BRAND NEW CHAPTER AS OF : AUGUST 15th! 2006

Heres the long awaited chapter 3! Um... I think I might have over dramatized on it, and I think I put Neji OOC... so if you notice anything out of sorts please make me aware

- No I do not own Naruto...
- sorry for ANY typos and whatnots - please make me aware if there is an abundance of them!

- do not flame me unless it's constructive critism

The Words I Never Thought I'd Have The Chance To Say: Chapter 3

The Next Day

Hinata quickly prepared for training, packing everything she'd need for the day in her knapsack as fast as she could seeing how she had slept in, and it was almost noon by now. After she double checked the contents of her bag, she swung it over her should and left the room. Closing the door behind her, she continued down the hall until she noticed her father. She bowed politely before continuing on her way.

"Hinata... I'd like to see you in my office... now" her father said in a cold voice. This left Hinata no choice but to do what her father had said.

XXX

Hinata emerged from her father's office almost two hours later. Her whole body trembled violently as she tried to suppress the tears that were willing to fall at any moment. Once she closed the door behind her, she took off in a sprint down the corridor, passing Neji along the way. Leaving him to wonder what had happened. Hinata continued to run until she was away from the compound and into the forest until she slowed down into a fast paced walk. She continued walking until she came to her usual quiet training area. She dropped her book bag to the ground, deciding to put what had just happen off to the side until later. Even though she tried to put her though on the matter to the side, her body still shook, though not as violent as before. By now it was mid-afternoon not leaving much time to train. She pulled out pulled out a few kunai, aiming for a tree a few paces away. She threw the first kunai, it missed. A second, it missed. A third, it missed. And a fourth, it missed. As much as she tried her fathers voice continued to run though her head, causing her to loose focus on her training. She took a deep breath trying to clear her mind, and focus at the task at hand. As hard as she tried the voice wouldn't go away. The voice got louder, causing images of the last mission from the last mission to pass through her mind. She slowly backed into a tree, trying to convince herself that her father was wrong. No matter how much she tried it wouldn't go away, causing all the emotion that she tried so hard to hide to be let loose. Her hands clutched her head as if trying to block the voice itself. She slowly fell to her knees, tears now flowing doing her cheeks.

"No...It...can't b-be... true" she told herself. Desperately trying to block the voice. Flashes of images continued to pass through her mind further proving the voices points. Never had her father's word had such an effect on her. Evan though his usual hateful word were like a critical blow to the stomach, this was the first time she'd broken down into a devastated state.

"It can't be...true" she told herself repeatedly, her whole body shaking violently.

XXX

Meanwhile back at the Hyuuga compound, Neji sat on the floor of his room. His back leaned against the bed. Yet another uneventful day had passed with nothing accomplished .By now it was almost pitched black outside, well aware that Hinata hadn't returned yet Once again he set off in search of her, guessing that she was probably at her training area. He entered the forest, slowly making his way, stumbling on the odd tree root or branch. After a long while he came to the large clearing. Glowing in from the moon's light. He quickly scanned the surroundings, his eyes landing on a dark, quivering figure in the shadows. He slowly made his way towards the thing, trying to make sense of the faint noises emitting from it before realizing it was Hinata. Never had he seen her in such a traumatized state, nor anyone else. He Snapped out of his thoughts when Hinata started to forcibly banging her head against the tree behind her. He quickly grabbed her shoulders, turning her around to face him, not knowing what to do next. Her face was tear-stained, red and blotchy, and tears poured in a never ending stream. Her body shook with violent intensity, her hands still clutching her head. Eyes wide, full of fear and sadness. While her forehead bled from earlier where she had repeatedly banged her head against the tree.

"No... No... Nooo... its not...true..." she said repeatedly in a low voice.

"Hinata" he said in a serious tone, trying to snap her out of trance-like state. Wondering what her father had said to get her in such a state.

"Snap out of it..." he said, shaking her shoulders, but to his dismay in had no effect. Her hands slowly moved away from her head, shakily making there way towards Neji's chest. Grabbing his jacket in a firm grip. She slowly pulled him closer, so she was now sobbing into his jacket. Not knowing what to do , he wrapped his arms around her, unthoughtfully. Things went quiet afterwards, only the faint sounds of crickets in the background. Her body gradually stopped shaking and her grip loosened as her body went limp. Her tears stopping as she drifted to sleep.

"And I though I had it bad" he said to himself, touching the cold metal of his ninja headband. Removing Hinata's hands from his jacket, he leaned her back against the tree for support. Knowing full well that they were stuck here for the night, since he was still in no position to carry her back to the compound. Sighing, Neji took a bandage from his kunai case, placing it over the wound on her forehead. Getting up, he walked over to a tree a few feet away from the one that Hinata was against. Sitting down, he let sleep take hold of him.

XXX

Several hours later, Neji wake after hearing strange murmurs and whimpers. Getting to his feet he walked over to Hinata, since the lack of light prevent him from seeing her from where he was sitting. Kneeling down beside her, he immediately noticed her eyes squinted tightly shut, in a pained expression. Her body resumed the shaking as she broke out in a cold sweat. Sighing he tried to nudge her awake but she didn't wake. Instead she took hold of his jacket once again, pushing him over to land on his back, herself landing on top. Her lips managing to land on his. Breaking the sudden contact, Neji turned his head to the side.

