A/N: Hey guys! I'm sorry this chapter is so late. sigh. I really have no excuse this time. I guess I'm just getting lazy lately… I meant to update a few days ago, but things came up, and there was an earthquake. (sniffles. I had to live without my computer for a whole day!) Well, enough about me. Here's the story. I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 5: Decisions

"Good night, Hinata." A sweet, shy peck on the cheek followed the words, and then the blond-haired boy was walking into the night, his hands behind his head in his classic relaxing posture.

Despite herself, she could feel warmth seep into her cheeks as she watched her boyfriend walk away. "Oh Naruto . . ." she sighed, a small smile lighting up her face. I can't believe that all of this is real, she thought blissfully as she quietly slipped into the Hyuuga Compound. Naruto was actually interested in her. Of all people he could have chosen, he had chosen her. Just the thought of it made her so happy that she could burst.

"Neji nii-san!" she said in surprise as she saw her cousin walking briskly down the hall out of the corner of her eye. He turned to her sharply, and she almost immediately noticed that something was bothering him by the tense set of his shoulders.

Over the years, she and Neji had slowly rebuilt their broken relationship, healing the scars of old wounds with quiet words and friendly nods until they were as close to being normal cousins as they could possibly be. She had learned to read his mood by the subtle changes of his posture and expression, though she still wasn't as good as she knew Tenten was.

"Hinata-sama," he greeted, his head bowing in recognition.

"You don't need to call me that Neji nii-san," she told him.

"I know."

She smiled at him. "Would you like to go walking with me?"

He looked at her and tried to smile back, if only for her sake. "Sure."

It was that time of year when the flowers were just beginning to bloom and the wind smelled of life and rain and spring. And the garden was a beautiful sight, all green and growing and just beginning to wake up from the sleep that is winter. The two cousins walked silently beside each other, taking in the scene in their own quiet ways.

Finally, Hinata's voice broke through the silence, and it sounded so shy and hesitant that Neji was reminded of their younger days, when he had been blind and uncaring and she had been the timid, useless Hyuuga failure.

"I-is everything alright, Neji nii-san?"

He frowned unconsciously, his brows furrowing. No, everything was not alright. Today he had almost kissed Tenten. Today he had almost ruined the most precious relationship he had. And tomorrow he would have to see her again. And there would be a strange sort of silence between them, and he wouldn't know what to do or what to say, because sometimes, being around Tenten could do that to him.

"Everything's fine."

She knew he was lying. He knew that she knew he was lying. But she only gave him that same understanding smile she always had for him and continued walking. That was how it had always been. Hinata knew that Neji would never tell her his problems, but she asked anyway. Because no matter what anyone said about them, Hinata cared for Neji and he cared for Hinata. It was a delicate relationship, full of lies and smiles and understandings, but it was still theirs.

"My father…asked me something today." Hinata bit her lip, a sign of that old nervousness coming back. It was rare that Hiashi would speak to anyone as of late. The years had finally taken its toll on him, and he barely spent time with tedious clan meetings and small talk anymore. "H-he asked me…to be the clan head. T-to be his successor," she stuttered out in a jumble of words. "I told him I wouldn't, That I didn't want to."

His head shot towards her with eyes that told her that she was a fool, that she was crazy for not accepting the offer. "You know I could never do it, Neji," she said as if in answer to the look in his eyes. She didn't notice that she had dropped the usual honorific. "I'm not a leader, and these people haven't accepted me. They don't believe that I can do it, and—"

"If Hiashi-sama believes that you can do it, then there is no need for anyone else to doubt you," his strong, firm voice cut in. He looked away. "You should take the offer, Hinata." He wanted what was best for her, and, honestly, he thought she would make a wonderful leader. She was strong, and could overcome any shyness or criticism because he knew that she truly did care for her clan. Despite all the clan had done to her, she still loved them anyway. And in the end, that was all that really mattered.

"Neji nii-san." She seemed to struggle with her words and emotions for awhile before looking up at him with possibly the brightest smile she had ever smiled at him. "It's an honor just to know that you have confidence in me. But, I know what's best for the clan." She tapped him on the shoulder shyly. "I told my father that you would be best for the clan."

He could feel his heart stop and all thoughts flee from his mind at her words. "I know it's always been what you've dreamed of, Neji nii-san," she continued gently. "The clan is your life goal. You're strong and you've worked hard, and it's the least you deserve."

