Second chapter. Neji freaks out, the Hyuuga family makes an appearance, Sakura does doctor things. Please review.
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Neji appeared calm on the outside, but Tenten could sense his growing anger.
"But, Neji! There's mor-"
"No!" he exclaimed and sat straight up. "Blind?"
Tenten grabbed his wrist as he tried to get out of bed, tears pouring from her weary eyes. "Please Neji, sit! You're still hurt! Listen to me, ther-"
"Get off!" He flung his wrist back and sent Tenten tumbling into the side table with enough force to break off one of the legs. He stopped as he heard the crash. "Tenten?"
"Neji, please calm down," she whispered as she picked herself up, trying to keep the quiver in her voice under control.
"Are you okay Tenten? What happened?" he asked. Tenten suppressed a sob when she heard the sadness in his voice.
"It's okay, I tripped over the side table..." She stood next to him and helped him sit up on a pillow. "Please, Neji. Just listen to me."
The frown on his face didn't subside as he leaned back. "Tenten... I'm sorry."
Why does he have to go and act sweet for once? she thought as she sniffed slightly. "It's okay. Really." She sat on the bed next to him, her legs crossed carefully. "The medic nins can explain better, but I know the basics of what happened." Tenten summoned up her mission voice and tried to calm herself. "When the puppet blew up, it let off a large flash. With your proximity to the explosion, the flash caused damage to your eyes. Specifically, the part that controls the Byakugan." Neji's frown deepened and Tenten gulped. "They say that the blindness can be fixed with an operation, but there's a downside."
Neji's face still held it's solemn frown. "What is it?"
"If you take the operation, the Byakugan will become permanently inert."
Tenten saw the Hyuuga genius pale, and felt another stab to her heart. "But..."
"There's also a different option," she interjected quickly. "You can choose not to have the operation and hope that your eye sight will come back on it's own. There's a very small chance of that happening, and the medic's have no idea when it would come back if it healed. But you would probably have full useage of the Byakugan."
Neji was silent. He looked completely still except for his hands, which were twisting themselves into the bed sheet. "How long?"
"You have three weeks to decide. After that, not even the operation will help and it's up to chance." She reached forward and untangled his hands from the cloth and held them within her smaller ones. "If you want, I'll help you however I can." Yeah right... Neji never accepts assistance with anything...
"I'd..." Tenten was shocked when he gripped her hands back. "I'd like that, Tenten."
The way he said her name made her forget to breathe for a moment. His hands were shaking. On an instinct she pulled him into her arms, resting his head in the crook of her neck. At first he stiffened, but then relax and allowed her to run her fingers through his hair, resting in her embrace.
An hour later Tenten found herself at Neji's side, cutting an apple for him. He's taking it better than I thought. Maybe he realizes that being angry won't help the situation... or maybe it's just the massive amount of medication he's on. Despite herself, she smiled. Hopefully it's the former. She glanced at where he was propped up in the hospital bed, running his fingers carefully over one of her kunai. He's changed so much in the past year...
She thought back to his fight with Hinata in the first chuunin exams. He didn't even care that he nearly killed her. But now if something were to happen to her, he would be furious. They're more like siblings now than cousins. She glanced at the bouquet of daisies that the shy girl had dropped off yesterday a couple hours after Neji was submitted to the hospital and smiled.
"Neji, do you want this apple now?" she asked.
His head turned toward her right shoulder, and she frowned. "Yes."
He took the pieces from her one at a time and chewed slowly. Hopefully he'll be out of here soon... I'm starting to get claustrophobic.
Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Neji stopped chewing and Tenten could practically see him straining to hear who it was. She set the remainder of the apple on a napkin and went to the door.
"Yes?" she asked as she opened the door.
"Neji is in here, correct?" Hiashi Hyuuga asked as he glanced down at Tenten.
"Yeah... Please come in," she said as she stepped out of the way.
Ever since she had went to the Hyuuga compound during her first year on her genin team, Tenten had been slightly afraid of Hiashi. To her, the leader of the Hyuuga clan symbolized everything that held Neji down. The Hyuuga compound was like a cage, keeping her teammate bound to his supposed fate. Even before she met Neji and learned about his childhood, Tenten had hated the word 'fate'. She defined 'fate' as circumstances beyond one's control. Over time she had come to the conclusion that what you did with fate was what really mattered, but the Hyuuga just didn't seem to understand her idea.
