Sitting silently in the hospital she sighed, studying the clothes laying on her bed, neatly folded, carefully ironed by the nurse's careful hands. They looked softer than anything she had ever managed to do to them, despite her own careful work at home- or… at Sasuke's house.
Rubbing her forehead gently in confusion at the thought she sighed, standing up slowly, flinching as her wound stretched.
Before she had been able to say Sasuke' house was home. It hadn't sounded strange in her mind, but being away from him for so long had forced some of the distance between them back again, the awkwardness feeling vaguely one-sided, since she hadn't actually been able to see him and his reaction towards her.
For a moment she wondered if he even knew that she was being let out of the hospital, but that didn't seem to matter after a second of quiet deliberation. She would go to their old house… just to see what was going on there… she would find him…
Her stomach dropped at the idea, but she forced herself through. Her desire to see him and know what was going on was a lot stronger than her fears.
Quietly, but determined she began to dress, removing the hospital clothes she had been wearing for so long, the bitter sweet sensation making her smirk confusedly at her undecided emotions.
It didn't matter, there was no way around the situation. She had to see him… she had to.
Tsunade had said something or other about him resting. She had been very clear, her was sure of it, but somehow listening to her talk for more than two minutes at the time had been something he wasn't prepared to do and so didn't do it, listening only to the last part which consisted of a very powerful threat to rip out his organs and have them fed to him if he didn't rest.
But, seeing as he didn't listen, and in all honesty, didn't care, he figured he had the right to just ignore that very carefully put together warning and do whatever the heck he wanted.
And what he wanted most was to beat himself so badly that he couldn't 'think' couldn't function and remember again and again the agonizing sight of his family dying, their blood spilling and him standing there uselessly as it happened.
But worse than that was the sight of Hinata, in reality and the vagueness of the hallucination induced by Itachi… bleeding and dying.
He shook his head, pushing up slowly from the one handed push up, the sweat dripping down his face to splash on the cold stone floor of the new house he had decided to occupy.
A lot of the Uchiha households were furnished and pretty much kept in good enough order to be used if he so wished, which came in handy when his brother decided to randomly show up and destroy his favorite one to shreds.
He pushed up again, straining, feeling the wound in his side give a sharp jab into his common sense, urging him to be bloody rational and stop before it ripped again.
The pain, however, was comforting and he pushed down again, closing his eyes, paying attention only to the sensation, trying to forget for all the world the nagging guilt that was sitting heavily on his chest.
He hadn't gone to see her… how long had it been? Three weeks.
He had never felt like such a bastard in his entire life.
You kiss her… you tell her you love her… and then you abandon her… what kind of a sick disgusting piece of worthless shit are you anyway?
It was always disturbing how the voice inside his head sounded so much like himself and not his brother. He had always assumed that the mocking psycho within him would somehow sound like the one psycho he detested with a passion in real life.
Though truth be told… he knew quite a few of them, his old sensei included.
The memories of childhood nightmares mixed with fresher far more realistic nightmares in reality at Orochimaru's lair sent him reeling, his arm giving out under him suddenly, forcing him to catch himself before hitting the marble of the living room floor.
The house was amazing, to say the least. As the child of the clan head he had assumed, somehow that they weren't a particularly prestigious clan… as a distant excluded branch of the Hyuuga they were smaller and less powerful.
However the money that the Uchihas had became obvious to him the moment that his family died. It had taken a few teachers to explain to him exactly how much it was…
Despite living in a house that was simple and modest his clan was anything but poor. Though they didn't quite match the Hyuuga fortune, they were damned close.
And since everyone was suddenly dead, all the money they had in their possession when directly to the bank, interest building so quickly that it nearly doubled, keeping up slightly with the steadily competing fortune of the Hyuugas.
Still, his relatives had been quite a bit more lavish than his own parents. His old house was a shack in comparison to the one he had chosen to occupy for the time being while it was repaired.
The foyer was a looming circular room with a skylight above it taking a chunk of the sky as his personal roof, three corridors led out, outline in black marble frames and deep red wood. The corridors led to several elaborate rooms he had not bothered to order clean, and from there the house kept spreading, bedrooms with their own sitting rooms, studies and bathrooms, little apartments all on their own.
