile. "I'm not worth the trouble."

"B-but that's just it, you a-a-are worth the trouble. After..." After what? After he'd been helping her? No, it wasn't just that.

He smiled again and reached out to pat her on the head like a small child. "You don't have to worry about repaying me for anything, cousin. I'm only doing this because I want to help you."

"And I only stood up to Hanabi on your behalf because I wanted to. Your helping me aside, you're one of my most precious people."

The hand resting on top of her head tensed, and she looked up to see him staring intensely at her face, lips slightly parted. The last time he'd looked at her like this was their fight during the Chuunin Exams, but this... this was different. There was no hatred in those eyes this time, his silvery pale orbs smouldering with something else. Something she couldn't place.

The hand slowly trailed downwards, running thin fingers delicately through the length of her indigo hair, the intimate motion making her shiver. He repeated the action several times, eyes drawing her in, refusing to let her go. Her breath hitched when his hand came to rest on her cheek, she could feel her own heartbeat pounding in her chest, hear it thumping in her ears. She couldn't think, couldn't move, couldn't blink as he leaned forward slowly, closer, closer, as his hot breath hit her face, her lips. So close...

As if waking from a genjutsu, Neji's eyes took on a sudden clarity, and he immediately veered away from his intended destination. Pressing a quick, chaste kiss to the girl's forehead instead he murmured, "Thank you, Hinata-sama," before retreating.

Hinata's breath came back to her with a sudden whoosh and she felt her knees go weak. Allowing herself to sink down to the ground, she leaned her back against a counter, trying to figure out what the hell had just happened. Neji had almost kissed her. Neji had almost kissed her. But more than that... she had wanted him to kiss her. She had been given ample time to push him away, to make him stop. Instead she had gotten excited, waited for it to come. She could still feel her heart fluttering rapidly against her ribs, pulse still going a mile an hour. What the hell did this mean?

Neji filled the tub with hot water before sitting on the toilet seat and just staring at the steaming mass. Baka! How could you be so stupid?

He had promised himself he would try and maintain some distance between himself and Hinata. He had sworn after last time he wouldn't do anything like that again. And what had he gone and done? Only tried to kiss her, that's all. He buried his face in his hands. What the hell was he doing?

Of course, Hinata's reaction hadn't escaped him either. It was most definitely different than when he'd held her before. She hadn't pushed him away, hadn't made any sort of complaint. Quite the opposite, she'd seemed completely willing. But then, hadn't it started out that way the first time?

Neji knew he shouldn't be risking everything he'd worked towards on a hunch that maybe Hinata felt something for him. Because if he was wrong, and she looked at him as only a friend and cousin, everything would be ruined. She would never trust him again, wouldn't want his help. He had promised himself he would do what was best for her, promised her teammates he wouldn't hurt her. And he knew he didn't deserve her. But...

He groaned into his palms, completely confused and feeling like a fool. He didn't know anymore what he should do.

~To protect what's precious~

Neji had decided, after seeing how sporadic Hinata's chakra was being, that it was time to take leave from ANBU and any missions that would take him out of the village. He didn't plan on sitting around and watching her all day, but he didn't want to risk being gone days or even weeks at a time anymore either. She was vulnerable right now, and she would also be getting bigger and exhibiting more of the uncomfortable signs of pregnancy. He wanted to be around to help her and be close enough that he could return to her immediately if there was a problem. Even if that meant spending most of his time on guard duty at the gate or taking shifts in the mission room, jobs normally reserved for chuunin.

Now, however, he was completing one final mission out of the village with Team Gai. It should only take about two days, but even so he couldn't help but feel a bit apprehensive. When he'd left Hinata she still had absolutely no chakra whatsoever, and this set him a little on edge. Well, that and the fact that Tenten was being... a bitch.

He didn't like to call her that, and she very rarely was one, but right now she was acting like it. It was all too apparent, even Lee and Gai had noticed, and Neji honestly couldn't think of what he had done to deserve the cold treatment she was giving him. After about an hour of her glares and harsh words, something else came to mind, something he hadn't thought much about because of all the other shit that was going through his head. Hadn't Hinata said Tenten had called her a whore?

That seemed very out of character for his teammate, but he could think of no reason why Hinata would lie. And given Tenten's current behavior... something was obviously up. Something that was clearly bothering one of his best friends, and he felt it was time to find out what exactly that something was and fix it. So when they stopped to eat he felt it was the perfect opportunity to have a little chat. "Tenten?"

