4 – Tessen

I decided that hospitals are depressing, no matter how cheery the nurses are. I had been there for two weeks and I was ready to climb out the window and run away. I was sick of people telling me I should get well soon or that I'd do better next Chuunin exam.

If anything, all the well wishers did was make me want to scream. I failed. I had used my best jutsu against my opponent and was tossed aside in an instant. The pain of the injury that followed was nothing compared to what I felt now. I replayed the fight a dozen times every day, looking for some way I could have done things differently. But the end result was always the same. I was in the hospital and my opponent was on to the next round.

I didn't look for my teammates. I knew Neji had passed on to the next round which was no surprise. I could have found him to congratulate him but I guess I was a little afraid to face him after losing. I knew he was going to be disappointed in me. After all, we had trained together. Worse, Neji didn't like weak people and I was pretty sure that included me now.

I stopped in on Lee a few times but only when he was asleep. There were flowers by his bedside so I guess other people came by too. I wanted to talk to him but I had heard the doctors discussing his condition. After that, I wasn't sure what the say to him. The Lee I knew had struggled against all odds to become a ninja. Now they were going to take that away from him.

So instead, I spent my days hiding from people. It worked out well until my father decided to stay in my room until I was forced to come back. When I saw him, I knew what was coming. The long lecture about not giving up. The 'talk' about how being Chuunin was difficult but that I would do better next year.

Instead, he just handed me my weapons bag.

"New ones in there are tessen. Best you start learning to use them."

And then he stood up and left. I hated that. I hated how my father could mutter a few words and still manage to convey his message clearly. I opened the bag and saw the tessen on top. I picked one up, feeling how heavy it was in comparison to a normal fan, and frowned. Of all the weapons he could have given me, it would have to be metal fans. My father was never one for subtlety.

I took the bag and went outside. If I at least looked like I was practicing, maybe that would be enough. I followed the path to the main courtyard, figuring that most people would be inside for lunch.

Instead, I found the courtyard occupied by the last person I expected to see. Neji's cousin was there, slowly moving through a kata. I waited at the side, trying to remember her name. Hinata... I think that was it. From the pained expression on her face, I realized the rumors were true. Neji had really given her a beating.

I wish I could say I understood why. I knew some thing about Hyuuga politics but not enough to understand why the relationship between the cousins was so strained. And it's not exactly something you would ask Neji to explain.

She stopped suddenly and looked up at me. I gave a tentative wave and she nodded a bit.

"I'm sorry," she said, "I'll leave."

I shook my head. "No it's okay. Courtyard is big enough for the two of us."

She looked at me like a scared rabbit for a moment. "It's all right. I don't want to be a bother."

I watched her start to scurry away. "Hey!" I called out and she stopped. She looked at me like she was preparing for a blow and I frowned. "In your kata, you left your right side exposed on the third step. I don't think that was part of it."

She paused and shook her head. "No, it's not."

"Well, try it again and I'll show you where."

She didn't move. "I don't..."

"Want to be a bother, I got it," I said waving her excuses off. "Well I'm not much in the mood for training anyway so I might as well help you." She still didn't move and I let out a sigh. "Look, I don't really know what's going on between you and Neji, but I'm not going to do anything to you."

The girl nodded slowly and took a step forward. I took a seat on the ground and watched her. She started to move slowly and I smiled, recognizing the moves. Neji did that all the time when he was fighting. It must be a kata from the Gentle Fist form.

She came to the spot I noticed before and I called out to her to show her where her gap was. Hinata corrected it quickly before continuing with the kata. I called out a few places where I noticed gaps. And occasionally, I saw where her form differed from Neji's and let her know. She almost always redid it to match his.

After an hour, she looked very winded. "Why don't you take a break?" I asked, watching as her hand subconsciously landed on her chest. Hinata nodded and came to sit next to me, catching her breath and watching as I played with the tessen.

It occurred to me that we had never really traded introductions but it just didn't seem necessary. I glanced over to her and she looked at me with an embarrassed look when she thought she had been caught staring. I held out the tessen for her to take.

She opened it once, jumping a bit at the noise. "They're... very well done."

I nodded. "My father made them for me. He makes everything," I continued, pointing to the bag.

Hinata stared at the fan for a moment before handing it back. "He cares a lot for you to make something so beautiful."

I sighed, knowing she was right but not wanting to admit it. "Yeah, I guess. He just wants me to keep training, even after the chuunin..." I trailed off, remembering that her experience hadn't been much better then mine.

Hinata nodded slowly, putting her hands in her lap. The mention of father had caused her to fall silent again and I got a bit worried when she closed her eyes to try to breathe. She put a hand on her heart and opened her eyes a moment later.

"You're very lucky," she said softly.

I nodded a bit and looked back at the tessen, seeing the intricate designs he had carved into the metal. He had probably been working on it since right after I was put into the hospital. "I guess I am," I said with a small smile.

We sat in silence for a few minutes and I realized Hinata was as talkative as her cousin. She was looking up at the sky, watching the birds dance in the setting sun. It was a very peaceful sight but something in her eyes showed that it was not echoed in her mind.

"Can I ask you a question?" she asked. I was a bit surprised but let her know she could. "Does he smile anymore?"

I looked at her and realized there was only one 'he' she could be asking about. "Neji?" She nodded. I thought for a moment, thinking back to our year of training together and frowned a bit. "He used to but not around us anymore that much. Why?"

Hinata looked down in her lap. "Once, when we were very young, he smiled... just for me." I watched as she looked up at me. "But after that... he just never smiled again. I was just hoping... that maybe for you..."

I took in a deep breath. "Like I said, I don't know what happened but... sometimes people get hurt and it takes them a long time to recover." I played with the tessen. "Mainly because they're stubborn about it. And you can't push them to recover, you can just... help them along the way."

I tapped the fan on my head and realized exactly what I was saying. I was echoing my father's words just in a bit more detail.

"I guess so," Hinata said, trying to smile.

I stood up and grabbed the bag. "Hey, if you ever need a training partner, let me know. Playing with the boys gets a bit repetitive after a while."

She looked up at me with her white eyes and I thought she was going to cry. Instead she nodded a bit. "I'd like that."

"Great! I need to go practice now but I think I need a bigger field," I said, waving good-bye as I went back inside. I needed to check out of this place first to get any real training done and I didn't think there'd be too much of a problem doing that.

I headed back to my room to collect whatever I had left there and found someone was there waiting for me. Or rather, he had been and was now staring out the window into the courtyard.

"Why are you still here?" Neji asked, not breaking his gaze.

"What?"

"You could have checked out three days ago," he said.

"Oh," I replied. "I just... needed some more time."

He nodded and turned away from the window. "Then you're leaving now?"

I nodded, shifting the bag of weapons on my back. "Just needed to pick up a few things."

He walked over and pulled the bag off my shoulder. "I'll wait outside."

I watched him leave with a surprised expression. What the hell was that all about? I walked over to the closet near the window and took a quick glance outside. I realized what he had been watching.

Hinata was still out there, moving through the same kata but with fewer mistakes this time. I shook my head before realizing I was going to do the same thing myself, train even if my body wasn't ready yet.

I walked outside a few minutes later and Neji handed me the sign out form. I thought about protesting and yelling at him for taking charge but I think in his own way, he was trying to get me out of my rut too. Just in a more roundabout way then even my father had used.

"Let's go," he said as soon as I was done. "I need your help with something."

I nodded, remember a bit of the conversation I had with Hinata. Maybe she and I weren't the only ones who needed to recover from something. He might not tell me right away but I figured I would do the only thing I could.

I would help him along.