Sorry that I haven't updated in a while. It's been a like an elaborate circus act trying to update all of my other stories. Or like a rocket launch...

Anyway, the next installment is here and sorry it took me so long.

~M.o.t.C

Neji Hyuuga did not condone his little cousin taking in enemy soldiers into her home. He thought it was unethical and illogical that she helped his adversaries with a small girl living with her. She had always assured him that everything was safe and that she never let them stay too long. Neji had always vowed that he would protect Hinata and her sister Hanabi, but had always warned that he couldn't be there for her all of the time. He'd never admit it, but many hours out of the day the intelligent Hyuuga would wonder and worry about his cousins. They were all he had left and couldn't bare losing them to something as ridiculous as the two being good Samaritans.

Today, Neji was thinking the same thing; and as he sat at Hinata's kitchen he pondered bringing it up again. He had talked about it once before and if Hinata was not the nice girl that she was, he felt that no doubt the "conversation" they had would have become an argument in a matter of seconds. They had always had opposing views. Hinata usually thought on the happy side of things while Neji thought on the bad side. She always confronted him about his constant negative thinking and then he would counter her statements by saying...

"If I don't think about the negative outcomes of every decision in this house, who will?" he mumbles to himself.

Hinata never got mad at him, however. After all, he was fighting in this war they were in now and she knew how that could affect someone. Even after a week in a violent war like that, you're never the same. A person always goes through some sort of metamorphosis after a war. Some people stop taking life for granted and start appreciating it for what it is; some encase themselves in a bubble, blocking out the rest of the world, fearing everything around them; and some, like Neji Hyuuga, looked on the negative side of everything.

Hanabi skipped down the steps of their two story home and smiled at the sight of her cousin sitting at the kitchen table. She always liked when Neji came to visit. The house didn't seem so empty then. Of course, there were always wounded soldiers there, but it was never really fun or comforting. She barely knew those people and Hanabi could never really see beyond their scared faces, bloody bandages, and lifeless eyes. At least when Neji visited she could see him how he had always been, not what the war could make him.

The young girl ran to him immediately, wide-eyed and open-armed. Giving him a hug while he was still seated was a little awkward for both parties, but Hanabi didn't care. She was just happy to feel his warm touch again.

Neji smiled warmly at the girl, "How are you today, Hanabi?" he patted her head softly.

She smiled back, proceeding to talk to him about how Hinata has been very strict lately, her day, and solemnly, about the soldier that was at their house last week and died. She liked to tell him stories about her life. She could never do that with the soldiers that came by, it would be too risky, plus it would be awkward. And it always seemed like her older sister was too busy with helping the wounded soldiers to listen to her talk. Neji was the only one she felt listened enough and was trustworthy enough for her to have conversations with.

"Where's your sister now?" Neji asked after her numerous stories were over.

Hanabi shrugged, "She said something about the market and then the bank and something else but I tuned her out after that. Sometimes her voice just bores me."

Neji chuckled at her bluntness. The nine-year old girl was always one to say exactly what was on her mind. This was the complete opposite of Hinata, who was always shy and timid about expressing her feelings.

"Hey, Neji-kun," Hanabi spoke again after a moment of silence, "how's TenTen-san doing?"

Neji smiled at the predictability of his young cousin. Every time he visited she always asked about TenTen. Ever since the chignon-wearing, kunai wielding girl decided to stop by and say hello to Hinata on her way to HQ, Hanabi couldn't stop thinking about her. Maybe she was hoping every time she asked, TenTen would come with him the next time. He never understood why the nine-year-old found TenTen so interesting. Maybe it was her prodigy-like skill with weapons of every size and shape. Maybe it was her undeniable charm and wit. Maybe it was because she was the only person to dare to beat up Neji and not fear the consequences.

"She's doing fine," he replied with a smile, "she's supposed to be in Kumogakure by now, I think."

"Delivering medical supplies?" the young girl questioned him.