"Yes, Neji?"

"What's wrong with you?"

Tenten glared at him from across the small clearing they were sitting in, then slowly fixed her brown eyes on the bento in his hands. "That looks like a very nice lunch, Neji."

One eyebrow raised. "Yes, it is."

"Does it taste good?"

Two eyebrows raised. "Yes, it does."

"I'm glad. Did she spend a lot of time making it?"

Neji pursed his lips. "This is about Hinata-sama."

"Why yes, it is."

"You're jealous."

The girl's hackles immediately raised and if looks could kill Neji would have been dead ten times over. "No, I'm not jealous of Hinata-sama. I was happy that you'd at least found someone to fuck around with."

Neji felt himself tense a bit at the words, sharply reminding himself that she was supposed to think he had fooled around senselessly with Hinata. "Then I'm afraid I don't understand why you're acting like this." He did his best to ignore the two green-clad shinobi who were pretending not to listen in.

Tenten laughed, and it was a very bitter sound. "Our relationship wasn't going anywhere, Neji, and I knew that. That's why I wasn't upset when you broke up with me... three months ago."

Neji continued to wait, not understanding what the problem was. If she had realized, as he had, that they were better off as friends, why was she behaving this way now? It was completely irrational.

"It was only three months ago that you two broke up?" Lee asked suddenly, no longer feigning ignorance to the situation. And he looked absolutely shocked for some reason.

"That's right," Tenten spat, "three months ago."

Neji just kept staring, though he was now acutely aware of the somewhat horrified and disgusted looks he was getting from his male teammate and sensei. He still didn't understand what was going through their minds. What did his 'relationship' with Hinata have to do with this? And what was the whole 'three months ago' thing about, what difference did that make?

"I'll admit, I didn't even catch on right away." Tenten actually looked like she might start crying now. "You could have just ended it sooner, you know. I would have preferred that to..." She bit her lip and looked away, eyes misty. Neji had the strongest urge to try and comfort her, but he was apparently the reason she was upset in the first place. And he still didn't know why.

"Neji, how could you?" Lee demanded.

Neji stared helplessly.

"How could you cheat on our dear Tenten?"

Neji was never more grateful for his years of practice at schooling his emotions, because he couldn't even begin to imagine the expression he would have had otherwise. Cheat? He would never cheat on anyone, especially not Tenten. The whole idea was low-class and far beneath him. She'd said herself, several times, he broke up with her three months ago. He'd only started his 'relationship' with Hinata a little over a month ago so... Oh shit.

For a supposed genius, Neji suddenly felt very, very stupid. How could he have been so careless? Hinata was now in her fifth month of pregnancy. A pregnancy everyone thought he had caused. A pregnancy that was conceived when he was still dating Tenten. How could he have missed that when he was planning everything out?

"Tenten... I'm very sorry..." Shit, how was he supposed to fix this? No wonder she was so angry with him.

"Oh, save it, Neji! I don't want to hear that you're sorry!"

Fuck, she was crying. What should he do? "Tenten... really, I-"

"Just shut up, Neji! I don't want to hear it!" She took off then, leaping up into the trees. Neji watched her go feeling sick to his stomach, debating whether or not to go after her. She was one of his dearest friends, and he'd hurt her. He really didn't think she should be alone...

"I am very disappointed in you, Neji. This is not something I would expect from my eternal rival."

Neji turned his gaze to Lee, only to find the junior Green Beast was also glaring at him. Neji had never seen such a cold, angry look on Lee's face before. "Lee..."

Lee scoffed, scoffed at him before leaping into the trees and following after Tenten. Neji watched him go and felt his impersonal mask slowly slip away, so he hid his face in his arms. Fucking shit, he was such an idiot. How could he have made such a mistake? How could he hurt his friends like this?

"Ah, Neji-kun. Youth can bring about many mistakes..."

Oh dear Kami he was not in the mood to listen to this. "Gai-sensei... please... not now." His face moved to his hands. He needed to think of what to tell Tenten and Lee when they got back. How he was going to explain himself. He couldn't tell them the truth, but he needed to think of a lie that would best soften the blow. And preferably one that would place most the blame on him and not Hinata. He didn't want them to hate him, but even more, he didn't want to bring this trouble to Hinata. He was supposed to protect her, dammit. Supposed to help her, not make things more difficult.

"Neji."

He blinked. Gai had just spoken to him in a very serious tone. It was... odd. Hesitantly, he peeked out at the man between his fingers.

