vig•il

(ˈvɪdʒ əl)

n.

1. wakefulness maintained for any reason during the normal hours for sleeping.

2. a period of watchful attention.

3.

a. Sometimes, vigils. a nocturnal devotional exercise or service, esp. on the eve of a church festival.

b. the eve or day and night before a church festival, esp. an eve that is a fast.

Neji scowled as he caught a glimpse of blonde and black at either side of his hospital bed.

While he appreciated the sentiment, after two weeks of this routine, now getting into its third week, it was honestly getting annoying.

Hinata-sama and Naruto, keeping him "company" every night, as though the ECG at his bedside table would go flat, or else spike precariously if they left their vigil for even a moment...it was nonsense, really. Shizune-san, Sakura, and a whole host of very trained, extremely qualified medical ninja had observed him and had informed the two that Neji would be fine. Tsunade-sama, the Hokage for heaven's sake, had informed the two that he would be fine. While Wood Release: Cutting Sprigs Jutsu had inflicted permanent damage to his body, he was told that he would still recover. Maybe in weeks. Maybe in months. But he would.

He just needed...bed rest and relaxation until that happened, and it was frustrating him beyond belief that Naruto seemed to act as though he was made of glass and would shatter whenever he gazed upon Neji's broken form, and that Hinata-sama's white eyes had become red with weepiness, fatigue, and who knew what else.

At this point, he preferred Guy-sensei and Lee's bedside vigils. At least they focused on the "recovery" part, and showered him with optimistic exclamations of how many sit-ups or bunny hops Neji would do with them once he fully recovered, while Tenten and his fellow clan members seemed mostly thankful that he was alive, unlike so many hundreds of thousands of ninja.

Tsunade-sama had told him the other day to take it easy on Hinata-sama and Naruto, that they were suffering from something called "survivor's guilt," that it was really common, in fact, among all generations of shinobi war veterans, and that even she went through this condition, for a time.

But why? Why would they feel guilty? He didn't regret his decision, and in fact, he'd do it a million times over if it meant that he could protect them.

And he knew that they would do the same thing for him.

There was no reason for them to feel guilty.

His eyes narrowed. This had to stop.

"Naruto. Hinata-sama. Wake up!"

Hinata-sama's head shot up from her folded arms. Naruto squawked and tripped over his chair in his haste to get up.

"Wh – Neji, are you okay?"

"Nii-san, what's wrong? Do you need water? Hold on – "

She scrambled around the room in a panic, craning her head here and there, looking like a chicken with its head cut off.

Honestly. They were being ridiculous.

"Both of you, leave my room immediately," he commanded. "Hinata-sama, I do not require any water, and Naruto, yes, I'm fine."

Hinata-sama looked out from underneath the bed, as though the water flask was somehow hiding there, and Naruto blinked at him foolishly, rubbing the lump that had formed on his head during his bout of waking clumsiness.

"L-leave your room?" Hinata-sama stared at him in some concern, as though he'd been the one who had hit his head.

"But why would we leave your room?" Naruto echoed. "What if you get really thirsty, or the electricity goes out, or – "

"When was the last time you ate ramen?" Neji interjected.

"Ramen? What are you talking about?" Now Naruto was staring at him as though he'd hit his head.

This was bad. Worse than his being stuck in the hospital for the foreseeable month or so.

When Naruto was forgoing ramen of all things in favor of camping out at his bedside, he knew he'd have to take drastic measures, or else the delicate balance of the universe would be destroyed, and then who knew what would happen.

"Go to Ichiraku. Now."

"B-but Neji – "

"Hinata-sama, please go with him. Think of it as a date. I need alone time to recover."

"Nii-san – "

"I'm not thirsty, Konoha has a 24/7 uninterrupted electricity supply, and I'm in a hospital surrounded by dozens of qualified medic-nin. The moon will not fall down if you leave my side for a few hours. Please go."

"I – all right." Hinata-sama was still looking concerned about any potential head injury Neji may have sustained, but she grabbed Naruto's hand and pulled him along. "We'll be back in the morning."

"Come back only in the afternoon. And go train or ask for a mission, you two."

He heaved a heavy sigh. What was wrong with them?

Then he froze up.

...He'd just made Hinata-sama...go on a date...with Naruto.

So that he could get some alone time.

What did he just do? While he didn't begrudge Hinata-sama her happiness around Naruto, he wasn't entirely sure that the blonde idiot even knew how to properly behave on a date. Would he be able to handle it without any lessons on etiquette or anything?

He'd better pay for everything on the date instead of shoving it all on Hinata-sama, or I'll be having harsh words with him.

Little did he know that within three short years, they'd get married.

And all because he'd wanted alone time.

A/N: And there you have it, a little one-shot of Neji's survival. This is also for panjangya, who wanted to see Neji push Naruto and Hinata together. I guess their reminiscing will be later, if I can figure out how to write it. Hope you like this. :)

Please review, dear readers! :)