When the group returned to Konoha, they all split up to attend to their personal matters. Hinata took a side trip to buy a rubber ball before heading home and reporting to her father. Hiashi did not seem too impressed with her progress during the mission but since she would be getting personal medical training from Tsunade, he praised her for that nonetheless. That was an improvement in her eyes. She did not mention her own personal mission to be able to perform the Rasengan, though. Jiraiya had pointed out that she actually had no glaring issues as a ninja other than her aversion to the more violent aspects of their career which directly affected her combat skills. If anything, her personality could be seen as her greatest weakness. She had heard that too many times for her liking from her father but unlike him, Jiraiya was not spiteful about it. He only pointed it out as a simple observation and advised her not to change who she was at her core and that she should change only if she truly wanted to. Instead, she should just work on increasing her chakra reserves.

A few days passed since Tsunade accepted her position as Fifth Hokage, and the village was preparing a festival to celebrate her inauguration. While everyone was in a relatively joyful and festive mood, Hinata had to undergo the Senbon Sparring ritual as stated by clan rituals. Her sparring partner was supposed to be her father but he left for other duties regarding Hanabi outside the village and Neji was assigned as her partner for the thousand successive spars. To both cousin's dismay, Hinata's performance was terrible even by her own standards.

"What's the matter, Hinata-sama? Your movements and attentiveness are sluggish!" Neji criticized her at the end of the day spent entirely for the ritual. "Where is your spirit from the Chuunin Exam?"

"I'm sorry, Neji-nii-san," she apologized, shakily getting up from her downed position. In hindsight, she should not have been exhausting herself and her chakra reserves by practising the second step of the Rasengan training daily before starting the training ritual. She was glad that Neji opted to halt the ritual so they both could rest for the next day. It would be enough for Neji, but it was definitely not for Hinata. After the adrenaline from the sparring faded away, she felt queasy and unusually weak to the point she politely refused dinner when one of the servants came to her room to remind her. The queasiness was gone the next day, but the bruises, soreness and her extra weakness had not lessened in the slightest.

"Hinata!" Sakura came up to her and patted her on the shoulder, sending her stumbling down to her knees from the pain that flared up coupled with the extra weakness her body was currently suffering from. "Are you alright? I didn't hit that hard..." she said worriedly.

"I'm kind of bruised all over," Hinata replied, and she noticed the bruises even on her hands and fingers.

"What are all those bruises?"

"Oh, I was training..." Hinata let out a small whimper of pain as she stood up.

"Are you training that hard?"

"I've been training with Neji-nii-san for a clan ritual."

"Is that so? It's tough growing up in a noble family, huh? If you're training so hard, I guess maybe you can't join us." At Hinata's puzzled look, Sakura asked if she knew about the fireworks display on the coming weekend.

"Fireworks display?" Hinata did not know such a thing was happening. She only knew that a festival was planned, but not the details of it.

"Yes! To honour Tsunade-sama on becoming the Fifth Hokage! I was thinking of going and wanted to ask if you'd join me. Sakura leaned in to Hinata's ear to whisper a little secret. "Truth be told, I was planning on sneaking Sasuke-kun out of the hospital and go, just the two of us. But that girl insists on going as a group."

Looking to where Sakura's finger was pointing, she saw Natsumi who raised a hand and greeted her happily. She could not help but smile and did a small wave back as a response.

"You know, unless something distracts her, I won't have any time alone with Sasuke-kun. So can you please keep her occupied this weekend?" Sakura asked.

"Did you tell Natsumi-chan you wanted to spend the weekend alone with Sasuke-kun?" Hinata asked. She had heard from Kurenai how Natsumi was not as friendly towards Sakura after Kakashi outed her as a bully towards Natsumi. She did not believe Sakura was a mean person at heart but her temper was known to sky-rocket whenever Sasuke was involved, and that temper had resulted in impulsive violence before.

"I did! I told her not to bother me and Sasuke-kun during the fireworks display, but she wouldn't listen!" she replied with a sour face.

"You could have told her a little more nicely. Natsumi-chan probably thought you were leaving her out," Hinata frowned, surprising Sakura. Did Hinata just admonish her in the most polite way possible? "I'll see what I can do," she agreed to help out anyway. Besides, spending time with Natsumi was never a bad thing for her.

