Neji stood in the stands, watching the Chuunin exams. Uzumaki Naruto had just defeated Inuzuka Kiba. He listened to the announcement of the next match.

“Hyuuga Neji vs. Hyuuga Hinata.” Neji was slightly caught off guard, but he had no objections. His teammates offered encouragement to him before his match.
“You can do it Neji.” Said Tenten.
“Give it your best shot.” Said Rock Lee. Neji simply nodded and walked down the stairs and into the ring.

“Give up now, Hinata. You don’t stand a chance.” Neji taunted as he activated his Byakugan. “I can see that your heart has never been in this. From the beginning, you’ve just been a weak, sheltered little girl.” Hinata activated her own Byakugan, and spoke up.
“I won’t withdraw. The weak little girl you used to know is gone. I’m not going to hold back.”
“Very well, neither will I.” And with that, Neji took up a fighting stance and charged towards his cousin.

Hinata deftly avoided his strike and countered with a soft jab to his thorax. Neji was momentarily winded, but he was quickly back in the fight. Neji targeted a point on Hinata’s arm, and struck with precision. Taking advantage of the momentary opening, he pressed the attack further. By this time, Neji was completely caught up in the rush of battle. He had only one thing on his mind: victory. Striking another pressure point, this time on the girl’s neck, he managed to inflict some real damage. But Hinata wouldn’t give up so easily. The determined girl lunged forward, targeting Neji’s chest. Feeling the pain of Hinata’s attack, he countered with a blow directly above her heart.

Hinata doubled back and started coughing up blood. Neji knew that he had won, and simply waited for his victory to be formalized by hearing his cousin speak those three short words. I give up.

They never came. The blood flow increased, and Hinata’s coughing became more furious. Then, she coughed up a lot of blood and fell to the ground, motionless. Neji stared for a second as the adrenaline rush from the battle died down, and only then did he understand what had happened.
Kurenai leaped down to the arena and rushed to the Hyuuga girl’s side. She placed an ear against Hinata’s chest, listened for a second, and shook her head. “Hinata-kun… is dead.”

A roar of protest erupted from the stands. Some stood in shock, others fought back tears. Even Neji’s own team had turned on him, Tenten calling him a monster while Lee dried her tears. Neji ran from the arena in shame, he hadn’t meant to kill anyone. He had just lost himself in the intense combat. He never particularly cared for Hinata, but now he had lost his only two real friends, and made countless enemies. Sitting on a stump outside, he wondered aloud.

“What have I done?”

Neji sat on the stump for about 5 minutes, though it seemed to him like 5 days.
Anko-sensei approached him, interrupting his thoughts. “Neji-kun, you should come inside. Hayate has an announcement to make, and he wants all participants to listen.” Neji wasn’t about to argue with a Jounin, so he walked back to the arena. Hayate cleared his throat and began to speak.

“Alright everyone, in light of recent events, Hokage-sama has decided to postpone the exams. Matches will begin again in two weeks. That is all.” After Hayate’s speech, the genin returned to their teams. Neji saw Sakura greeting Naruto with a comforting embrace. He, on the other hand, was greeted by a slap to the face.

“Neji, how could you? Hinata was my friend, and she was your cousin! I can’t believe you murdered her!” The source of the slap was Tenten. She was holding back tears as she spoke. “You’re so heartless. You’d better not skip out on her funeral.” And with that final admonishment, the Chinese kunoichi ran off. Neji walked out of the arena. His closest friend had just called him heartless, and he needed to clear his head before training tomorrow.

What Have I Done?
Chapter 3
Worthless

Neji went to Ichiraku. He decided a nice hot bowl of ramen would help take his mind off Hinata’s death. The shop owner gave him a death glare, but took his order anyway. He sat down with his ramen, and poured in the water. “I really didn’t mean to kill her” he said to himself. “I only wanted to win, to become a chuunin.” His thoughts were cut off when he noticed one of Ichiraku’s regular customers coming towards him. “Hello Naruto” Neji sighed.
“Hello Neji” Naruto said, with no friendliness at all in his voice. Neji knew that Naruto was fond of Hinata, and half expected to be struck dead on the spot. Instead, Naruto ordered some ramen and sat next to him. “You went too far Neji. Hinata didn’t deserve to die.”
“I know. I didn’t mean to kill her.”
“Apologizing won’t bring her back.” Naruto stared into space for a few seconds. “Hinata was my friend. If I fight you in the exams, I promise that for her sake, I’ll kick your ass!”
Neji smirked. “Still the same overconfident Naruto, I see.”
“Don’t underestimate me.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it. I’d better go home now.” Neji finished off his ramen and walked back home, knowing that he’d be up early for training, so he should get as much rest as he could.

