Letter Five

Tenten to Hyuuga Neji

Dear Neji,

I know that you have some sort of secret contempt for Lee and me, but please respond to this, at the very least.

That having been said, Lee is still in the hospital. I do not believe they can cure his leg and arm. He will no longer be able to live as a ninja. I know that you will go into one of your lectures about fate and destiny and life and the Main House… but Lee does not deserve that. He tried very hard for what he believed in. You have not been by to see him at all. I think we would both like it if you could just take a break from your intense training and see him. Just for an hour or so.

He has suffered a terrible blow from this. He can no longer follow his dreams of being a ninja. Of course, the medical experts say nothing about the hopelessness of the situation to us, children, but I know from the way they walk when they enter and exit his room, falsely smiling, falsely hoping…

I have been wondering about how your cousin is… the one you fought in the Chuunin Preliminaries. She was removed from the hospital three days ago, or so we were told. I got into the habit of dropping by her room once in a while. The Jounin in charge of Team 8, Yuuhi Kurenai, seemed very vexed whenever I passed her. One of her two teammates, the Aburame or the Inuzaka, was almost always around, waiting for her to regain consciousness. If not one of the boys, then her instructor was asking for an update on Hinata's condition.

Seeing that strong bond of their team made me want to ask you questions that I have wondered for so long. Why can you not trust Lee or me in the way they trust each other? I was almost touched to tears at how devoted they were to their companion. I wished that our team were like that. While our instructor, Gai, and Lee may hug each other as though they were the best of friends, you ignore it, thinking them bizarre in appearance and behavior. While Lee and I may train against each other, trying to learn from each other, you ignore us, thinking us below you in level and skill. While Gai and I… does it matter, even? Will you even read this far?

Lee and I both know--- all of us know--- that you tried to kill her. Can you not trust her? Can you not forgive her? Can you not forget the inner conflict that leads you to be so cold? We try so hard to gain your trust or friendship, yet you always push us away. Is your personal vendetta against the "Main House" so strong that you must try to kill your cousin just for the symbolism it signifies? Give her a chance… give Lee a chance… give me a chance… we try to reach out to you so often.

I cannot claim I know your cousin, Hinata, very well, but from what I have seen, she is gentle and kind. She has never wished ill on anyone or done harm. For what reason must such a benevolent person be tormented by your inner indecisive agony, Neji?

Anyways, as extra incentive to come visit Lee and me in the hospital tomorrow, I have gathered some extra information on your opponent for the Third Part of the Exams. Uzumaki Naruto, correct? The loud, blue-eyed blond with whisker-marks on his face? He left a while ago with Ebisu, the famed trainer, but seems to have abandoned that teacher in favor of another. Or if the information I can provide is not motivation enough, just come. For your teammates.

Nearly all the others in the competition are as eager as you are. The Uchiha boy has disappeared, most likely with his Jounin instructor, to train. The Genin who controlled shadows and won against the Sound female has been training daily with one of his teammates, always taking his partner to gorge on food at a Barbeque restaurant at some point. The Aburame has been almost untraceable, even by gossip. The Sound ninja just vanished. The Sand ninja seem not to even care about the competition and are frightfully confident. I know they are very skilled, having met one myself and lost miserably, but I find it strange that they just sit around inside all the time without going outside.

But they spend time with their team once in a while!

I know I have gotten very repetitive, and I am sorry for that.

Please, consider all I have written.

Your friend and teammate,

Tenten


Author's Note: All right... a few things since some people seem to be lost. This story starts a week after the Chuunin Preliminaries, assuming that Hinata was in a coma for a week. This entire story is made up of letters to and from various characters and revolves mainly around the relationship between Hinata and Neji. I chose to write it all in letters, because you can learn a lot about people from how they write. For example, Hiashi's letter was concise and formal, Hinata's showed she was still polite and caring even though she just awoke from a long sleep, and so on and so forth. That is also why I said, at the beginning, that letters could be short for plot reasons.

To Firenze2000: If you mean, is he withdrawing her from the hospital because he loves her, not precisely...