"What's with all those bruises, Hinata-chan?" Natsumi's happy demeanour vanished instantly when she came closer and saw her bruises.

"I'm been training with Neji-nii-san for a clan ritual. I have to spar with him continuously until I have done a thousand sessions," she gave a more detailed answer to Natsumi.

"Neji, huh? He's not... injuring you by pretending it's training, is he?" she accused him with mild anger showing on her face.

"No, I don't believe he will do that," she came to her cousin's defence.

"If you say so," Natsumi shrugged her shoulders, dropping the subject as quickly as she had brought it up. "Don't push yourself too hard until the really bad injuries start appearing, okay?"

"Don't worry, I won't." Hinata just hoped she was not inadvertently lying to her best friend. She was not going to regret doing the Rasengan training, but with the Senbon Sparring ritual in progress, she was worried her body could not hold up until it was over.

***Break Line***

By Thursday night, the fourth consecutive day of Senbon Sparring since starting on Monday morning, Hinata had persevered for over 800 spars. Her body protested for rest numerous times, but she ignored the warnings and pushed on. She was almost done. She just had to last until Friday afternoon if she kept up this pace. She could tell her chakra reserves were close to running on fumes because she was using it to push her body's natural endurance past its limit for several days straight, Byakugan included, without starting out at full capacity and with insufficient rest. She also had to be ready for when Tsunade was ready to start teaching her medical ninjutsu.

"What's the matter? Your chakra flow is all over the place!" Neji told her. "You're too hung up on each individual action! And as for the accuracy of your strikes, it makes no sense if the overall flow is bad!"

"Right!" she responded, almost on auto-pilot for each of his criticisms.

"You respond, but are you really listening?" he asked, aware that all her responses were the same for some time and suspected she just said them to appease him. "I juggled my schedule around to make time for you."

"I'm sorry, Neji-nii-san..." she finally responded differently as she picked herself up for the umpteen time.

"Stand up! Don't waste any more of my time."

She did as she was told, but her Byakugan-active vision suddenly blurred. That was not supposed to happen at all. The clarity of her doujutsu made that impossible, so that left only one possibility; her body was giving out. She could no longer ignore the warnings, but she knew it was almost time for the night's sparring to be over. She just needed to hold out a bit longer. That was the last coherent thought she had, unaware that she passed out from a standing position.

***Break Line***

Natsumi and Sakura were lounging around the village tossing ideas about what the festival would hold when Natsumi spotted Neji. She jumped down the bridge they were walking on to greet him.

"Yo, Neji!" Natsumi greeted him, Sakura following suit with a more proper greeting. "How's Hinata-chan's training going? I haven't seen her around for a couple of days."

"I'm not Hinata-sama's bodyguard," Neji replied with an answer that she did not want to hear.

"I didn't say you were! I'm just asking how she's progressing by training with you!"

"Am I obligated to answer your questions?" he brushed her off rudely.

"Oh yeah? Is that so? Fine!" she bristled with anger and walked away. "Let's just go to her house ourselves, Sakura." Neji clicked his tongue in annoyance, because he knew that she would find where the Hyuuga household was located eventually if she did not already know.

"Don't! Hinata-sama's recuperating!" he admitted. Both girls paused and turned to look at him. Sakura was shocked but Natsumi was giving him a dangerous look.

"Recuperating?" Sakura repeated.

"She's just resting from all the training and small bruises, right?" Natsumi asked, watching him carefully, trying to restrain herself from exploding in unjustified anger.

"She did mention that you were helping her train for a clan ritual..." Sakura recalled.

"She'll be fine by the weekend, right?"

"I'm afraid not. Hinata-sama's injuries were due to her lack of skill. It wasn't my fault," Neji answered as he closed his eyes to crush any feeling of regret. It was apparently the wrong answer because he felt his jacket being grabbed the next instant. When he opened his eyes, Natsumi was in his face and he could barely suppress the shiver of fear as he looked directly at the red-slitted eyes. Once again, he asked himself if the girl had any form of doujutsu. Everyone else in their age group seemed very sure that she had none.

"DON'T SCREW WITH ME!" she literally roared in his face. "If it wasn't you, then how the hell did she get that injured from just training!"

