Meanwhile
Looking down, and standing straight in front of her cousin, was Hinata Hyuuga; heir to the Hyuuga clan. "Hinata, you wanted to talk to me." His voice was stiff; he didn't feel comfortable talking with her while he couldn't look her in the eyes, it didn't seem natural.
"Sorry, Neji, let's sit down..." suggested Hinata, not used to speaking to her cousin. They mostly only talked on family meetings or serious discussions about the Leaf, never when one attempted to strike up a conversation; even after they made up it was like that, because they rarely could see eachother anyway.
They walked to a bench in the Hyuuga garden and sat, Hinata looking down uncomfortably. "What has been troubling you, Hinata?" inquired Neji, looking at her.
"I-It's Shino... I... Thought... I... liked N-Naruto..." stuttered the girl, unhappy about something. "B-But... I think... Maybe..." Closing her eyes, she attempted to find words to explain. "Well... Me and S-Shino... we've... we've always been... closer... than me... and the others..."
Neji found it difficult to understand what his relative meant; but he could guess from her quiet tone of voice and attempting to hide her face that something was upsetting her or confusing her. "Hinata," he said, making her jump and able to talk again.
"I thought of Shino... Ally... Friend... Comrade... but now... I don't know," she explained, and Neji nodded, taking a guess as to what she meant by that.
"Right, Hinata." He expected maybe she had found someone who she would love through the rest of her life; he was glad for her, because when she rushed into battle to save Naruto and almost got killed it was reckless, and he would have cried the most if she died. He thought her crush on Naruto was unhealthy, because it had promoted unhealthy behavior in her, and that if she liked Shino it would be better for her.
But he didn't know just how right he was.