Aftermath - 1

The soft sound of rustling leaves soothed him in the darkness, taking his mind off of the silence and emptiness all around him.

"Maybe you should get going now, Naruto. You have much to do today."

"...yeah. I guess you're right..."

A pause.

"Say...can you tell me where this place is?"

The voice was amused; Naruto could tell by the chuckling, "You already know where you are!"

"Oh. I do?"

"Of course."

He took a moment to consider it, examining his memories, "Well...I guess this place is pretty familiar."

"You should really get ready now. Gaara and Haku are waiting."

"Hey! How do you know about my friends?"

Still, with an amused inflection, "How could I not know about them?"

"Eh? Just who are you anyway? I don't know you!"

"You know me much better than you realize."

"What the heck are you talking about?"

The gentle crescendo of leaves began to fade.

"They're waiting for you."

"Hey wait! Just tell me who you–"

"Wake up now."

Naruto's eyes blinked open, peering up at the ceiling from beneath his golden bangs. His dream had left him confused, and unlike his other dreams he felt he wasn't likely to forget about this one.

'It was creepy...what person who I don't know could know about Haku-kun and Gaara-kun?'

He sat up and stretched fitfully, deciding to push it to the back of his mind.

It had only been a day since the preliminary matches and already Naruto had too much on his mind to rest peacefully any longer.

The sun shone through his window brightly, 'I slept in pretty late...' Naruto was not going to beat himself up about it. Readjusting to his normal sleeping pattern after the main part of the exam had been difficult.

He dressed himself mechanically and proceeded onward while yawning, following the smell of food that hung in the air.

Gaara greeted him at the table with a friendly blink.

Haku, predictably, had prepared breakfast and left it out for them before he had left. Naruto sat across from his red haired friend silently, too sleepy to begin a coherent conversation. Gaara regarded him inquisitively for a moment as he chewed, wondering where all his energy had gone.

"Haku-kun went to the hospital to see Sakura-chan a while ago." Gaara stated, noting how life seemed to return to the blonde boy's features.

"Eh? Oh, then we should go there too!" Naruto replied and then glanced down at his untouched miso soup, "Let me just finish this first..."

Gaara watched as Naruto proceeded to inhale the noodles, not in the least afraid of how very much he resembled a vacuum cleaner.

"We won't be going just yet."

Befuddled, Naruto continued his slurping while still managing to ask, "Why's that?"

A far-off look came over the redhead's face, "There are two people who I want you to meet first."

*

Haku lifted the pink orchids from the vase after inspecting them carefully, 'These will do. She won't want anything too extravagant.'

He had taken the liberty to stop by the Yamanaka flower shop to get gifts for Sakura and Hinata; orchids for Sakura and white iris for Hinata. Since neither Naruto nor Gaara had been able to wake up early enough he had gone ahead without them, as usual.

Ino sat at the counter watching him in fascination. It wasn't often that boys stopped by to pick up flowers but she was well aware of why he had come.

"Good morning, Ino-san," She smiled at his formal greeting, "I hope you're feeling better since the exam."

Ino shrugged, trying to hide her humiliation, "I'm feeling fine, Haku-kun," She eyed the flowers he had chosen, "Hm...forehead-girl will definitely like those. Tell her I said hello and that I don't plan on surrendering Sasuke-kun to her anytime soon."

He handed the money over, wearing a sheepish expression, 'I doubt that Sakura-chan is competing for Sasuke at all...'

"I will, Ino-san," Haku decided to be compliant while she handed him his change, "Oh...I thought you might like to know that Naruto-kun has informed me that I will be facing Temari of the Sand in the final round."

She raised a fine, blonde eyebrow, "Oh? Well, do me a favor and beat her ass. Be careful though, Haku-kun...there's something wrong with that girl."

He nodded to her before leaving, taking Ino's advice into account.

*

Hinata sat quietly, staring down at her hands folded in her lap. She found it strange how with those very hands she had dared challenge her older cousin, a living prodigy; and with those very same hands failed to defeat him.

Being the honest person she was Hinata could admit she hadn't expected to win her match against Neji. Something told her that it was the act of trying to defeat him that held more value than the victory itself.

Maybe at some point Neji had realized that.

Hinata couldn't say for certain if her cousin had any revelations at all once he had thrown her down, no matter how much she hoped he had. Neji, as expected, was the stronger of the two. Her father, her sister, her friends and her entire clan were aware of it. Some denied that fact and some openly broadcasted it. And while all of their attention dawdled on her cousin she was pushed to the wayside, free to live and train as she saw fit.

That was until the pressures of being the heir to Hyuga name and her father's disappointed gaze returned to her.