Finally, words came to his lips. "Hinata-sama, you cannot simply—"

"Please, Neji," she said, one of the few times in her life she had ever interrupted him. "Let me do this for you." Her eyes were shining, and he wasn't sure if it was from tears or if it was just a trick of the light. "I...well, I've always looked up to you Neji nii-san. And you've always been so kind to me. You've helped me improve so much—and this is the only thing I can do for you, I'm afraid. So, Neji nii-san," she gave him a pleading look, "Please, please just let me do this."

He was silent, overcome by her words, by the desperation in her voice. She continued, her voice quiet and encouraging, as if she knew she had already won. "The clan trusts you to lead them, Neji nii-san. And so does Father."

She started walking back to the compound, leaving a stunned Neji behind. She was almost out of sight before he was suddenly jerked back into reality. "Hinata-sama!" he yelled after her without thinking. She turned around, her white eyes seeming to glow in the dark. For awhile, he didn't know what to say. And then the words came out. "Thank you." He said simply, trying to push every bit of happiness and gratitude he felt into the words.

That small smile lit up her face, and she murmured one shy 'your welcome' before disappearing into the compound.

The second he heard the tap on his window, Neji was fully alert and ready for battle with a kunai in his hand. He blinked as he saw two large eyes staring at him from the outside. Lee… he thought with an annoyed sigh as he moved to open the window.

It had taken him long enough to fall asleep. It had taken him hours of meditation to hellp him sort out his thoughts on everything that had happened that day. Surprisingly, being the clan leader was not the biggest thing on his mind. It had been her; the way that she had looked sprawled out beneath him, and how easily he could have kissed her right then. He had finally decided (after hours), that he would forget about their almost-kiss. Really, it was just stupid hormones that had caught him off-guard (though he knew that he was much to old to be blaming everything on hormones). Plus, he didn't care for Tenten that way. He would just forget it, and he knew that Tenten would do the same. But now Lee had to come barging in on the few hours of sleep he had left?

"What is it, Lee?" he asked, not bothering to disguise the irritation in his voice. "It's," he glanced at the clock, "12:30 in the morning. This had better be damn important."

"So it's true!" Lee pointed at him with an accusing finger, his eyes lighting up with realization.

"What's true? And would you please lower your voice, you idiot?" he demanded in a harsh whisper. He and Lee had learned to respect each other over the years, and they might even be considered friends. But really, this was just too much.

"You have dimmed our beautiful flower's flames of youth! You and Tenten got into a fight!" Neji winced slightly, and he wasn't sure if it was from the volume of Lee's statement, or the statement itself.

"I told you to be quiet. Don't you ever listen?" he hissed, hoping Lee hadn't seen him wince.

"Oh," Lee replied, his voice much softer than before. "Sorry," he said sheepishly, as if he hadn't heard Neji the first time he had said to be quiet.

"Yeah, right. Now get out of my house." He tried to nudge Lee out the window, but the green-clad boy refused to move.

"Nope." Lee shook his head, the action seeming childishly determined and deadly serious at the same time. "I'm not gonna leave until you tell me why Tenten was so upset tonight."

He furrowed his brows. Was Tenten really that upset because of what had happened? And how in the world did Lee know about it? "What the hell do you mean?" He really wasn't in the mood to discuss these things. Especially not now in the middle of the night. God, couldn't a guy catch some sleep now days?

"I mean that she and the lovely Sakura got into a fight. You know that our Tenten never gets into fights with her friends. And she and Sakura are really close. I figured that you would know what was going on, since you're her partner and all. And since you're in a bad mood too, I have concluded that you must be the cause of our beautiful flower's distress!"

Neji could feel his temper rising at his teammate's ridiculous accusations. "First of all, what does Sakura and Tenten fighting have to do with me? I wasn't even there, so how could I have caused it. And have you ever thought that maybe I was in a bad mood because you woke me up in the middle of the night?"

"Well…" Lee said, looking down and scratching his head. There was a moment of hesitant silence before he said, "I just thought it was a serious matter, Neji…"

Neji paused and narrowed his eyes. Now that he thought about it, Lee did seem more serious than usual. He wasn't saying youth after every word, and that had to mean something serious was up. "Thought that what was a serious matter?" he questioned, hoping that this wouldn't take all night. He finally sat down, as if resigned to the fact that he would never be able to rest until Lee told him what he had to say.

Lee too, plopped himself down on the floor. "Tenten has been acting weird lately. Haven't you noticed?"

"Of course I've noticed," he snapped. "I would be the first one to notice, you idiot."

"Aren't you worried about her at all?"

Neji was silent for awhile. "She's like this every year. Don't worry," he said, making sure his voice sounded as it usually did.

"What do you mean?" Lee asked, confusion written plainly in his eyes.

"She's like this at this time every year. Every autumn she starts acting a little weird." He shrugged, appearing nonchalant. "Maybe it's the weather or something."