"No, this time its top secret files of some sort."

"Oh, a Class A."

In war, there are always allies and there are always enemies. The Land Fire was an ally of the Land of Snow, the Land of Lightning and the Land of Wind. Their enemies are the Land of Sound, the Land of Water and the Land of Earth. TenTen's and many other allies' jobs were to get supplies, equipment, information and anything else to other partners while keeping out of the eye of the enemy. Each side had made their own system of delivering these things. Neji and TenTen's side had a fairly simple system.

The priorities of the deliveries were organized into a Class. Class A was the most important and consisted of things like important information, delivery of enemy soldiers to prisons or out of enemy borders, S.O.S notes, attack warnings, et cetera. Class B was, obviously, one level less of priority than Class A. Class B consisted of information less important to the war and food and medical items (however, depending on the severity of the situation, medical and food items could be considered a Class A). Class C was the least important class of all three. This usually included letters or packages sent from civilians to other civilians. Many villagers refrain from sending things like that because it takes so long to get to the recipient. Since Class B and C are of less priority than a Class A, less ninja are dispatched to make sure they are delivered safely and it usually took longer for the delivery to get there.

Usually, Class A deliveries were kept secret from even the villagers of the country, to protect against leaked information to an adversary. But, as long as no detailed information like where the item was to be delivered was disclosed to any civilian, it was fine to say something once and a while.

"When do you go back to fight?" Hanabi asked after a few seconds of silence. Neji frowned. It sounded she was mourning his death already.

"Whenever the Hokage needs me to," he said simply, as if it were no big deal if he left or if he didn't.

Hanabi was about to ask him another question, when Hinata stepped through the front door carrying bags of food and other items. Closing the door with her foot, Hinata stepped into the kitchen and set the bags on the table in front of her dearest cousin.

"Hello, Hinata," Neji greeted, smiling lovingly at the young woman in front of him.

"H-hi, Neji, how are y-you?" Hinata smiled back.

They exchanged words like that for a while. It was always the same conversations. One asked how the other was doing and the other would promptly answer; then that person would ask the same question and the other would answer. And then a silence only to be broken by a nine-year old girl who did not like the sound of no sound.

Neji and Hinata had always had a distant relationship. Sometimes when they were younger, they would cross paths, but neither would say anything to the other. There was really no need to say anything. Neither Neji nor Hinata felt it necessary to talk to each other. They were in two different branches of a family where something like what branch you were from mattered. Their relationship was strained from the moment they were born. However, now a tragedy has brought them together. Since then, they've been building their relationship and have become great friends. Yet, they are greatly out of practice because their refusal to communicate earlier. Therefore, they still cannot carry on a proper conversation.

"W-would you like t-to stay for dinner N-N-Neji?" Hinata stammered nervously.

She always stumbled on her words like that. Many thought it was a severe lack of confidence. They could be right. She was never a person to think she could do anything. She never thought she was strong. Whenever she was put to the test, she always thought failure was the only thing the Hyuuga could accomplish. Many thought it was the effect of problems at home. Those people could be right, but less so than the former theory. There wasn't much wrong with her personal life. She got along fine with Hanabi, only because of the big age difference. The only problems she'd ever had were how her clan viewed her...How her own father viewed her. But, that was history now. Hinata used to cry herself to sleep after realizing some of the things her own family had said about her. But now, that didn't matter. She was going to prove that she was capable of being strong. She was capable of anything. She would prove that she could be capable of more than failure. All it would take is surviving this war with Hanabi...with no one but Neji to help.

Hinata looked at her cousin. He looked unhappy. Well, no, he always looked some degree unhappy, but this was different. It was more like he looked...worried. Many times his visits were to share unhappy news or something ascertaining to the war. Hinata secretly prayed at that moment that it wasn't news of a death. Anything but a death.

"Hanabi," Hinata called for her sister, "go wash up for dinner, okay?"