He had been within the Hyuuga compound and he knew just how massive it was, but he figured that even Neji-teme would be vaguely impressed by the sheer size of the house, and possibly by the artful design. The Uchiha emblem was carved into most of the posts, using the black marble to outline it against the rest of the dark red wood.
But it had been the kitchen that made him want to get the house. There were a few within the household, some designed just for the elaborate ceremony of making tea, others for household uses.
There was one that was of particularly nice make, smooth marble counters, relatively new appliances and a lot of room, the dishes still hiding within the cupboards.
The moment he saw it while viewing the houses he had nodded at the caretaker, muttering something about taking the house for the next few weeks. After signing all bothersome legalities he had been faced by the curious expression of the lawyer.
"…may I enquire, Uchiha-san… why this one?"
Sasuke had stared at him a moment, pondering how to answer. "…I know someone who would like it." He admitted, frowning at himself.
The lawyer had looked curious, despite himself, but had not asked, something that Sasuke had been extremely thankful for.
It seemed, his subconscious still expected her to suddenly appear, out of thin air, even after he'd been a complete bastard and ignored her…
He hadn't actually ignored her though, he'd made an effort to send her flowers, knowing full well she would have felt disconnected with the world outside if she couldn't see some trace of it.
But he hadn't been there… even though he had wanted to. The idea of looking at her and knowing she had suffered because of his utter inability...
The thought made him cringe. Coward that he was, he couldn't face her. He would rather go head to head with Orochimaru again than look at her.
She was so much stronger than he was…
Irritated by the gloomy thoughts he pulled himself to his feet, ripping the sweat soaked shirt over his head and tossing it lamely aside, careless.
He needed to get out of the damned house. It was big and grand and bloody empty. It felt worse than his old house.
And it smelled of emptiness, dust and cobwebs had been cleared from his living spaces, but the hell, it was still empty and it still smelled empty.
Shaking out his sweat soaked locks he grabbed another shirt from his training bag, skipping down the steps leading to the front entrance that looked more like the beginning of a city archway, he turned, slamming the door closed, and uncharacteristically forgetting something returned, pulling out a key.
The house had a lot of valuables… this one he could not simply leave open.
Letting out a soft breath he turned around and began to jog away not really paying attention to his heading, too deep into his melancholy thoughts to care.
The day had just begun, bright sunlight that made him flinch poured down from the sky, the empty sound of the streets around the mansion noted in the back of his mind. Before, when his clan had thrived, the streets had been bubbling with his cousins, most of which he had not bothered to interact with as a youngster, too frustrated with their senseless games and lack of concentration.
While he had wanted to train, they had wanted to play. It had been enough to make him withdrawn and anti social. Almost arrogant.
That hadn't been the intention. Instead he had felt excluded, slightly weird in comparison.
Panting, from the pain of the slash in his side he slowed and stopped, staring down the road on which his old house stood, watching the trees swing with the summer breeze, bright pink, purple and white blossoms flowing across the scenery of the bright summer day, tangling themselves in his hair and clothes, the scent so strong and yet comforting that he took a deep breath, partly to calm himself and his gasping but partly to remind him of the only time he had felt like he had a home…
It was strange, how home was a person and not a house…
Swallowing he began to jog, a bit slower than before, heading past the house, paying it not even a second glance, listening to the sound of hammering from inside as the workers put their effort into rebuilding the damaged support beams that Kisame had probably knocked over for the sake of fun.
Idly he continued on into the bushes, walking bitterly into the empty garden of wild flowers and tulips growing quite confidently in the bright summer light, their petals reaching out to suck in the fruits of the sun.
Only the rushing water made any sound, roaring over the whisper thin touch of the wind in the tree branches.
He stared, remembering Hinata's expression upon seeing the place before, not even in full bloom yet.
Wonder had crossed that soft face, and then joy at the sight of so much color and life. "Ne… I wish I could give it to you." he admitted, his voice shaking in the utter silence.
Swallowing forcefully he lowered himself down to the ground near the river bank, leaning back to stare up at the sky, arms folded under his head, watching the clouds pass by.
She would be better soon… It was something he couldn't deny. She would be better, and he would be faced with looking at her again, trying to explain why he hadn't reached out to her…
He didn't think he'd allow her to forgive him.