"Neji, stop acting like you don't care about Tenten!" Lee shouted with an angry fire in his eyes, banging his fist into the floor.

"Of course I care about Tenten. She's our teammate," he whispered fiercely. "Now stop making so much noise before I kick you out of my house."

"Well you won't have to," Lee said, standing up and still using the same obnoxiously loud voice. "I'm leaving, and if you don't want to help Tenten, I will." With that, he jumped out the window and disappeared into the night.

Neji sighed as he slowly made his way back to his bed. Great, Lee had woken him up in the middle of an already restless night, given him even more things to worry about, and then left in a huff. It would be a miracle if he was able to sleep now. That idiot, Neji thought, but he couldn't really bring himself to be truly angry at his teammate. After all, Lee was just concerned for Tenten's safety.

He, Lee, Tenten, and Gai-sensei hadn't always been as good and close a team as they were now. In fact, there was a time when they were the weakest genin team of their year. It wasn't because there was a lack of talent on the team. It was actually more like there was too much talent. They were all so different, so unbalanced, and so excellent in their own fields that they simply could not work together.

Neji snorted. It was a stupid thought, really. They should have made the perfect team, Lee with his powerful taijutsu, Tenten with her impeccable long-range combat, and he with his Byakugan and Jyuuken. And yet, it had taken them so long just to learn to respect and trust each other.

From the moment he had been introduced to his team, he knew that it wouldn't work. He had thought they were all just a bunch of rejects, really. Lee and Gai-sensei were just too…crazy, what with the whole insane determination and enthusiasm and 'Youth!' speeches. And Tenten, with her smiles and her laughter and her patience, was just another girl, another burden.

He had been wrong about all of them. Especially Tenten. From the beginning, Tenten had always been somewhat mysterious. Not in a dark, quiet, suspicious way like Uchiha Sasuke, though. Tenten was friendly, well-liked, practical, and easy to talk to. The weird thing was that despite all of these traits, no one really knew anything about her. Not where exactly she came from (no one had seen her before she appeared at the Konoha Academy at the age of 10), or even what her last name was.

He had known all these things about Tenten before she had joined his team, but he hadn't really thought much of it. Other than the fact that she was foreign, didn't have a last name, and was actually good with weapons, she had seemed just like a normal, prissy girl to him. And how would a girl help in his task to take down the Main House.

Neji rolled over on his bed with an expression half way between a scowl and a smile on his face. Tenten had ended up helping him with his goal more than anyone else. She had taught him things, and talked to him, had seen him more than anyone else. Maybe that was why he had always been drawn to her in a way that he could never bring himself to explain…

And that was why he was worried about her. That was why he would ask her about her past tomorrow, even if he didn't want to. Even if he knew that she didn't want him to. Because a feeling in his gut told him that Tenten's strange behavior was somehow linked to her past. He knew that the sadness and the pain that she kept buried inside was somehow related to what had happened to her back then. Back then when he hadn't been around to protect her.

Even if it caused Tenten to hate him, he would find out. Because that's what friends did. And he was her best friend wasn't he?

"Uchiha Sasuke. Tsunade-sama awaits you." Three ANBU stood in the entrance to his hospital room, and he looked up at them lazily.

"Yeah," he replied in a voice that he hoped sounded relaxed and lazy. He had a hard enough time admitting to himself that he was nervous. Hell if he would let these idiot ANBU know that he was.

He got up and walked over to them, trying not to favor his right leg. They said it had been a crack in the bone, and they had wondered how he had managed to walk all the way back to Konoha from the Sound. He had other injuries too of course, injuries that should have had him in bed for at least a couple more months. Not like anyone cared. He was just a traitor, after all.

They arrived at Tsunade's office all to quickly, and as Sasuke faced the blonde woman, he had no idea what to say. What was he supposed to say? Sorry? It was much too late for sorry's and Sasuke knew it.

To his surprise, Tsunade greeted him with an almost kind smile. "Well if it isn't our favorite Uchiha. How have you been, hm?" She took a swig out of an almost empty beer bottle, and it was then that Sasuke realized why she was being so nice.

"You're drunk," he said, hoping not to sound disrespectful.

"Silly boy. It takes me a lot more than this to get me drunk. Have a seat." She gestured to the chair in front of her desk. "Just push aside all the papers."

He sat down, albeit cautiously. "Then why are you being so…nice?" he asked, his brows furrowing in doubt. This conversation was definitely not going the way he had envisioned it. He had been relieved when they had told him that the 'trial' wasn't going to be public, but he had still thought there would be just a little bit of hate on the Hokage's part. And here she was, acting as if they were old friends.

