Naruto belongs to Kishimoto. Please review.

Neji washed off the dried blood matted to the procession of shuriken wounds going up his arm in a neat line. The ointment Hinata had made for him helped with the pain a little, but the wounds were deeper than his usual scrapes from Tenten. He should have gone to Yumi or one of the other clan healers, but his pride (and perhaps a desire for penance) kept him confined to his bathroom and a roll of bandages. Neji supposed he should be thankful Tenten was as good an aim as she was or that neat row would be all over his body instead of just his arm.

He shouldn't have had any wounds though. She'd been taking it easy since his head hadn't been in training since the preliminary matches. Neither of them had really, not between Tenten's loss, Lee's near fatal match, and Neji's massive blunder (that Hinata and Lee both survived seemed the only bright part of that entire exam, even if there were lingering issues). He'd chalked up their previous training matches —which could only be called pathetic— to a post-crap funk, but today's wounds revealed something a little more serious lurking in his messed up head.

Self-doubt wasn't something he'd ever experienced before. Neji was first in his class since he'd entered the academy, number one rookie, 'genuis' of the Hyuuga clan. He'd always known what to do and how to do it with ease, but in that match against Hinata he didn't know. He caused the problem that led to the accident and didn't even realize it. What else did he teach himself wrong? Was that the only mistake or were there countless more in all the main family techniques he'd been practicing? Every time Tenten threw at him to practice his kaiten all he could think was what didn't he know about it. What had he missed and could it end up hurting her? Killing her? Which ultimately led to his failure to produce a kaiten at all and his subsequent need for medical attention. If he ever told Hinata she just needed to trust herself again, may the gods strike him dead. She deserved more credit than he'd ever known for facing her self-doubts as well as she had for so long and with so many reinforcing those doubts.

But now he had to figure out what to do. It was obvious to him this wasn't just temporary until he could get over everything that happened. Each time he tried to use any of his self-taught techniques he couldn't, or worse he hesitated which usually ended up being more dangerous. He either had to find a way to deal with this or stop using them all together. The latter might have been an option a year ago, but Neji'd already integrated them into his fighting style. That meant he needed to deal with his doubts, and that left him only one real option. He just hoped it didn't blow up in his face.

After re-bandaging his arm, Neji headed out stopping the first servant he passed. "Do you know where Hinata is?"

"I think she's in her study," the young woman answered.

"Thank you and," Neji paused, not really wanting to say it but knowing he had to, "please call my father and grandfather to the training yard. It's very important that I speak with them."

"Of course," she said with a respectful nod of her head before dashing off.

It would take her a little to find both of them, so Neji had a few minutes to get to Hinata before going to the training yard. After everything he'd already put her through, he didn't want her to find out what he was planning second hand. He needed to explain . . . and apologize.

Her door was open; she'd never leave the room with the door open, but she also very rarely left it that way. He waited at the threshold and watched his little sister for a moment. The scary part of jyuuken wounds was that there weren't outward signs of the damage. She looked perfectly normal and healthy to the untrained eye. But Hyuugas know what to look for, like the shallow breaths and slight incessant cough she hid behind her hand. Or the way her jaw clenched whenever a twinge of pain surfaced. The fact she wasn't wearing her normal clothes was another clue. Hinata had plenty of formal wear being heir, but she preferred a shirt and pants to a kimono. She only wore one now to give the healers easy access to her chest each time they came by, which was several times a day.

"Neji-niisan," Hinata called, looking up from her book and forcing her jaw to relax so he wouldn't see the pain in her face.

Neji entered at her acknowledgement and closed the door behind him. "Hey, Hinata, how are feeling today?"

"Better," she replied, as she did every time he asked. Neji never knew if she was telling the truth or just trying to keep him from feeling guilty (well, guiltier).

"That's great," Neji said, playing along so he didn't add too much more stress to her. He took a seat across the desk and slowly exhaled to steady his resolve. "Listen, Hinata, I need to talk to you for a minute."

She set her book down on her desk. "Is something wrong?"

"Not yet," he mumbled almost to himself. Straightening up, he continued, "I need to warn you about something I'm going to do, because it's probably going to affect you and I'm sorry. If there's any other way I could do this, I would, especially right now."

"Neji-niisan, what are you talking about?" Hinata gripped the edge of her kimono crossing her chest and held her breath for a moment, face tense with fresh pain. Her heart was still so weak, and emotional stress tended to become physical stress for her.

Despite knowing he closed the door, Neji still glanced back to make sure. The whole clan was about to find out, but on his terms, not from some eavesdropping passerby. "Know that everything I've done was because I wanted to protect you."

"You're scaring me," Hinata whispered.