"Something tells me that you are carrying the burden of a heavy secret on your shoulders."

Neji flew into an upright position at that, eyes sharp. How the hell had Gai of all people figured that out? Was he really that obvious?

"It has been my experience that keeping such secrets will only bring more harm than good. You should let the truth be free before things get out of hand."

Neji's lips twitched, despite the situation. Let the truth be free, huh? If only he could. "Unfortunately it's not that simple. But thank you anyway."

Gai didn't seem deterred. "Neji, I truly-"

"Gai-sensei, it's not that I don't want to tell the truth." It wasn't that at all. If he could just tell Tenten the truth, let her know that even if their relationship hadn't gone anywhere he had still respected it and her, she wouldn't be angry any longer. She would feel better about him and herself, Lee would be okay because Tenten was okay. Really, if he told the truth neither of them would have any reason to be mad at all, except maybe that he hadn't just told them right away. But... it was too risky. If the elders found out, if Hinata was demoted down to the branch house... His fingers ran lightly over the leaf insignia on his forehead. "Some secrets need to be kept. Especially those that protect others."

For a moment his old sensei looked him over searchingly, for what, Neji didn't know. Then he said rather softly, "When you were first assigned to my genin team, I was rather wary of you. You showed promise of being an excellent shinobi, but you were consumed by your hatred of your own clan; and you refused to let anyone close enough to help you. Then when you fought your cousin during the Chuunin Exams, when you truly desired her death, I thought that you were finally lost to us." He smiled. "I am very glad to say that I was wrong. You have turned into not only a fine shinobi, but a fine man as well."

Neji had always known deep down that if the situation ever called for it, Gai could be a completely calm, rational, normal person. That didn't help stem his surprise when it actually happened. He was so busy gaping incredulously at the man, checking surreptitiously for genjutsu or henge, that it took him a moment to register the words. And when he did, he found he felt... better. Surprisingly better. He had never really strove for the approval of his sensei the way so many shinobi did, certainly didn't care about Gai's opinion the way Lee did, but when you got right down to it, what his old sensei thought of him still mattered. He may never act like it and wouldn't admit it on pain of death, but it did. So it felt good to hear those words of praise. "Arigatou, sensei."

Gai nodded and said with an almost sly smile, "So the person you're protecting... they are precious to you?"

The Hyuuga paused at the words, a far-off look in his silvery orbs. He thought of long, indigo hair, pale, lavender eyes, a soft, supple body, a sweet, hesitant voice. He thought of a small hand enveloped in his, of a smile given only for him. He thought of a kind, giving person who should hate him for what he'd done, but instead, "I only stood up to Hanabi on your behalf because I wanted to. Your helping me aside, you're one of my most precious people."

Precious.

"Hai, sensei. The most precious."

Gai nodded once more, shutting his eyes and taking a deep breath. When they snapped open again, he gave his trademark good guy pose complete with thumbs up and overly bright smile, catching his student off-guard and making him jump in surprise as he was temporarily blinded. "YOSH! There is nothing more Valiant and Youthful than protecting the ones who are dear to you! I may not agree with your methods, but it is a Noble effort nonetheless! Now let us make Haste to find our missing comrades!"

As he watched the spandex-clad man leap into the trees through still blurry eyes, he was amazed at how fast the man could turn from an intelligent sounding, mature jounin to the odd creature he had come to know as his sensei. With a sigh, he repacked the lunch Hinata had made for him and shouldered his pack, taking off as well. He didn't know how to handle the situation with Tenten other than to go along with what she already thought and impress to her how sorry he really was. Maybe if he worded things right he could insure that most of the blame would fall onto him and not poor Hinata. Other than that, though, there really wasn't much he could do.

Taking a deep breath as he approached the rest of his team, he steeled himself for whatever was to come. He needed to do this. Like he'd said, he was protecting his most precious person. And he would do anything to achieve that goal.


Sorry this chapter took a bit longer to get out, but there you go. Getting a bit more insight into Neji's thoughts now along with why Tenten was upset last chapter. And this wasn't in any way meant to be Tenten bashing for the record. I wasn't trying to make her seem overly bitchy or anything, she's just hurt and lashing out. Anyone put into an even mildly similar situation would understand that, and I'll go into it a bit more later. But I don't hate Tenten and I wasn't trying to make you hate her either.

And though it's a few days early, Happy Thanksgiving to all!

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