She laughed a little, and then straightened up, finally appearing as if she was ready to talk business. "Actually, Sasuke, I'm not quite sure what to do with you just yet." She paused, and then looked at him, as if analyzing him, as if she could see through him. "But now that I see you, I think I've made my decision."

His face remained blank, ready for whatever news she was going to tell him and expecting the worst.

She heaved a sigh, and then launched into an explanation, her voice somehow reminding him of how Sakura used to sound when she was teaching Naruto some fact he should have already known. "You've done lots of things wrong, Uchiha Sasuke. You've betrayed your village, joined your village's enemy, and committed various assassinations. These are very serious crimes, and will be taken into consideration in your punishment."

He tried hard not to fidget under the Hokage's intimidating gaze.

"On the other hand, you have inadvertently been a major help to our village by eliminating Itachi and Orochimaru, both S-ranked criminals. And, while you did commit treason against this village, your intentions were not completely immoral…" Tsunade flashed him a playful smile.

Sasuke was shocked to the point of silence. He didn't know what to think anymore. One minute she's accusing him of horrible crimes and the next minute she's grinning at him. What the hell had happened in Konoha while he had been gone.

"And by the look of you, it seems as though you truly are sorry." She shrugged. "So I guess you're suspended. No use of chakra for the next…hmm…three years. And you'll be under constant watch by at least one qualified shinobi at all times—"

"T-that's it?!" Sasuke burst out, practically jumping out of his seat. Tsunade shot him a confused look. He shook his head in disbelief. "I…and you…t-that's it?!" he sputtered out.

"Feh," Tsunade smirked. "I really should've held a public trial. People would have gotten a kick out of the way your face looks right now." Sasuke immediately calmed down, and sat back down in his seat after realizing he had gotten up in his outburst.

"I'm sorry, Hokage-sama," he said, trying to sound humble, but not too pathetic. He didn't want to ruin his chance at freedom or his reputation thank you very much.

"Yeah, no need to apologize," she said off-handedly. "Anyways, keep in mind that all of this isn't official yet. I'll have to take it through the elders." She sighed in exasperation. "You know how that goes. And of course there's the trouble of getting people to actually watch you every single day. I suppose there are ways of cutting of chakra…" she mused to herself. She suddenly looked at him, as if she had forgotten he was there. "You can go now, Sasuke. See you soon."

Sasuke stood up slowly and walked out of the office and was escorted back to his hospital room, still in a half-daze. He was still alive, and…he could actually become a Konoha shinobi again. He didn't know what to think anymore. He hadn't seen Naruto or Kakashi since he had returned, and then there had been that rather awkward encounter with Sakura the other day. (He still couldn't believe he had actually thought of kissing her.) Who knows what would happen once he joined Team 7 again.

Unconsciously, his eyes strayed to the picture and flowers on the table next to him. Sakura must have brought them over while he was still unconscious. The picture was, of course, the one Team 7 had taken when they were still genin. In a way, he still wanted to believe in that time; when Naruto was still the energetic, ambitious loud-mouth, and Sakura still had the glimmer of an regular, teenage girl in her eyes, and Kakashi was just their old perverted teacher.

He smirked. He had wronged them in a way that couldn't ever be completely forgotten. But now that Itachi was dead, now that the very goal that he lived for was finished, they were the only people he had left. The only family that he could still make things right with. Everything else in his life had turned out to be a mess, but right then, he vowed that he would make it up to Team 7 if it was the last thing he did.

I swear I'll make it up to you, he silently promised them as he lay there in the hospital. He thought of Sakura as he had seen her before, crying for him in her sleep. A surge of what could only be described as determination welled up within him. Especially to you, Sakura. Especially to you…

A/N: Uh…well, that's it. Thanks for reading and please leave a review. This was sort of a transition chapter. Hopefully this story starts moving along faster. I'm sorry about the slowness! It's a bad habit. I'm trying to fix it.

Well, here's a question I'd like to ask you all. What are your thoughts on Neji? Do you think he's an antisocial jerk, or simply a quiet, arrogant prodigy? Everyone seems to think different things about Neji, and I'd like to hear all of your opinions. As for me, I think that Neji isn't completely antisocial. I mean, he definitely does have a heart in there, and its not like he never talks. I can see him as someone who cares deeply about people, but is too shy or embarrassed to show it. Hmm…it's really hard to explain, but I've mostly portrayed how I think Neji is in this fic, so it shouldn't be too hard to figure out.

I'd like to hear everyone's comments, but you don't have to if you don't want to. Hopefully, the next update should be in about a month, give or take. Bye! Thank you!