"I'm sorry," Neji said. "Manipulating the tenketsu wasn't the only thing I taught myself. I've been working on a lot more."

"You mean . . ." Hinata's eyes widened as she put the pieces together. Her fingers touched her lips in an instinctual calming mechanism he'd not seen her use in years. "You . . . taught yourself? How?"

Neji lowered his gaze, this wasn't how he wanted her to learn about it. He'd never meant to make it seem like he was showing her up or insulting her. "I'd seen Dad use kaiten once, the principle made sense, and after figuring out the tenketsu, the 64 points was . . ." He held his tongue though no doubt she heard the 'easy' at the end of his sentence. "Hinata, I wanted to teach you, so when it was time Grandpa wouldn't be have one bad comment about your skill. And I . . . I wanted to be able to protect you, from anything."

"Still trying to protect me?"

"I never stopped. I'm just quieter about it now."

Hinata looked down and focused on breathing —long ragged breaths that made Neji cringe. The shock was slowly receding from her face, though the pain masked whatever replaced it.

"Why are you telling me now?" she asked once she could breathe a little easier. "What are you planning?"

Neji closed his eyes and fortified himself. He'd already called for them, the wheels were in motion. There was no stopping the truth now. "I almost killed you because of what I didn't know. I can't let that happen again. I'm going to ask Grandpa to train me properly."

"No!"

Hinata's entire body tensed and Neji rushed around the desk as she jerked in a deep, choking, coughing fit. When drops of browned-blood splattered the papers on her desk, Neji was ready to call for a medic, but Hinata held tight to his shirt and shook her head. He held her free hand and waited (ready to dash out at any sign of worsening) until the coughing settled to hard wheezes and Hinata no longer looked ready to collapse. She wiped the small flecks of blood from her lips.

"Don't worry, it's old blood. Fluids settle in my lungs sometimes. Grandma says I just need to cough it up when it happens."

"This is what I mean, Hinata. I did this to you. My —arrogance— did this to you. I have to fix that."

Hinata's hands gripped him tighter, fear blatant in her weary eyes. "Not Grandpa. Tell Uncle Hizashi, he knows them. He can teach you. Just not Grandpa. You're branch; you don't know what he'll do."

"I can't put Dad in that position," Neji insisted. "If Grandpa found out, or the clan, they might think Dad's the one who taught me and that will be so much worse. Dad's the first brancher to be given the powers of the clan head. If it was even rumored he taught his brancher son main family techniques . . . If I tell anyone, it has to be Grandpa."

"But he used the seal on Aunt Naomi," Hianta whispered, showing the same fear and horror as when he told her what had happened. "The only reason you weren't punished was because it happened in the chuunin exam. What do you think he'll do if he finds out you know main family techniques? Please, don't."

"He's not going to kill me or anything," Neji said with more confidence in his smile than he necessarily felt. He was almost positive it wouldn't be that severe. "It's not the old days where every little infraction will get you killed, and Grandpa isn't Hisako who had to make examples to maintain power. If there's a punishment I'll take it, but I need to do this Hinata."

"Why?" she pleaded.

Neji smiled; the irony of what he was about to say didn't escape him. "Because, apparently I'm not as strong as you."

Hinata stared at him, not finding the words to match the confusion on her face.

"I don't know how you've done it for so long, and I can finally appreciate how hard it was for you to go out there without confidence in yourself. And I know it sounds prideful, but this is the first time I've really felt that way and I find I need that certainty. I've been trying, but all I can think is, 'What don't I know?' and 'Is it going to get someone I care about killed?' I'm sorry, Hinata, but the only person I can turn to is Grandpa. I just needed you to know I didn't do this to hurt you or show you up. I hope you believe that."

Neji raised her hand and rested his forehead against it. Such an act might traditionally appear as a show of fidelity or loyalty, but those who thought so would not be Hyuuga. He'd placed her hand against his seal. Perhaps his desire to learn main family techniques came from the blurred line of main and branch in their family, but that line was redrawn the moment Hyobe used the seal on his mother. To let her touch the part of him that separated them was to remind her that, between them at least, the seal didn't matter. No matter what happened. They were family.

Neji released her and stood up. He needed to get to the training yards and face his fate.

"Neji-niisan, wait." Neji was about to argue he needed to go, but Hinata got up and took his hand again. "I'm not as strong as you think. I could face Grandpa because you always supported me. I'm not going to let you go alone."

It amazed Neji that Hyobe never saw just what a great leader Hinata was going to be one day. The Hyuugas had lived too long with clan heads whose first instinct was to end problems with the seal. What they needed to heal the rift was one willing stand beside them and guide them with a gentle hand — not a gentle fist.