"Natsumi!" Sakura tried to pull her away from Neji by the back of her tracksuit but she could not even budge her. She suddenly recoiled as if struck and stared at her hand which was mysteriously beginning to redden as though she had touched the surface of a boiling kettle. 'Why was Natsumi so hot to the touch...?' she wondered.

"What's so special about this weekend?" Neji asked.

"We're honouring Tsunade-sama's inauguration as Fifth Hokage this weekend with a fireworks display," Sakura answered. "Hinata seemed really excited about watching it with Natsumi."

"Ridiculous!" he shoved Natsumi off him, keeping his surprise hidden at how much force he needed to even move her. He was puzzled at Natsumi's strange stance of being on all four limbs like a predatory animal ready to pounce on its prey. "I'll do what I can to ensure Hinata-sama can watch the fireworks display with you this weekend," he said to appease her, knowing that a fight now would cause trouble for far too many people. He watched as the red bled away from Natsumi's eyes, returning to the normal-looking blue that they should be. She took a large and deep breath in before exhaling loudly to release her rage.

"I'm coming with you, and you can't make me go away," Natsumi told him.

"Do as you wish," he conceded, leading the way back to the Hyuuga household.

"I think I'll take my leave now... Send Hinata my regards," Sakura told them, knowing this was a situation which she should not involve herself with. She felt this was a large personal matter for the both of them.

***Break Line***

Natsumi had to remind herself constantly not to explode in anger at Neji while Hinata was resting in her room and being tended to by the doctors. They were both told to wait outside the room until they were done. She wanted to get Tsunade to tend to her best friend multiple times, but she did not want to ruin the occasion specially meant for her by troubling her. She knew she would help immediately, but that still gave her enough guilt that she did not want to consider it an option. When the doctors were done, they told Neji that Hinata was suffering from eye strain caused by overuse of her Byakugan. She was also close to suffering from chakra exhaustion as well, but not bad enough to be incapacitated in any manner.

"I don't know if you are aware that Hinata-chan trains hard on her own time, or that I am reckless with my own training. But at the very least, we know when to take enough rest," Natsumi told Neji when the doctors left. "Hinata-chan probably pushed herself to meet your high standards when she was not ready for them yet. For someone who hates her so much and claims to know more about her than she does herself-"

"Enough. I know where my fault lies," Neji interrupted her scathing remarks. "I ask that you not disturb Hinata-sama or me if you intend to stay."

It was not long until Hinata woke up and attempted to move around her home. A stray cat happened to be resting on the porch and directly in her path. Natsumi was about to step in and forcefully carry it away when Neji found a cat's toy from somewhere and got the cat's attention, getting it out of Hinata's way. She looked in confusion at his actions but he refused to look at her, instead entering the same room that Hinata entered. She watched as Neji silently pushed the flask of water and cup towards Hinata who was slowly using her hands to search for them. She managed to pour herself a cup of water by herself but felt someone else was in the room with her. She asked if there was, but Neji gestured for Natsumi to stay silent, allowing Hinata to play it as her own imagination.

By the time Hinata retired to her room to rest, it was evening. Neji suddenly departed with the use of Shunshin. Natsumi grumbled quietly as she gave chase. She stopped to hide behind a tree while Neji pleaded to the doctor that treated Hinata earlier during the day. He asked if there was any quick way to heal her eyes before the weekend because he did not want her to miss the fireworks display. Her eyes widened in surprise at his clear desperation that she felt was genuine, because he wanted her to be there. He got an answer from the doctor, claiming that if he had some Eye Medicine Plant, he could do as Neji wanted. It was a rare medicinal plant that only grew in secluded areas and was extremely difficult to find. According to rumours he heard, someone had found the plant in the Valley of Judgement. However, he warned against looking for it. The Valley of Judgement was a place that even Jounins got lost in them. If he went there, he might never make it out. He suggested a natural recovery, which would take a week or so if Hinata stayed patient.

"But a week is...!" Neji gritted his teeth in frustration. He was surprised when he felt a hand land on his shoulder.

"You're going to let a mere warning stop you from helping Hinata-chan? I'm going," Natsumi told him. "I hope to see you at the village gates when night falls."

"I'll be there," he replied, shrugging off her hand and walking back to the Hyuuga household to prepare for the trip.

