Choice

“It interfered with my healing,” Hinata had told them. “To save his life, I had to remove it.” Neji knew it was a lie. “He’s too old for it to be replaced,” Hinata had told them. “It interfered with his healing this time, if it’s placed on again it would most likely stop him healing at all.” Neji knew that was another lie. “I’m sorry,” Hinata had told them. Neji knew that was just one more lie in the series she’d done for his benefit, and it confused him. They all confused him. When Hinata told him what she’d done, he asked her why. She told him what she’d told all the others; that he had been badly wounded on their mission, and she had tried to heal him, but something about both of them being Hyuuga and the seal on Neji’s forehead had interacted badly. There had been no other medic nin in the area, and he would have died had she gone for another person. She had removed the seal, and then healed him. Neji had listened to her patiently, his chest bandaged and left arm strapped across it, and when she was finished he asked her to tell him the truth. Hinata had sat quietly for a moment, then said, “I think you know.” She had left the room before he could speak, and didn’t visit again. On the fourth day after he had woken up in the hospital, Neji got out of bed and made his way to Hinata’s favourite training ground. She’d been using the same one since they were both genin, which made her easy to find. Neji stood behind her, leaning against a tree, and watched her train. She had changed from the shy young girl who had taken the chuunin exam along with him, he thought, something more than the fact that she walked with her head held high and hardly stammered any more. He had watched her change, over the years, watched as she blossomed as both a woman and a ninja, watched as the old Hinata fell away and was replaced by the stronger, brighter new one, and wondered why he had never noticed just how much she had changed. The old Hinata would never have thought to remove the seal on his forehead. The old Hinata would never have had the courage to stand before her father and lie to his face. The old Hinata would never have had the – the arrogance, almost, to silently dare the Hyuuga clan to call her out, to name her a liar, to say she had broken the unspoken clan law. This Hinata was a new Hinata, in the old Hinata’s skin. Neji thought he was still the old Neji, but in a new Neji’s skin, and the realisation burned a shocked hole into his thoughts. He came back the next day. And the day after that. And the day after that. Hinata trained every day, and every day Neji watched her. Out of habit, he found himself analysing her movements – they were precise and careful, although lacking in power, but with the Hyuuga-ryu that didn’t matter anyway. She still hadn’t quite mastered the final trick of the Byakugan, the one that allowed the user to see the holes of the chakra circulatory system, and it was easy to see that it stopped her from becoming as strong as Neji, as strong as Hanabi. Idly, he found himself thinking of how he could help her improve. Three days later the hospital released him, with strict warnings not to overdo it for another week. “Hinata-san has healed the vast majority of the damage, but you should still be careful,” the doctor told him. Neji nodded curtly, silent, and left. On his way out, a nurse handed him his hitai-ate. The soft cloth and cold metal held in his one free hand, Neji stared at it. The stylised leaf burned into his eyes, and suddenly took on a meaning it had never had before. Carefully, Neji laid the hitai-ate down on the table next to him, and raised his hand to touch his forehead. His fingertips ran over smooth skin, not the raised lines of the seal he was so used to, and it finally hit him that he was free. He stood there, frozen with his fingers on his forehead, for a long time. Eventually, his hand dropped to his side, and he asked the nurse to help him tie the hitai-ate around his neck. Later that day, Neji went to Hinata’s training ground. This time, he let her see him. He watched her back stiffen, then relax, as she realised who had disturbed her. His gut burned as he approached, churning with an emotion he didn’t quite recognise. She drew breath to speak, and he cut across her. “Do you trust me?” Hinata turned around slowly, frowning. She searched his face, white eyes strangely piercing even without the Byakugan activated. Her eyes flickered to where the hitai-ate rested against his collarbones, and she nodded. Without hesitating, Neji strode forwards, raising his right arm and hitting a series of chakra holes in her head and neck before she could blink. When he stepped back Hinata winced, raising one hand to brush across her skin, blinking as she searched his face. “Neji-niisan. . . ?” “Use your Byakugan,” Neji interrupted her. Hinata blinked, but did as she was told, eyes closing as she moved through the seals. When her eyes opened again, she gasped, and delight slowly spread over her face. Neji nodded in satisfaction, noting that the churning in his gut was gone. “Remember how that manipulation of your chakra felt, and repeat it next time you use your Byakugan,” he said, and turned on his heel to walk away. He got five steps before she called out to him. “Neji-niisan . . . why?” Neji paused, staring straight ahead, deliberately not looking at her. “Because you gave me the choice.”

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