Chapter 3
Hyuga family's grief
Hinata returned home to find her father, lord Hiashi, training with her sister. When she walked through the door her father told Hanabi that is was time to take a break.
"Hinata," he called, "come here."
There was a pause and then she did as he asked, "yes father."
He locked eyes with his daughter, as if trying to understand something about her. "You went to see Naruto again, yes." It was more of a statement than a question. She chose not to answer but continued the silence and remained looking at her father.
After a pause he began "You show a lot of concern for him, more so, it seems, than for your usual comrades." This, also, was not a question.
"Yes, I suppose I do," She answered. "Are you unhappy?"
"Hmp," he replied as he turned his back on her.
Her father walked passed her to continue training his youngest daughter, the protégé he never had in Hinata.
She moved into the back yard to look at her garden. Every day she picked two flowers from her garden, one for Naruto and one for Neji. It was hard to be home and not think about the family member who became like an older brother to her, who trained with her, and who became like a son to her father. Neji paid the ultimate sacrifice, as she would have done if she were in his position. She understood why he would lay down his life so that Naruto would survive. Everyone, every person in the village although saddened by the choice that had to be made, understood that this was what being a shinobi stood for. Saving Naruto was the only hope that any of them had. She had replayed his death over and over again in her mind, knowing each time that he made the right choice. But it didn't make the aftermath any easier on her or her family.
Her father had barely spoken to her after she had gotten back. She knew it wasn't that he was upset with her, he had a particularly hard time dealing with loss. After the loss of his only brother and his wife, both when Hinata was very young, he became a little harder after each passing. Pieces of him seemed to die with those he loved and his grieving always took time to run its course. Now that the war had ended, the Hyugas had nothing but time while grieving Neji in their own way.