"I think I have a better opinion of you now. I look forward to finishing this with a success with you, Neji," she grinned while folding her arms behind her head.

"Hmph," he made a dismissive sound which pissed her off and sent her into a rant, immediately switching her tune and claiming that he was still a jerk. He did not allow her to see the small smile on his face.

***Break Line***

"I figured you'd show up soon!" Natsumi waved at him at the village gates when night fell.

"Let's go," Neji replied, not bothering to stop his stride to return her greeting.

"Lead the way," she allowed him to take the lead.

"Don't expect me to help if you lag behind!" he warned her.

"As if! Jeez! Do something about that personality of yours!" she retorted but put up with him anyway. When they arrived at the Valley of Judgement, they stopped to give the place one last look. "That's an awful mist," she pointed out.

"You stay here. Since you don't have the Byakugan, you'll just hinder me," he told her before jumping into the valley.

"Don't underestimate me! I know how to work just fine alongside a Hyuuga," she replied and jumped in after him. She found out that Neji was right in the sense that she could not see through the mist. Despite the many bumps against the valley walls and tripping over rocks, she somehow managed to keep track of his footsteps that she believed he made them loud on purpose so she could follow him. The footsteps suddenly stopped and she heard the unmistakable sound of kunai clashing. She was grabbed and pulled to cover by Neji as the sound of kunai clashing against rock persisted. "What's going on, Neji?"

"There must be someone very skilled to move through this mist so freely. Either that, or someone with a doujutsu similar to the Byakugan or the Sharingan," he informed her. Hearing the sound persisting endlessly, he stepped out and performed the Kaiten to deter more thrown kunai. "Let's go! There's even more of the enemy now. Listen to my instructions carefully. I'll direct you. You shouldn't have a problem, right?"

"Of course! Just tell me where to go!" she replied confidently. With the order to jump forward and punch to her left, she made contact with the enemy. Being that close to the enemy, she saw a sight that made her pause. "What is this?" she asked with a disturbed voice.

"I see... So that's it," Neji saw the same sight with his Byakugan but was not shaken like Natsumi. When the creature retreated further back into the mist, he saw it returning back to its group. "Natsumi, fall back!" he shouted and she quickly rejoined him behind the cover of rock which was pelted even more ruthlessly by many more kunai. "Damn, we can't ward them off like this!"

"Stop the fighting right there!" a familiar voice rang out from above and landed in front of them. The landing cleared some of the mist and revealed it to be Might Guy.

"Guy-sensei!" Natsumi exclaimed.

"Konoha Tsumijikaze!" Guy called out his technique. He got into a handstand and spun with his legs outstretched. That cleared the heavy mist of the valley away as well as scaring the creatures that lurked in the valley who backed away from the now mist-less area. They did not want to step outside the mist at all. Kakashi then came in from above with his Raikiri, clearing even more of the mist, this time making the creatures flee.

"Kakashi-sensei! What are you two doing here?" she asked.

"Huh? Surveillance," Kakashi answered.

"Surveillance?" she repeated.

"Well, it was a false alarm, so I guess it's okay to tell you. It's said that a medicinal plant that works well on eye strain is found here in the Valley of Judgement. Orochimaru could be after it."

"Orochimaru? Where? Where the hell is he?" she exclaimed, looking around in panic and high alert.

"Like I said, it was a false alarm," he repeated himself.

"Oh, okay... Phew..." she visibly calmed down at the reminder. Kakashi proceeded to explain that Orochi was fixated on doujutsu, especially the Sharingan. The medicinal plant would be extremely helpful in his doujutsu research. This issue came up during a Jounin meeting, and so Guy and him were sent to where they currently were for surveillance.

"And? What about you guys?" he asked them. When Natsumi explained what she and Neji were here for, they were answered with a fist to their heads by Guy who proceeded to talk about how youthful their devotion to their comrades were and how impressed he was with them.

"Guy-sensei, your actions don't fit your words," she groaned in pain as she tenderly held the bump on her head. Guy only burst out in laughter.

"Oh well, I guess we'll take our leave," Kakashi said.

"But-"

"Neji, you saw what they looked like, didn't you?" he interrupted Neji.

"They didn't... have eyes," Natsumi answered on his behalf.

