Gravity
Part Eight

Hinata... she was beautiful.

He wasn't prepared for the realization, and for one blindingly panicked moment, he wanted to push her away. Push her away, banish her image from his mind, and more, forget this feeling that had suddenly overwhelmed him.

When had he begun to think of her as something beyond his cousin? More, why? Why Hinata, of any woman in the world? The one he could never have, should he decide that he wanted her. It was ridiculous, illogical, almost reprehensible.

Neji had no right to think of her in any manner except impartially. He was acting as a guardian in this instance, a man looking out for her best interests, and abruptly, the balance of everything had been thrown. This... feeling, it complicated things. Now he would no longer be able to approach this delicate situation as he had, and perhaps he ought not try.

But no, he had given his word. That was his contract, and it bound him sure as any document could. He would see this through to the end, regardless of however he felt about the matter.

He would see Hinata married to a respectable man, no matter how strong this feeling became.

Lips thinning, he surveyed the woman before him wordlessly.

God, she really was beautiful, wasn't she?

How he couldn't have known it before... well, he had been blind to a good many things in his life. This was just one more, he supposed, only this time, he was fortunate. It wasn't as though he was in love with her; he merely found her pleasant to talk to, enjoyed their times spent in silence, appreciated her soft ways and her smiles that she gave to so few people. She was merely...

Special.

With that, he knew any hope was lost. Hinata meant something to him, though he had been denying it, and now there was nothing he could do but sit back and carefully play with fate. He would arrange her future, choose a man with whom she would share all her smiles, her laughter, and her time, and all the while he would be silently aching. Sometimes, fate was cruel.

A bitter smile twisted his lips as he turned away from her, tension gathering in his shoulders. He supposed this was what they called karma, and he was reaping what he had sown in his childhood. For the pain and suffering he had caused her and others, now it would be turned upon him tenfold, and he was helpless to do anything but set in motion the very plans that would give him the most pain.

Karma... what was the word, except for destiny given a new guise? Only, he had been in control all along, and now he would suffer for his precious 'choices'.

He was striding away when she caught his arm, and though he could have easily shaken her and continued on, Neji didn't. He merely waited.

"Neji? What's wrong?" Her voice was soft, and laden with concern. "Why are you leaving?"

There was something in her tone that expressed what she wouldn't say, that told him she felt this was her fault, that he was leaving because of something she had done. Anger seized him on her behalf, for all the years of constant battery that had caused her to always assume the worst about herself. More than anything, at that moment, he wanted to turn and cup her face in his hands, and tell her gently that she wasn't to blame for every wrong in the world.

All he did, however, was close his eyes and press one hand atop hers. It was a gesture of comfort, nothing more, but he couldn't help but notice the way his hand completely engulfed hers, and how he could feel the chill from the early morning on her skin. She had such small hands, delicate, but deadly capable when she applied them.

So deceptive, yet so telling of her own brand of strength.

"Please enjoy your time with Otoya-kun. I need to walk."

He squeezed her hand just slightly before sliding it from his arm, and Hinata made no noise of protest. That was just as well. He hadn't expected her to ask him to stay, and wouldn't have, regardless. He needed a walk.

It didn't appear that he would get it, however. There was a figure slouching in the half-filtered sunlight at the end of the garden, and closer inspection revealed it to be Nara Shikamaru. A visit to the main estates of the Hyuuga compound could mean only one thing of his ANBU comrade: there was a mission.

From the grim set of Shikamaru's face, Neji knew he was right.

-----------------------------

Hinata watched helplessly as Neji approached Shikamaru, the hand he had gently pressed only a moment ago held firmly against her chest. She knew what Shikamaru's presence meant, and she couldn't stop the quick, liquid pull of panic in her stomach. Neji would be going on another mission, one that required at least two ANBU. He would be in danger, there was no doubt, and the urge to run down the path and stop him was almost too much to bear. More than anything, she wanted to tell Shikamaru to find someone else.

She knew, however, that Neji was one of the most talented ANBU Konoha had. If Shikamaru had come calling for him, there was no doubt that his skills were needed. It would be selfish and irrational for her to demand that he stay behind. He was ANBU, she knew that, and every time he left the village, there was the chance that he might not come back.

Somehow, before, it had never seemed as frightening as it did in that moment. Perhaps because Neji had become an essential part of her life. She needed him here, to help her choose a husband. She needed him to speak with her every morning, in that quiet, serious tone of his. She just needed him.

The thought was so sudden that she almost didn't believe it, but when she considered it, she knew it to be true. Her days didn't feel complete unless she had seen Neji, and she wasn't ever quite so happy as when he was near her. She didn't want him to go away.

She knew her every emotion was written plainly across her face when he looked over his shoulder. Neji seemed to look right through her, and without even a word, she knew precisely what he was trying to say. For once in her life, she understood without question, and she wished that she didn't.

Pressing a hand to her mouth, she turned and walked quickly back to the bench, though her legs felt heavy and reluctant to move as she wanted them to. With just one look, Neji had told her everything she needed to know, and now it was she that needed time alone, to think.

Much to her surprise, it wasn't Otoya sitting on the bench awaiting her, but rather her younger sister. She had been prepared to make a rushed excuse and promise to meet with him later, but when faced with Hanabi, she faltered a moment. It was all the other woman needed to read her expression entirely.

Arching a thin, dark eyebrow, Hanabi rested one hand on her hip lightly and said, "I sent him away. I assumed you were finished."

Hinata nodded mutely, her thoughts elsewhere. On Neji. His mission. The severity of it. She could only imagine what sorts of things would require two ANBU to successfully carry them out.

"You're worrying too much."

Hinata could do little more than stare blankly at the matter-of-fact tone Hanabi used.

"About Neji-niisan. He can take care of himself. More, he knew what it meant to become an ANBU." She flipped her hair over her shoulder casually, rising as she did so.

"I know that," She replied quietly, dropping her eyes as her face heated. "I can't help but worry, though. There were..."

"Two, yes. Which means that they are both necessary, and that one might die."

Hinata inhaled sharply, eyes burning as she attempted to control her emotions, an act she had never been good at. She already knew what Hanabi was telling her. She knew, but didn't want to believe it, and it was fast becoming more real as they stood talking about it. Hinata needed to get away.

She turned to do so, but Hanabi stepped in front of her, blocking the path. The move startled Hinata so much that she stopped, looking up with wide eyes into the cool ones of her sister. It had been a long time since anyone had openly defied her, or denied her the right to do what she wanted.

"Don't disappoint him by running away from this, oneesan. Be strong and do what you know he would, even if you're scared. That's how you can prove that you are worthy of being our head, and worthy of the title Hinata-sama."

Having said her piece, Hanabi turned and walked swiftly from the garden, leaving Hinata helpless to do anything but realize that her younger sister was right. She was being weak, and doubting Neji. He was strong enough to handle anything necessary, and no matter what, he would come back home and finish what he had started.

She believed that he would return. There was nothing else she could do.

-----------------------------

Oneesan - (n) (hon) older sister

Isn't life just wonderful with the way they finally realize things and then they're ripped apart? ;D Now I have to write a mission. Gack.

Thank you to all my reviewers! This was a difficult chapter to write, as Neji was not keen on letting me write down what he was thinking. I managed to get it out of him somehow, though.

Look for the next chapter sometime soon! :D Hopefully.