Hiashi practically glided into the room, his youngest daughter Hanabi on his heals. Tenten saw Hinata standing outside of the room and motioned her inside. She smiled gratefully and came to stand beside Tenten.
"Hiashi-sama," Neji said with a slight bow from his seated position.
"Neji, I have been informed of you situation."
Tenten stiffened up. How will this affect Neji with his family? I didn't even think about that aspect... But she calmed down when Hinata took her hand and gave her a small, reassuring smile.
"I'm sorry, Hiashi-sama. I've disgraced the Hyuuga name." Neji's face was pale. Tenten could practically feel his shame.
"No. You were in a mission situation. For what your sensei," Hiashi said the word with unease. Tenten could just imagine her sensei telling Hiashi about the mission. She grinned at the mental image of Gai giving the proud Hyuuga patriarch one of his favorite poses, "has told me, you performed your mission well. That is all I could possibly ask of you."
"But what abou-"
"The decision is yours and yours alone. I'll support you with whatever you decide. You'll be considered an adult next year; I'll allow you to make your own decision." Hiashi started to walk toward the door. "But Neji. Fate has dealt you a bad hand once again. Don't be hasty when selecting which cards you'll play." With that the Hyuuga exited the room, Hanabi glancing back at Neji with a bit of pity before following her father. Hinata remained.
"Neji-niisan?" she mumbled as she left Tenten's side.
"Yes, Hinata-sama?"
He's good at recognizing voices, Tenten thought as Hinata approached his bedside.
"I'm sorry about what happened," she said as she rubbed her hands together.
"So am I," he responded.
"If you need anything... Just call. I'll do what I can, Neji-niisan."
"Hinata-sama, you've done enough already, but I'll keep that in mind. Thank you." Neji let himself relax and he gave Hinata a small smile. "You should go before Hiashi realizes you've lingered."
"Yes. I'll see you both later. Goodnight, Neji-niisan." She scampered to the door and bowed slightly to Tenten. "Good night, Tenten-chan," she mumbled as she exited the room, leaving Neji and Tenten alone once again.
"Neji?" Tenten asked after a moment of silence.
"Hinata-sama convinced Hiashi-sama to not be angry. She's grown so much this year." Neji had a proud smile splayed across his face. Tenten smiled back, even though she knew he wouldn't be able to tell.
She stayed the night at the hospital with Neji, despite his protests. "Go home," he told her. "Your family will be worried."
Tenten only smiled grimly and assured him they wouldn't notice.
It was late into the night and Neji was asleep. Tenten sat on the open window ledge and gazed up into the night sky, the crescent moon winking at her playfully. "It's so unfair," she told the sky softly. "Neji's has to deal with so much. Why does life keep giving him the short end of the stick? He's so proud of his Byakugan... Why does everything he loves have to be taken from him?"
The sky remained quite, the twinkling stars giving her no response.
She sighed. "I suppose all I can do is try and help him. He's being released tomorrow; he'll need constant assistance for awhile. Maybe I can even help him train his other senses. It's the perfect opportunity with his eyesight cut off, plus it'll keep him busy... I'll ask him about it tomorrow."
"There's no need." Neji's voice startled her so badly she nearly fell out the window. He was oblivious.
"But, seriously Neji, it would be a good learning experience," she began as she hauled herself back into the room. "And-"
"Tenten." She stopped in mid sentence.
I hate how he has that effect on me.
"I'd like to train."
She smiled. "Okay. We'll train as soon as the doctor says you can."
He nodded in her direction and turned to face the opposite wall. "Get some rest," he told her as his fell back into a light sleep.
Tenten just grinned and sat down on the cot next to his bed. "Yeah, okay."
She gazed at him or a moment, feeling her heart lighten a bit. Anything you say, Neji.
The next morning, Sakura came knocking on Neji's door. In the years since Sasuke left Konoha, Tenten had gotten to know the pink-haired kunoichi better. Sakura was currently training under the Godaime herself, learning the art of medical jutsu. Even though Tenten was envious of the girl for being so close to her idol, she had accepted it and moved on to become good friends with her. As Sakura had told her, "We kunoichi need to stick together!"
So when she showed up in the hospital room, Tenten gave her a hug in greeting. "How are you this morning, Sakura-chan?"