"It's said that fish that live in a world without light stop relying on sight, and discard their eyes. How long do you think it would take humans to reach that point? A hundred years? A thousand? In any case, they adapted to this valley and have thrived. They probably can't survive outside the valley. You know whose valley this is, don't you, Neji?" Kakashi lectured.

"Yes," Neji replied.

"Fighting a futile battle to obtain medicine that will heal her eyes won't make Hinata happy at all." Neji bowed his head and closed his eyes in acceptance, but Natsumi was not taking no as an answer. She sprinted away from the group and into the mist. "Stop, Natsumi!" Kakashi called out for her to stop. The sound of a body falling to the ground was heard and he had no trouble picking his subordinate from her fallen position. She surprisingly put up no resistance and had gone limp as he carried her like a sack of potatoes over his shoulder to prevent her from trying to flee again.

"Put me down, Kakashi-sensei. I'm not giving up," she said, sounding strangely subdued. "If fighting them is useless, then we don't fight them. We just have to find the plant, grab it and go back, right? Neji can do that with his Byakugan. He can see them coming even through this mist. If not, we can just talk to them. They still have ears. They should understand us. If we just ask nicely, we can-"

"Natsumi, this is not something where simple determination and spirit will suffice. Even if you had the power, will you decimate every single one of them just so you can help Hinata? You know very well she isn't the kind of person who would accept the suffering of others for her own sake. I'm sure she'll be sad that she will miss the fireworks display this weekend, but I believe she'll be even more upset when she hears that you attacked an entire settlement of people for something that can heal her injury faster when it can heal on its own over a longer period of time," Kakashi advised her.

"But... But..." From the tone of her voice, everyone knew she had no more will to argue or fight.

"Hinata-sama truly is blessed to have a friend like you, Natsumi. It would be best if you just accept this as the greater good for all of us, even at the expense of Hinata-sama's happiness," Neji told her. He did not need his Byakugan to see the crushed look on Natsumi's face. He could already imagine it. The failure of their self-imposed mission hit him hard but for someone who held Hinata on a pedestal in her life, he knew it tore at her heart much worse than the disappointment he was feeling towards himself.

***Break Line***

When they returned to Konoha, it was Saturday noon. Natsumi was deathly quiet during the trip back and the dead look in her eyes did not help with the oppressive atmosphere around her. Neji suggested that she pay Hinata a visit. It would at least cheer both of them up. It did indeed cheer them up, with Natsumi regaining her hyperactive spirit and telling Hinata how Neji heroically made his way to the Valley Of Judgement to find her some medicine so she could see the fireworks display. Her cheerful storytelling lost some of its fire when she admitted that they failed, stopped by Guy and Kakashi actually, to find the plant that could cure her eyes quickly.

"I have to thank Neji-nii-san someday for what he has tried to do for me," Hinata said.

"Yeah! He was pretty cool when we were there! I guess he isn't as much of a prick as I thought!" Natsumi laughed.

"Don't call Neji-nii-san that," she chided her best friend with a smile. "But I believe he has changed as well."

"It's already evening," Neji said as he stood outside the door of Hinata's room. "Aren't you going to the festival, Natsumi?"

"And leave Hinata-chan stuck at home alone?" Natsumi scoffed. "No way."

"I'll be with Hinata-sama here. Don't trouble yourself and go enjoy the festival."

"I'm not going without Hinata-chan! If she can't go, then I'll stay with her!" she refused rather childishly, making Hinata giggle.

"Do as you wish!" Neji grumbled, leaving the two girls alone. When night fell, they moved to the porch to watch the fireworks display. Neji watched from behind a wall so as not to disturb the girls. Somehow, the atmosphere turned sensitive when the display started. His senses were right when Natsumi leaned her head on Hinata's shoulder as they sat side by side.

"N-Natsumi-chan?" Hinata squeaked in surprise.

"I'm sorry," Natsumi apologized out of the blue, stunning her.

"Wh-What do you mean?" She was stunned when she felt the vibrations of a shaking body on her.

"I'm sorry you didn't get to see this beautiful display for Tsunade-baa-chan," she said. When Hinata felt something wet drop on her hand, she realized Natsumi was crying. She quickly realized that Natsumi felt really horrible about failing her mission because that meant she had failed to help her best friend.

