Chapter Three
Neji, along with the rest of Team Gai, were taking a break from training to have some food and drink Gai-sensai brought for them.
"Neji! Is it true? I have held in my questions out of respect for your clan's private business, but I am afraid I cannot hold them in any longer!" exclaimed Lee.
"Well, since Lee already broke the ice - Is Hinata really in talks to be the next leader?" asked Ten-Ten.
Neji sighed. This was private family business, as Lee stated, so everyone in the village was talking about it.
He, just like everyone else in the family noticed Lady Hinata's new found determination, but she had not confided in him her ultimate aim was to lead. He too had heard it second hand.
"Yes, it is true."
"Amazing!" shouted Lee.
"Go girl, go!" added Ten Ten.
"Alright, enough chit chat. Let's continue training, for today is glorious day! Are you with me!?"
"Yes, Gai-sensai!" yelled Lee, holding up his arm.
"OK! Put 'em in there!" yelled Gai, as he lowered his hand, palm down, and stuck it out in front of himself. Lee quickly put his hand on top of Gai's, and looked to Ten-Ten.
"I will quickly today, but only because your cooking was really good today, Sensai." said Ten-Ten.
"That's the spirit, Ten Ten! Neji?"
Neji prepared himself for yet another stare down with his sensai. Though this ceremony exasperated him at times, he did respect Gai's resolve. He in his youth prided himself on the fear he could strike into the hearts of others with his cold stare. Even amongst the Hyuuga, he was known for having particularly fearsome eyes.. When he first met his team, he had the desired effect on his teammates, but never Gai. And eventually Lee and Ten-Ten stopped being afraid of him too. It was disconcerting, but in time he came to realize there was more to relationships than having people be intimidated by him, and he now enjoyed their bond as a team.
He was about to put his hand down after a respectable stare down – he still had his pride to maintain – when something caught his eye, a sudden take-off of birds in the distance. He activated his Byakugan, and saw a figure, leaning against a tree trunk.
This was unusual. Normally people gave their team a wide berth when they trained. No one wanted to be run down by Gai or Lee during one of their sprinting sessions, or be anywhere in the vicinity of Ten-Ten practicing with a new weapon. But what shocked him more was that he knew who this was.
"Follow me, now." he announced, heading in that direction, landing gracefully on the forest floor, close enough to observe the prone figure.
"What was that about, Neji? We know you don't like the team circle, but come on!" asked Ten Ten, somewhat exasperated.
"You still do not see him?"
"Who?" asked Lee.
Neji took a step forward. The figure looked tired, his head hanging down, his clothes smudged with dirt, but Neji still recognized him- the one Lady Hinata cried herself to sleep about.
"Shino, are you alright?"
His voice caused the figure to stir back to consciousness. His head rose, much to his team's astonishment.
He had talked with Shino on a few occasions, mostly when he came to the Hyuuga compound to see or train with Hinata. His own teammates told him they felt uneasy at his family home, and Lady Hinata shared Kiba felt the same. When they came by, they announced their arrival, only to wait outside. Shino did not have the same misgivings, maybe having grown up in another of the Leaf's Noble Houses, and even Lord Hiashi greeted him on occasion.
After his initial shock at first seeing an Aburame in battle at the Chuunin Exam, he educated himself about the various insects the Aburame hosted. He learned Shino's father was well respected, hence Lord Hiashi's respect to his son. In a way, Shino being Lady Hinata's teammate seemed to improve Hiashi's attitude toward her. It changed Neji's own view of her as well, on the occasions he witnessed her helping Shino with his taijutsu – to see her as a teacher, as someone with valuable information to share, seeing Shino respect her as an authority. It was obvious in hindsight- he felt similarly towards his teammates. Ten-Ten's knowledge and use of ninja weapons far surpassed his own, and Lee and Gai-sensai's mastery of taijutsu was a true marvel, but in many ways he had a difficult time seeing Lady Hinata as a fellow shinobi.
In his younger years, his rage and despair following his father's death led him to see her as an entitled heiress who did not deserve her privilege. He was glad now for the opportunity to make amends, training Lady Hinata, and getting to know her more, but he felt more as though she was someone he owed allegiance to, someone who needed his attention and protection, not a true companionship. In fact, he saw much of himself in the way Kiba interacted with her, of all people.
Kiba's affection for her was obvious, sometimes overbearing. He worried for her, looked out for her, supported her. Following the Inuzuka's canine tendencies, he sensed Kiba saw Lady Hinata as one of his own, and treated her accordingly.
Shino was different, out of anyone he had observed with her, he was the only to treat her as his equal. He did not coddle, as Kiba and he himself tended to do. He knew Shino cared for her, for nothing truly got past his Byukagan, but Shino's affection was more impartial, more steady, and he had seen first hand the calming effect it had on Lady Hinata. While he and Kiba nurtured, and Naruto's presence was like a fire to her, in Shino's presence he – for the first time- saw the leader Lady Hinata could one day become.
Using his Byakugan now, Neji saw Shino had no serious injuries, but there was something odd. He saw the insects Shino currently was host to were not the signature parasitic beetles.
"Neji." The acknowledgement to his voice, and recognition of who he was, gave Neji some relief, but there was also disorientation and confusion in Shino's voice. He noticed his team was letting him lead with the questioning, so he continued.
"Do you know where you are?"
"No."
"Do you know what day it is?"
"No."
"We are on the outskirts of the Leaf Village. You have been missing for almost a year. Come along with us. We'll guide you back."
"Oh my God!" exclaimed Ten-Ten, outside of the Leaf Village hospital.
"Please, Ten-Ten, keep calm, we don't want to arouse any suspicion." replied Lee.
Their team had rushed to the village to speak with Lady Tsunade and get Shino an audience with her, after Neji informed them that whatever Shino was hosting, he did not recognize as insects the Aburame typically used. He did consider that the Aburame, as with all the clans, had its own secrets, but he had a bad feeling about these. In fact, he suspected that whatever they were, they were having an adverse affect on Shino himself, because he saw nothing else that explained his disorientation and confusion.
Tsunade asked them to keep quiet, at least until she could alert Shino's family.
"I was dying to ask him what happened, but he seemed so out of it. Neji, what are you going to tell Hinata?" asked Ten-Ten.
Indeed, what would he tell her?
"I know Lady Tsunade asked us not to speak, but I feel strongly, so I will say this – Neji, I believe you should tell Hinata, at an opportune moment of course, but I will leave it up to you." said Lee.
"May I ask why?"
"If it was you or Ten Ten, I would need to know."
"I'd tell Kiba too, but more because I think he'll never forgive us if we didn't." added Ten-Ten. "So, Lee and I will talk to Kiba, and you talk to Hinata?"
Neji considered for a moment. "Agreed."