I can't just not… speak to her, at least. I can't… these last few weeks have been hell.
He closed his eyes, straining to breathe calmly.
…I have to go see her.
Clenching his hands he sat up, rubbing his face awkwardly, frustrated by the situation, but not enough to be caught off guard.
Soft, slow steps whispered in his ears and he froze, listening intently to the pattern of breathing, the rhythm of movement.
His heart knocked against his chest hard, making him tense, eyes widening as he stared at the rushing river below.
Hinata.
He couldn't move… couldn't force himself to turn around at the sound of her stopping, at her soft gasp of surprise. It had been an accident…
She hadn't come looking for him.
Some might just call it fate…
He wasn't moving, looking straight on ahead, fixated, it seemed, by something on the other side of the river.
But she hadn't spent most of a year with him to learn nothing. She knew his capabilities, probably better than anyone except for himself. He had heard, long before she had reached the clearing that someone was coming…
It wouldn't surprise her if he knew already it was her.
But that didn't matter, none of it did, looking at him, wearing as usual all black, staring off into the distance, she felt the first aches in her chest. It hurt the way it sometimes hurt to remember Okaasan.
Hands clenching tightly she swallowed, feeling her body shiver slightly despite the warm sun.
"….S…sasuke-kun?"
He moved, he really wasn't a statue, or a figment of her imagination. His head bowed, as if the sound of her voice were something he was struggling with.
Why won't you look at me…?
Her hands shook, aching to touch him.
Why won't you look at me?
Two quick steps and her arms were around him, the touch sending electric shocks down both their bodies, knocking the air right out of Sasuke, leaving him speechless, the warmth of her touch was agonizingly sweet.
She wasn't sobbing, but then again she hardly ever sobbed. Still, he could feel the tears against his neck as she pressed her face gently there, skin to skin, her hands shaking as he took them, twined his fingers with hers to make sure she was there, that she was real.
"…you didn't come… and I was worried… and I'm sorry… if I did something wrong… you didn't come…" she was whispering it, hardly audible, and for a moment training was a burden as he picked apart the words, each sentence slashing open wounds through his mind.
Panicked by the idea that she was blaming herself he turned, seeing her face suddenly for the first time in over a month, his whole sense of self blown clear out of him at her tears, at the fact that he had caused them.
"Hinata, Hinata- stop." He whispered, taking her face in his hands, rubbing away her tears. The girl shook her head, lashes glittering with the dew drops of mixed relief and sadness rolling down her cheeks.
"You didn't do anything- it was me…" he gasped, tentatively kissing her tear streaked cheek. "It was me… I couldn't look at you…I'm sorry… you were so hurt- I'm a coward-"
Wordlessly Hinata kissed him, cutting him off in mid sentence, determined not to hear anymore from either of them.
Gasping she pressed against him, feeling his heart pounding under her palm, blood rushing so fast it was leaving her light headed.
She hadn't thought she would loose control so quickly, she hadn't realized how much she had missed him… it had only been a month.
But saying it that way left her feeling miserable. Only a month was hardly justice. It had been an agonizing month… wondering where he was, why he was avoiding her.
Now it all made sense… and it was okay, because he was there, and he wasn't pulling away.
Hungrily he kissed her back, startled by the sudden addiction to her skin, his whole body aching for her so badly it was a struggle to pull back to breathe, his arms pulling her in tightly, lips tracing her neck, leaving trails of whispering flame against her skin.
"…I missed you." they stated in unison, startling each other out of their daze, looking back at one another in slight awe, both wanting to laugh at just how silly and yet how real it was.
I missed you. And I'm sorry.
It didn't matter that they didn't really understand what they were apologizing for.
An apology is an apology. You take it and go.
It wasn't like things had suddenly gone back to a harmonious normality. Quite contrary his emotions were doing so many ups and downs that he was hardly capable of understanding the situation. Most of him was achingly glad that she was there, that he could touch her, hold her, kiss her and that she wasn't going anywhere.
Another part of him was murmuring dark nothings about the situation he had put himself in. Hinata wasn't invisible to Itachi and Akatsuki's gaze… The part of him whispering darkly stated not to be selfish, to pull back, for her sake.