"It's alright, Natsumi-chan. I'm just glad that you and Neji-nii-san are safe and sound. That matters far more to me than a medicine," she consoled her best friend. Natsumi did not respond, choosing to remain silent as she cried. Hinata's hand slowly found its way on Natsumi's head and started stroking her hair soothingly. "But thank you very much, Natsumi-chan. I'm really grateful to you and Neji-nii-san for trying to help me. So don't cry. It doesn't suit you." They spent the rest of the night enjoying the fireworks display, Natsumi enjoying the sights while Hinata consoled her as lovingly as she could.

***Break Line***

When the festival was over for the night, Natsumi bade farewell and headed back to her own home.

"Hinata-sama," Neji called for her.

"Yes, Neji-nii-san?" Hinata replied.

"I would advise against showing that kind of interaction with Natsumi when Hiashi-sama or any of the elders are present," he told her.

"What do you mean?" Hinata did not see anything wrong with what she did. She was just consoling a distraught friend.

"It may be normal for the both of you, but from where I was watching, you were acting far too intimately with each other."

"I-Intimate?" she exclaimed, her face turning red immediately.

"Yes. The both of you resembled a budding couple more than best friends during that moment. I do not know where your friendship with Natsumi will progress in the future nor do I particularly care about it. However, I suggest you refrain from such intimate actions while in this household."

"B-But...! We're not...!" Hinata tried to deny his observations and say he was mistaken but she was stumbling over her words due to her embarrassment.

"Are you sure?" he asked, staring at her to test her resolve with her denial.

"I... don't know..." she quickly crumbled under the pressure, her embarrassment turning into dismay.

"You don't know? What kind of answer is that? Natsumi is your best friend, is she not? What is there to not know?" he questioned. Even with her bandaged eyes, he could see how troubled her expression was. "Natsumi was more than willing to give her life fighting an entire settlement of people with home advantage on their side just to get medicine for you. If Guy-sensei and Kakashi-sensei had not come when they did, she would have done so. And you are not sure about your relationship with her? Do you even value her as much as you claim you do?"

"Of course I do! Family aside, Natsumi-chan means everything to me!" Hinata declared with huge conviction behind her words.

"In that case, stand firm and be proud that you have such a friendship with her. Do not be ashamed of it even if it goes into an uncomfortable territory. Natsumi isn't so shallow as to discard the friendship you share with each other over something such as being turned down. You should know that better than anyone. And that is if your friendship gets that far or even goes that way."

"Thank you for your advice, Neji-nii-san," Hinata bowed in gratitude.

"You are welcome, Hinata-sama," he bowed his head in return. He may not be over his hatred of his position as a Branch House member just yet, but he was definitely getting over it as well as looking past his blind hatred of his cousin to see the kind person that she really was.

***End Of Chapter***

Well, since this is based on a filler episode, I don't think readers will care too much if I don't state what are the differences between filler 'canon' and my version of said filler. To summarize it briefly, because this is far more personal for Natsumi than Naruto, I just took Sakura out of the picture. In any case, that filler episode was focused on Neji. Naruto and Sakura was just extras that did not need to be there except for the cheap laughs. Also, note that Natsumi calls Might Guy 'Guy-sensei', compared to Naruto calling him 'Gejimayu-sensei' which literally means 'Bushy Brows-sensei'. I doubt Hinata would have liked Lee and Guy being referred to like that, so Natsumi doesn't give them the nicknames.

Neji is a very observant person, so he's the first person to realize that something is going on between Natsumi and Hinata. Jiraiya only suspects there's something between the two girls but Neji is the first to pin it down definitively. He realizes their 'best friend' relationship is progressing beyond that and becoming something more. He advises Hinata that she should not be ashamed if their relationship ever went that way in the future and to never doubt their friendship.

We're going back to canon in the next chapter! It is time to enter the Sasuke's Betrayal Arc! We know Naruto sees Sasuke like a brother and Sasuke knows that. That has always been a sensitive topic for Sasuke even after he defected from Konoha. But what happens when he doesn't have that kind of bond with anyone? Read and find out in the next few chapters!

I look forward to getting more readers who like this story. Do Follow/Favourite/Review this story, and big thanks to those who are kind enough to do so!