"Just fine, Tenten-chan, thanks!" she responded. "I'm doing my rounds." She turned to the Hyuuga, taking the clipboard from the end of his bed. "How are you feeling this morning? Is that fever gone?" she asked him.
"Yes. I'm fine," he responded. Tenten knew that Neji had come to respect Sakura after the rescue mission when she helped nurse him back to health. "When can I leave?"
"Actually, I'm here to clear you. I just need to take the bandages off your eyes and make sure everything is okay under there, and you can go." She started unwrapping the white gauze slowly, being very careful. "So... have you thought of your options?"
"Yes. I'm still not sure."
"If you opt for the surgery, Tsunade-sama and I will handle it ourselves. You would be in good hands, I guarentee."
Neji seemed hesitant at her words. "If I don't have the surgery... Honestly, what are my chances at having my eyesight back? Coming for a medical standpoint?"
Tenten gulped as Sakura's knuckles turned white. "Not good. It's highly unlikely that the damage you suffered will repair itself, but it's possible. Since the damage was to the arteries controlling the Byakugan, we can't be completely sure how the natural healing systems of the body will react." Sakura was unwrapping the last of the bandages. Tenten could see the Branch House seal now. "We haven't studied enough on doujutsu users, in my opinion."
The waver in the young medic's voice was not unnoticed. She must still be thinking about another doujutsu user... Tenten thought with a scowl. Damn that Sasuke, breaking her heart like that.
But all thoughts of the Uchiha heir left her mind as the last bandages fell from Neji's face. He slowly opened his eyes. They looked the same - like large lilac pearls. But the expression on Neji's face made it painfully obvious that his eyes granted him no vision of his surroundings.
"This... is odd," Neji said after a pause.
"If you want, I can get you glasses to hide your eyes," Sakura said soothingly as she pulled out a small flashlight. She shined it in his eyes, but he didn't blink. Tenten flinched.
"No. It's fine. I'd rather have nothing on my face." He carefully put his feet over the side of the bed and dropped to the ground.
Sakura just pursed her lips with worry. "I'm going to go get your release papers." As she went to the door, she grabbed Tenten and dragged her into the hallway. "Keep an eye on him. I know he'll want to be independent, but you need to put your foot down and force him to accept help. I've already had a talk with Hinata, but he needs you more than he needs her. I'm going to talk with Lee about how he should act, too." Sakura glanced into the room where Neji was touching the objects on the new side table. "Here." She shoved a pamphlet into Tenten's hands. The cover read 'So, your friend is blind?'.
"Nice title," Tenten said with a grimace.
"Yeah, I know," Sakura agreed, "but it will help you know how to help him adjust to being blind." She paused for a moment as another medic passed. "About his options... The surgery would be best. Even though he wouldn't have the Byakugan, he could still see."
"I still don't know which way he'll go with this," Tenten replied. "I'm not going to pressure him about it."
"That's probably for the best. Anyway, I need to go now." Sakura walked to a nurse's station and grabbed his release form, scribbling her signature quickly near the bottom. "Give this to the receptionist on your way out. Good luck, Tenten-chan."
"Thanks." Sakura strode off down the hall and Tenten looked back down to the paper in her hands. This could be very helpful... Step 1: Asses the subject's awareness of his or her other senses.
"Tenten," Neji said from the hospital room.
"Oh!" she exclaimed as she hurried back into the room. "Sorry about that Neji, I was getting the release form from Sakura-chan." She stopped in front of him and grabbed his shoulders so he was facing toward her. She glance down at his hospital attire. "Do you think you can change by yourself if I direct you to the bathroom? I would help, but I think it would be uncomfortable for the both of us."
"I'll be fine," he said as Tenten handed him the change of clothes that Hinata had brought by earlier and directed him into an adjoining bathroom.
She stood outside the door, listening to make sure he didn't fall. Her eyes skimmed the pamphlet in her hands. So I'll start with how well he can recognize things without sight. I need to stay calm. He's going to be resistant. He always has been. I just have to keep trying no matter what, for his sake.
The door opened and Neji emerged fully dressed in his typical baggy clothing. "Tenten."
"Hmm?" she said.
"We're leaving."
Tenten tucked her pamphlet away in her pack and grabbed his hand. "Yeah."
And together they walked out of the hospital, the Hyuuga genius allowing himself to rely on his teammate to guide him through the darkness.