"She doesn't know what she's doing" he sighed mentally. (N/A: -gasp-! does he sound disappointed?) Before he could do anything else, Hinata's eyes flashed open, quickly taking in her surroundings. Looking down she saw a stunned Neji. Equally shocked Hinata was up and off him in record speed, putting several feet between the two of them. Followed by a long silence. Getting to his feet again Neji collected some wood for a fire. After getting the fire started, the male Hyuuga took a seat close to the fire, absorbing the warmth. After a few minutes Hinata wearily made her way, taking a seat opposite to where Neji was sitting. . Her posture was slumped and her head was low, almost low enough for her chin to rest on her chest. . Her face was still tear stained and she wore a depressed expression. Obviously something was still bothering her. She raised her hand to brush a few stray strands of hair from her face, her hand landing on something soft. Feeling around the edges, she realized it a bandage. Making her wonder what had happened. (Doesn't remember anything after she entered her little training area). Glancing over at Neji she realized his arm was bleeding.

"You're bleeding" she stated plainly, looking around for her knapsack. Looking down at his arm he noticed the growing blood stain, probably from the commotion earlier.

"Hold out your arm" the female Hyuuga said softly, sitting down beside him, medical kit in hand. Reluctantly he did as told. Gently, she unwrapped the bandages revealing the re-opened gash, automatically re-calling her fathers words back into her mind. In the middle of thoughts Hinata failed to notice that she had picked up a bottle of peroxide, unscrewing the cap and pouring it onto the flesh wound.

"Ah!" Neji gasped as the unexpected pain ran through his body, his arm flinching slightly.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" she said, snapping out of her thoughts. Re-screwing the cap back on to the bottle and grabbing a piece of cloth to wipe up the mess that she had created. Once she was finished re-bandaging the wound she packed up her stuff and took her original seat by the fire, across from Neji. A long silence followed.

"So... what happened?" Neji asked, curious. No response came, and Hinata's face saddened even more, giving him the impression that it was a rather touchy subject. Then things went back to quietness once again. Both of them drifting of to sleep soon afterwards.

XXX

A few hours later, Neji woke once again, hearing voices. Looking over were Hinata was earlier that night he noticed she was gone. Looking at the surround area it was clear that she wasn't there, even from the lack of light. Getting to his feet, he activated his Byakugan, making it somewhat easier for him to locate her. As much as it didn't help with the lack of light problem, he made the best out of what he had. Scanning in all directions, he found nothing. Making no sense, since the voices sounded close when he woke. Picking a completely random direction he decided to he started walking, checking his surroundings every couple minutes looking for some kind of clue. After about an hour, he noticed the sun rising. Then it started to rain light and there was still no sign of Hinata. As he continued he wondered why he was even doing this. About fifteen minutes later of walking he saw someone in the far distance. Slowly picking up his pace to walk toward the person. As he neared, he could hear loud shouts could be heard. As he neared the person, he could tell that it was Hinata.

"No, it's not true!" she shouted to no one in particular.

"No! No. No..." she said, each time, her voice getting softer and softer.

"No... Its not. True...I'm not. Useless..." she told herself as a few tears slid down her cheeks.

"I'm not a mistake..." she mumble, the flow of tears increasing. Hinata continued stumbling around until she came to the waters edge of a fast current stream. Wobbling over the edge. Quickening his pace into a run, Neji tried to reach her in time, already knowing the outcome. Hinata fell into the stream, immediately being swept quickly down the stream. Neji quickly focused his chakra to his feet, allowing him to walk across the waters surface. Breaking into a sprint he tried to catch up to Hinata, but it proved difficult. The gap slowly lessoned but still seemed large. A soft distant crashing noise could be heard in the background. As he closed the remaining gap, he realized what the noise was. A waterfall. Extending an arm he tried to grab on of Hinata's flailing arm as she tried to stay afloat. Urgency set in as the waterfall neared. He had one chance left. Reaching out once more he managed to grab her fingers but quickly lost the grip. (N/A - GASP-) Luckily he was able to grab her wrist with his other free hand. Taking a moment to catch his breath, he managed to pull her to solid land. Once again Hinata hung to him, wrapping her arms tightly around his torso. Almost in a hug like manner. She was still crying, or at least looked like she was crying since it was hard to tell from the rain. He lowered himself to his knees, taking the weight off his tired legs.

"No, its not...true..." Hinata murmured into his chest, still in her trance-like state. Was she even aware of anything she was doing? Neji though to himself. As he looked down at her. Also, why was it always he that came to her rescue. He continued thinking to himself. By now both of the Hyuuga were soaked to the bone and the rain showed no sign of giving up anytime soon.

"Hinata" he said, trying to wake her up, but it proved useless. He tried a few more time, before deciding another tactic to snap her out of the trance.

"I'm... not...weak..." she continued to murmur, slowly beginning to shake. Probably from the cold. Sighing, Neji continued to rack his brain for an option. Completely unaware of what his body was doing. His arms wrapped around her in a heated hug. Knowing that they would have to be back to the Hyuuga compound soon, before someone would notice there absence. He decided he would have to risk it and carry her back, dropping by the training area to pick up her knapsack. Removing her arm from around his chest, he picked her up bridal style in his arms and started making there way back. Never had he notice how light she was, even though she was soaking wet. Rain continued to pour as he made his way back through the forest towards the camp.

"Thanks...Neji" Hinata mumbled in her sleep. Caught off guard the male Hyuuga looked down at her oddly, confused at what she had said. Shock to also see a faint smile. Not knowing why she had thanked him, he continued on. By the time he reached the front gates of the Hyuuga compound, the sun was almost up. Quietly he opened the gates, shutting the door behind him. Stealthfully he made his way towards Hinata room, without being seen. Opening the door to her room he walked in. Setting her down on her bed, and pulling the covers over her. Before, putting her knapsack on the floor beside the bed, he left. Going back to his own room to catch up on the sleep during the night's events. First changing out of his wet and somewhat muddy clothes.

So how was it? Worth the wait? Was it over dramatized? Or was there to much OOCness? PLEASE TELL ME! RAWR! XD

Please gimme feedback.

- Tas (sorry agian for any typos and what nots)