But sometimes, you know what you can do, and what you can't do, even for the sake of someone else. And he simply couldn't pull back.
Sitting in one of the living rooms in the new house, his head on her lap, he had no intention of pulling away, half asleep with her fingers playing softly with his hair. It was strange, just how quickly they became comfortable with one another and knew each other's boundaries.
For one thing, Sasuke didn't have boundaries… Hinata could pretty much do whatever she wanted. She knew it the moment he kissed her, holding back, shaking slightly from the strain of control.
He would leave the boundary lines up to her.
He was aching for touch so much he'd take whatever she handed him.
At that moment the wash of soft caresses had left him completely dazed, half asleep but resting more peacefully than he had in months, his whole body completely relaxed.
Hinata smiled softly, bending down to kiss him, startling him right out of his sleep in a hurry.
It felt like she was petting a dangerous but amazingly adorable panther…
Pulling back slowly she shifted, and he sat up, watching curiously as she curled up against him, her lavender scent intoxicating as it reached his nose, making him bite his lip to keep from kissing her hungrily again.
"…what happened…after I passed out?" she murmured, her soft fingers reaching up, tangling themselves in his hair. He closed his eyes, but only for a moment, opening them again to stare right back at her, amazed that she wasn't looking away, meeting his own intense stare with her softened understanding.
"…I don't remember exactly. Tsunade said I went into shock."
She closed her eyes, leaning into him, breathing him in, lips grazing his neck, making his hands clench.
"…that's not good."
He smirked, nuzzling her back, finding it ridiculous that she could make him want to be softer just by being there.
"I got better quickly."
"Good."
"Hn."
"I love you."
Stunned he pulled back, staring at her, at the blushing cheeks and bright lavender eyes looking back at him uncertainly, searching his face.
They had both said it… but that was the second time she had stated it to him. Somehow he still couldn't believe it.
"…you do…?" he couldn't believe he had said that when it came out, but the smile that broke out over her face softened his self criticism. She knew he was stunned.
"…Yeah… I'm pretty sure I do."
He leaned in close then again, eyes half closed from wanting to just sleep, holding her there, let the world pass away.
"…I love you."
She smiled then, against his lips as she kissed him, just slightly.
"…I thought you might."
"It's hard not to."
"…really?"
He kissed her, hard, dragging a moan from her throat by the intensity of his touch, her hands tightening around his shirt as she tripped mentally over the sensation, dazed by it.
"…really." He panted, pulling back for a moment.
He really, really meant it.
"…Ino said I couldn't kiss." Hinata whispered, breathless too. "I'm going to have to get you to say something about that."
"Ino doesn't know up from down." He was smirking then, so close to a smile that she grinned right back, completely unaware of the fact that she was blushing still. It didn't matter.
"That's what I thought."
Sakura stared down at her lap, tracing the pattern on her skirt, her fingers looked cold and pale and slightly clammy, which was how they felt. Vaguely sticky, as if she had touched glue.
Somehow her skin had felt strange for some time… as if she was out of balance. She had read in a medical book that when your chakra flowed in accordance to your emotions, positive or negative it could affect your body.
Perhaps the negative gross feeling that was within her was affecting the sensation of her skin.
The sun however was bright and glowing in the middle of a bright blue sky. The sound of chattering children and the businesses that lined the streets flooded the air.
At the café she was sitting by there was the sound of murmuring youth, laughter, and the soft sound of cutlery against plates. But that didn't keep her attention fixated for very long, it faded to the back of her mind as she waited patiently, her crutches were leaning against the table.
Rough worked hands covered her eyes gently. "Hey." He said, because he knew there was no fooling her, and no use in trying to. Sakura felt a genuine smile grace her face for a few seconds.
"Hi, Naruto-kun."
The blonde smirked slightly and sat down across from her, bandaged up himself, but quite a bit less than the others. Like most of the Rookie Nine he had taken a nasty beating, his body should have taken about a month to recover. At two weeks he had been ready to go on missions again.
"How are you?" he asked, looking at her seriously, despite his playful nature. There was no fooling around with the situation at hand. It had been a long time already since their fight, but the effects had not faded completely. Though, it helped that Hinata had woken and begun to heal quickly, surprising everyone. He hadn't gone to see her in some time, but he had heard from Ino that she was recovering quickly and would be released sometime that week. He did have to talk to her as well… there were some things they had to discuss.