She wished more than anything to become a strong, respectable leader for her clan, but with time Hinata had come to understand that she had not become a shinobi to fulfill her father's expectations of her.

She had done it for herself.

Now she was having difficulty remembering why. Most especially after having spoken with her father who had mentioned the possibility of being demoted and the tarnishing of the Hyuga name at the cost of her failure during the exam.

Hinata sniffled, fighting the frustrated tears threatening her pearly eyes. What good would come of crying anymore? She had hit rock bottom and she could only work her way up from where she had landed herself.

The idea didn't make it any less difficult for her to keep trying. Her clan had never had that much faith in her anyway, so why not start anew?

She took a deep, steadying breath, disliking the overly-sanitized smell of her hospital room, and shifted beneath her blanket, hiding her pale hands beneath it so she would no longer have to look at them and be reminded of her failure.

There was a knock at the door.

Hinata looked up, anxious. A fair number of visitors had come to see her since she had arrived at the hospital, yet Naruto and Gaara hadn't been to see her yet. Her last visitors had actually been Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji who had brought her an assortment of barbeque which she didn't have the heart to tell them she most likely wouldn't eat. She had appreciated their concern nonetheless.

The second knock was brief and less intrusive. That's when she had known it was not Naruto. And probably not the nurse either because she tended to announce her presence.

Hinata blinked her white eyes curiously as Tenten slipped inside. Oddly, neither Neji, Lee or her energetic sensei were with her.

The brown haired girl wore a cheerful smile at the sight of her awake and unharmed. The last time she had seen Hinata she had been indistinguishable from a punching bag.

"Hey there, Hinata-san!" Tenten paused briefly, noting all the 'get well soon' gifts at her bedside, "Uh...I'm sorry that I didn't bring a present for you or anything."

"N-No! It's...it isn't n-necessary."

Hinata found it strange how very little she actually knew about Tenten; funny how these things worked.

The weapons specialist sat down in a vacant chair beside the bed while Hinata scooted further under her blanket shyly.

Tenten regarded her speculatively for a moment, "I hope you're feeling alright."

"I'm feeling m-much better, thank you."

"Good, I'm glad!" Truthfully she was, but Tenten frowned as she thought, 'She's so timid around me. It's probably because I'm Neji's teammate...' She hadn't come here with the intentions of threatening Hinata and she'd prove it too.

"Tenten-san..." The weapons specialist reasserted her attention as Hinata continued, "Is there any p-particular reason that you've come here?"

'I'll give her credit, nothing gets past her...' Tenten decided, expecting Hinata to be the sort of person who got straight to the heart of the matter.

The brown haired girl nodded in confirmation, "I skipped out on training to make sure that you were okay."

Hinata's embarrassment meter escalated a few notches at the news.

"Look, Hinata…Neji wasn't himself in that fight." Tenten attempted to explain it but found that she couldn't, "And I...well, I wasn't really myself in my own fight either..."

Her guilty expression caused Hinata to take immediate 'do-not-make-visitor-feel-bad' action.

"Sakura-chan is f-fine, I'm sure!" She was glad to see Tenten's expression lighten, "Haku-kun told me so when he s-stopped by to see me earlier."

"That's Haku for you." Tenten smiled, grateful to him.

Hinata found herself sitting cross-legged. It was a habit she was picking up from spending time with Naruto. She was relieved that her father wasn't around to see such behavior.

"I just wanted to apologize on Neji's behalf if he hasn't already," Tenten summed up the point of her visit, "What happened during the exam...it wasn't personal."

Sadly, Hinata had to disagree. Everything about her match had been personal for the both of them.

Instead of protesting, she nodded politely, accepting the apology in good grace.

"Are things going to be alright in your clan?"

Tenten, unintentionally, had hit the nail right on the head.

Hinata's face saddened considerably before she answered, "I...I've already spoken with my father."

It was troubling enough to hear that her own father had to have a serious talk with her while she was still in the hospital, of all places, but Tenten was aware that it hadn't been a pleasant conversation either.

"I see..." Tenten found her spirits dampen for the younger girl, wishing that Neji could stop causing so much grief for her.

"You don't have to worry, Tenten-san," Hinata assured her, her voice was a little braver than what it had been, "I know that I will b-be alright."

It was quiet for a long moment and in that time Hinata considered that maybe Tenten hadn't believed her reassuring proclamation.

Tenten stood, an uncanny serious look on her face, "You just feel better then, Hinata. I'll see you soon."

Hinata unmasked herself with her blanket, just a margin.

The weapons specialist closed the door gently behind her and began her ritual walk to her team's training grounds. She was deep in thought and she did not care that she was late. She was surprised to find that her new favorite member of the Hyuga family was Hinata.

It was the first time she had ever placed Neji second, to his cousin of all people.