Hanabi was about to object. She had caught on a while ago that when Hinata told her to go do something and her friends or Neji were around, it was usually so she and that person could talk about something she didn't want the girl to hear. Besides, Hinata had not even made dinner. She would probably get them dirty again before they finally did eat. Hanabi was about to object. But, that was until she saw the look on Neji's face and decided that it wasn't worth it. It was probably something she didn't want to hear anyway.

Taking one last look at her family, she darted up the stairs to wait until she was sure they were done talking.

"You know she's probably caught on to that little ruse you keep pulling, right?" Neji said after a moment of silence.

"Neji," Hinata replied in a "no-joking" tone, "what's wrong?"

Neji sighed, "I can't bring myself to tell her."

Hinata sighed a little. This did not sound like the beginning of reporting a death. It was more like the start of a plea for advice. But then Neji continued after a plight of silence from his cousin.

"TenTen died five days ago, Hinata," he said finally, his voice a bit hoarse.

This was a shock to Hinata's system. Her once lively eyes changed into dull, mournful ones. Yet another victim of war has been claimed. She couldn't help but shed a tear. TenTen was a pure soul; a type of person you couldn't find often. More than that, she meant something to someone who meant something to her.

Neji and TenTen had been friends since they were teamed together with Lee. The three of them were bonded by their jobs and it seemed that not even death could sever those bonds. For what seemed like a few seconds, the two were a little more than just friendly comrades and this fact is what killed Hinata more inside. He was so happy with her.

Neji had always said Hanabi and Hinata were all he had left. Only now did those words really affect the timid young woman. They really were all he had to hold on to.

Hinata knelt down and took hold of Neji's hand and held it there for a while. The two had not said one word to each other. But really, nothing needed to be said. But both were just content to mourn in silence. The dark-haired ninja glanced up at her older cousin. His eyes were empty, but something about that...

"N-Neji," Hinata started, she did not wait for a reply, "you know something? You do-don't have to be the s-strong one all the t-time. I'm not one of your war buddies...you can cry, you c-can scream...y-you can reach out to me. It's only me. I'm o-only your cousin and I l-l-love you."

Neji only looked at her with those same dead eyes. He was defeated. And a defeated Neji was not the Neji she came to know and love. Hinata stood and opened her arms wide, welcoming her cousin to let out any emotions he may have kept bottled up inside. The mourning Hyuuga still did not budge.

"Neji," Hinata pleaded, "please...It's n-not good to keep things like th-this bottled up."

Neji took one more lasting look at his younger cousin and eventually gave in. He stood and let Hinata embrace him. Feeling warmth again after so long on the battlefield, he hugged her back. The two relatives stood like that for a long time and for a brief second, Hinata thought she could hear the stoic ninja sniff and then let out a big breath that he might have been holding for a long time. It was as if releasing it earlier would instantly make him shed a river of tears.

"I am so sorry, Neji-kun," Hinata whispered in his ear, "If you want, I can tell Hanabi?"

He didn't answer, but, Hinata was okay with that. Things like this shouldn't be rushed so much. They were still hugging and the woman Hyuuga was perfectly content to stay that way. She would do whatever it took to make her cousin feel a little better. She knew it would take a very long time for him to heal as best as anyone in this situation can. But, Hinata always knew that even after years and years of healing from tragic situations, scars will always remain.

Wow. 7 pages? This time I wrote this chapter solely on Industrial bands and Miyavi (Papa Mama Nozomare nu Baby to be exact)...okay, and then some more Schindler's List. I'm only saying stuff like this because only in this story does it seem to matter what I listen to. I don't know, I guess it helps me get in the mood of the story...

Yea, there's a little dash of NejiTen in here. Sorry for those you who don't think Neji and TenTen belong together...I'm not a huge fan of the pairing only because it doesn't really stand out as much to me as NaruHina or SasuHina...But, it does seem like an appropriate pairing for right now.

At any rate, I'm going to shut up now and get working on more updates!

Thanks!