"…better." Sakura admitted, looking at him slowly, shifting in her seat. "I just wanted to talk to you, about something." She admitted, tracing her finger over the pattern of her skirt again, staring down intensely.
The blonde remained silent, watching her curiously, a bit puzzled. It wasn't like Sakura to be quiet, but then again everyone had been acting so strangely, most of his friends were still at the clinic recovering from the wounds they had endured, and those that weren't were at home pulling themselves together.
Sasuke had all but become a ghost. Naruto visited from time to time to make sure he wasn't dead….
"Ne… you know you can tell me anything." He laughed nervously, blinking at her still. "It's just me."
The med nin glanced up at him then, smiling slightly despite herself. "Hai." She nodded.
Taking a deep breath she rested her hands on the table, loosening them forcefully.
"…You know, I told you, about Hinata-chan being in love with you for the longest time, right?" she began slowly, fiddling with nothing, watching her smooth manicured fingernails in front of her.
Naruto flinched, looking sideways at the ground. "You might have been wrong." He admitted gloomily, rubbing the back of his neck.
Sakura began to laugh then, a soft nervous laugh that stated she knew he was wrong. He glanced up at her warily, confused.
"No, she was in love with you, for the longest time. Now… I don't actually know what's going on." She sighed, rubbing at her eyes slightly, the sun felt too bright, exposing her to his blue eyed gaze.
"What do you mean?" The blonde frowned, confused, not understanding.
"Ne…" she felt her throat begin to tighten, as if the pressure were ready to strangle her. "Ne… you think she doesn't love you anymore?"
"No. She doesn't." he replied quietly watching her blushing cheeks in confusion, a sinking feeling beginning at the very center of his chest.
"Oh." Sakura mumbled. "I… that does change things a bit…"
"I thought maybe I loved her back."
The words were so blunt, and so… out of character that Sakura looked up in surprise, staring wide eyed at the blonde, who was studying her with care she didn't even know he could muster.
"Y-you thought…." Sakura began, uncertain all of a sudden. She had known he was curious, perhaps attracted to the new suddenly powerful Hinata.
But she hadn't thought he was perhaps in love with her.
"D-demo, you…"
"Ne, I don't know anymore." He laughed, watching her confusion a bit worriedly.
"Well…" Sakura sighed, staring at her hands again. "…I just… Hinata and I haven't been…okay, for a long time now, because I told her a little while ago that I thought maybe I was- well… I just…" she sighed, rubbing her face again. "Well, we're better now, you know? I apologized for things I did… and Hinata being Hinata forgave me without a second thought…" she laughed, looking away, just about ready to cry, the knot in her throat tightening, ready to strangle her. "Demo... I…" she sighed, pressing her hands against the table hard.
"I thought maybe… I was in love with you too."
Naruto's mouth opened slightly, his shock clearly displayed in his wide eyed gaze.
"You thought…" he began, voice shaking.
This, certainly complicated matters.
Tenten looked silently out the window, biting her lip, flipping her pen in her hand the way she would have flicked a throwing knife, tossing it up and down absently, completely unaware of being watched.
Neji was sitting behind her, a book up to his face, pretending to be reading. It was hard though, when you had a beautiful girl sitting in front of you displaying without much care a seriously attractive ability without even realizing it.
He bit his lip and looked sideways, wondering what the hell was wrong with him. Tenten was his friend, he'd known her for years. She was probably the only girl aside from Hanabi-chan and Hinata that he could withstand without wanting to strangle sooner or later.
Though, lately it had been himself he'd been wanting to strangle.
The idiocy of his actions was starting to sink into his slow witted mind. With Hinata's absence and her near death he'd had a lot of time to contemplate, sitting at the Hyuuga estate with nothing to do but read, write, study and 'think'.
He liked the last of the three the least.
More often than not it was Tenten who was with him, dividing her time between visiting the rest of the team at their homes or at the hospital, despite having had her ankle almost dislocated she managed to move about with ease and still visit everyone.
That was another amazing thing about her.
But usually, what amazed him the most, at least five times a day was her utter ability to put up with him. He wasn't as unpleasant as most people thought, at least with her and Lee.
However, he had his moments of arrogance, and sore snapping concerning the reality he faced. More than once he'd caught himself saying something less than comforting things to his friends when they struggled with their training.
It wasn't like him to take it back, so he didn't, and felt much like stepped on dirt as a result, because they never brought it up.
He didn't deserve them.
At that moment Tenten turned around in her chair with a sigh, blinking at him as she rested her head on her folded arms over the backrest, looking bored.
"…I can't study clan history for much longer, Neji-kun. My brain might melt."
The Hyuuga smirked slightly, forcing himself to look down at the book, glad that it was in the way of his mouth and that way she couldn't see the smirk there.
"You should go out with Lee, he's practicing taijutsu in the garden, you know." He replied, forcing himself to say it despite wanting her to stay right there.
Thankfully she laughed. "…I'd rather not. He says he goes easy but sometimes one of his 'easy' kicks knock me over." She grumbled. "I'm still nursing a bruise on my back from the last one."
"He should work on that."
"I think that's why he's training."
"Hn."
Tenten studied him, sitting almost slouched against the wall, cushions littering the entire room. It was a little strange sometimes, that she could hang out in his room without feeling completely out of place.
Maybe because it was so traditionally made, the rolled out sleeping mat and the closets and all the classical paintings that were hung up on the walls in neat rows didn't make it seem like a room.
He was too neat. That was his flaw. She looked around at the room, studying it suddenly. He was 'far' too neat.
"…you need some kind of poster in here." She stated suddenly, daring for a moment to break the silence and interrupt his studying. Something she only did when feeling particularly brave.
Neji looked up at her over the rim of his book again, quirking an eyebrow.
"My walls are lacking something?"
"Um… sort of."
"What exactly are you talking about?"
"Fun." She dared, sticking her tongue out at him sheepishly, unable to find another word to describe the feeling.
Neji smirked that time, allowing her to see it so that she wouldn't feel too bad. "You think the paintings are boring?"
"…please tell me you didn't pick them out yourself." She gave him a look, shifting in her chair to look at another one on the opposite wall. They were paintings from the classical era, smooth strokes of black paint against off white canvases detailing the day to day movement of palace life in some far off emperor's home.
It was so dull she might start to gag.
"Actually, I didn't." he admitted, glad that it was so. Though, truth be told, he hadn't been against them completely. He thought they were interesting.
"Oh good."
"What's wrong with them?" he enquired, putting the book down, suddenly curious. It was stupid that the Hyuugas were a clan so fixated on good etiquette, but born with the bothersome character flaw of utter curiosity. It got the better of him every time.
"Ano…" Tenten laughed. "Nothing is wrong with them…they're just kinda…" she shrugged, looking at them carefully.
"Boring." He put in, feeling the smirk tug at his lips again.
She laughed nervously, glancing at him.
"Hai."
"What do you have on your walls?" there was a note of cocky challenge in that question, making her turn to look at him fully again, raising an eyebrow to meet the challenge head on.
"Weapons."
She beat him flat out.
It made him start laughing. "That's more interesting, for sure." He admitted, chuckling. Grinning at her triumph of making him laugh, at least a little Tenten winked, pushing herself up. "I should think so."
Not wanting her to leave quite yet he threw out the one question he knew would keep her in place, thoughtlessly tossing it out like he didn't mind talking about it when he did… a lot.
"How's Hinata-hime?"
Tenten blinked, staring at him in surprise at the sudden change of topic. "Hinata? Ano… she's fine. Released from the hospital today, I think. Ino said something about that when I went to visit her the other day…"
She sat back down, watching him pick up the book silently, frowning with worry.
"Ne… Neji-kun… you haven't talked to her in a long time…"
Neji swallowed, recalling the last time he had seen her before the fight, flinching at the memory. He hadn't been able to tell anyone else about that. The idea of Hinata falling in love with the Uchiha of all people was frightening. Hiashi-sama would have a tantrum, there was no assurance that if she won the fight against Hanabi that he would let her be heiress again if she was with Sasuke.
The disagreement between the two clans far outreached his sense of history. When the Uchiha had split from the Hyuuga it hadn't been a simple event… there had been problems.
Prides were wounded, and the wounds had been handed down generation to generation. Now that the only Uchiha left was dragging the Hyuuga heiress with him, the old flames would come up again.
Hiashi might even ask Sasuke to fight him.
He sighed loudly at that, unsure of what to think. Hinata had seemed so much more powerful with Uchiha standing behind her… she had spat her emotions out and forced him to take it.
Something told him she'd choose Sasuke over the clan.
"What's the matter?" Tenten blinked, slipping off the chair to sit in front of him, dragging him out of his thoughts. He stared at her for a moment, pondering whether or not to say something.
But… Tenten was a girl, she knew about the girl side of things, maybe if he told her she'd be able to give him some input into the situation he would never find on his own.
Shrugging he sighed again.
"Ano…" he began, disgusted at himself for using the useless sound. "…last time I saw Hinata, she was with Uchiha." He muttered, watching Tenten paying close attention, frowning slightly.
"…I think she was going to kiss him."
Tenten froze, mouth opening slightly in surprise. Something about her shock relieved him. It wasn't so strange for him to be that startled, and slightly irritated, was it?
"Oh my…" she began slowly, putting a hand to her forehead. "…I'm such an idiot."
Neji blinked, confused. "Nani?" he began, unsure of how that came into the conversation. "I should have seen it…" Tenten continued, paying him little to no attention. "I absolutely should have seen it- she asked for him first." She turned to look at him.
"…she's in love with Sasuke." She stated, shaking her head. "I can't believe I didn't put two and two together-"
"When did you know this?" Neji snapped, sitting up, making her snap out of it. Tenten shrugged sheepishly. "… I noticed it a little at the first team meeting-"
"That long ago?" he gasped, looking dazed, staring out the window to the garden of the Hyuuga estate. He could see the distant green speck that was Lee.
"Does Sasuke feel the same?" Tenten murmured, looking at him worriedly. "What if he doesn't?"
"I don't know." Neji shrugged. "…I think he might."
"Wow." Tenten sighed, rubbing her face. "…I'm happy for her." She stated suddenly, turning to look at him, knowing full well what his reaction would be.
As expected he grimaced. "You don't get it. Uchiha and Hyuuga-"
"Don't mix. Yeah, I know that." Tenten mumbled, pulling on her bangs gently, looking away.
"…but what does Hinata care? The family disowned her."
The slap was forceful, making him stare at Tenten like she had suddenly discovered the very meaning of life.
It was true.
What did Hinata care? The family was treating her worse than garbage… why shouldn't he simply be happy for her? Even if she had chosen the most irritating bastard to be around?
"Neji-kun… maybe you should talk to her. I'm sure she misses you. She would want to know what you thought." Tenten murmured, watching the thoughts flying through his mind.
"…you're like her older brother. Hanabi can't talk to her, she's practically a prisoner here. Of all her family, you're the only one that she could reach." Her eyes softened slightly. "And I can tell you miss her too."
The boy genius glanced up at her, forcing his expression into something like calm. "Hm." He stated, as if surprised by her last statement.
Tenten smirked. "I've known you way too long not to be able to tell." She muttered, shoving herself to her feet, heading out the door that time.
"…ne… Tenten." Neji muttered suddenly, making her look back, holding the door open.
"Arigato."
The girl blushed, surprised by his intense stare. "…no problem." She meeped, closing the door quickly, making him smirk slightly.
She looks cute when she's being shy…
He froze, rubbing his face tiredly as a result of the thought.
What in the hell is wrong with me? She's my friend, that's all…
Grumbling he stood, picking up his book in the process, wondering when he would be able to talk to Hinata, his thoughts lingering on his cousin only for a moment before drifting in the direction of Tenten again.
Silently he cursed himself, knowing full well what he was struggling with. "Oh hell." He sighed, watching her walk over to Lee across the garden from his window.
If Lee bruised her again… he'd bruise him.
YAY no Hyuugacest here!
I really felt I needed to address all three dominating couples, because, in all honesty, I hadn't given you guys enough fluff of late.
So. There's the fluff. I hope you all sneeze.
There's a lil more coming up… but then we're back to the real plotline and the final climax of Hinata vs. Hanabi!
Please be gentle!
Read. Review.
-Inky