Neji entered the Hyuuga household, ready to get to bed early. After he brushed his teeth and changed into his pajamas, he was about to turn off the lights and go to sleep when he heard voices coming from Hiashi’s room. Activating his Byakugan to see through the walls, he saw Hiashi talking with Kurenai, arguing by the looks of it. He crept closer to the door so he could hear what they were saying. Kurenai was speaking at the moment that he first made out their voices.
“But sir, she’s your daughter!”
“I don’t care. She was an embarrassment to the Hyuuga clan, and I’m glad to be rid of her!”
“She was one of my students, and deserves to be treated with respect!”
“Go find someone else to cry to. Her filthy carcass can rot in the woods for all I care! A weakling like her will not be buried on my property.”
“Couldn’t you at least pay for the…”
“I’m not spending a single yen on that worthless bitch!” Hiashi yelled, making the hairs on the back of Neji’s neck stand up. Kurenai stared at him and gave a closing remark.
“Have it your way you heartless bastard.” Neji concealed himself in the shadows to avoid being noticed as Kurenai exited the room. He silently slipped back into bed before Hiashi came out, and he soon fell asleep.

Neji’s sleep was racked with nightmares. Hinata’s pale form followed him through the night, tormenting him. “Why did you kill me, Neji-niisan? Why? What did I ever do to you?” Many such images came to him that night. A soggy corpse of Hinata with weeds and mud in her hair came rising out of the river. This spectre chased him to a forest, where his cousin’s tortured face could be seen in every tree. The forest filled him with dread, and rather than the familiar cry of the birds, he heard “Niisan, niisan.” He ran as fast as he could, to a clearing. There, he found the most gruesome sight yet. Hinata’s lifeless body lay on the ground, being picked apart by crows. Her limbs were bent the wrong way, and there was blood everywhere. Her contorted face slowly turned to him and let out a hideous “why?” He tried to scream, but nothing came out. The crows flew towards him, surrounding him. In a flash of feathers, his world went black. Then, he was surrounded by the floating faces of the other Konoha genin. They circled him, derided him, and taunted him.

Naruto’s face spoke first.
“You went too far. I’ll kick your ass!”

Sakura’s face was next to speak.
“I can’t believe you’d do such a thing to your own cousin!”

Lee’s spectral visage opened its mouth.
“Murderer!”

Tenten was there too.
“You monster!”

Faster and faster they circled, repeating their cruel taunts. Neji could do nothing to stop the mental onslaught.
“…Can’t believe you’d do such a thing … kick your ass! … monster … murderer … your own cousin … killed her …” Gradually, their voices all melded into one incomprehensible noise. Suddenly, it was all shattered by a blood-curdling howl. The circling faces came together and formed into a wolf. He ran away, the wolf following quickly on his heels. No matter where he went, he could find no escape. Finally, he spied an underground passageway with a small entrance. He ducked into it, leaving the wolf behind.

Relieved, Neji stopped to catch his breath. He was now in a tunnel, free of the wolf. Then he noticed a buzzing sound growing louder and louder. When it reached its loudest, he turned around. Right behind him was a gargantuan hornet. The hornet surveyed him maliciously, stinger bared. Several smaller hornets buzzed by its side. Neji set off at a run, desperate to escape the monstrosity. Faster and faster he ran, past trees, rocks, and fields. Through landscapes that shouldn’t even exist. And always, the hornets were on his tail. Suddenly, his foot caught on a log, and he tripped. The hornets caught up with him very quickly. The smaller hornets surrounded him, while the colossal insect hovered overhead. The infernal buzzing got louder and louder and the large hornet began advancing sadistically. Neji saw its venomous stinger shining in the sunlight. The hornet closed in on him, buzzing loudly…

Neji woke up at that moment, letting out a scream. It must have been pretty loud, because he heard Hanabi’s voice from the next room.

“Urusai, Neji! Some of us are still trying to sleep!” Neji sighed and shouted down the hall.

“Sorry Hanabi.”

“Were you having a nightmare or something?”

“Yeah.”

“Well it serves you right!” Neji decided to ignore the young heiress, not needing anymore distractions before training. He glanced at the clock on the wall.

“Well, I still have some time before training begins. Maybe I should go have breakfast.” He didn’t want to eat at Ichiraku’s, since he knew that Naruto would be there to berate him again. He also couldn’t stay home, because then he’d have to put up with Hanabi’s constant pestering. He considered going to Tenten’s house, but thought that she might still be angry at him. Instead, he opted to pack a bentou and head off to the woods.

Neji sat in the woods, eating his bentou. After finishing it up, he looked at his watch. “45 minutes until training. I guess I can afford some more rest.” He lay down and closed his eyes, but was immediately awoken by footsteps. Rock Lee came over to him.
“Oi, Neji-kun, are you awake?” Neji sighed, when would this irritation end?
“I am now” Neji said, rubbing his eyes. “What is it?”
“Tenten wanted to talk to you; she’s waiting at her house.” Lee’s tone didn’t let on Tenten’s mood. Neji guessed she wasn’t happy, though.
“Alright, I’ll go see her. If we’re not there in time for training, tell Gai-sensei not to wait up for us.” Lee nodded and leapt off to find Gai.

Neji arrived at Tenten’s house and rang the doorbell. The Chinese girl answered the door; Neji noticed that her hair was down. “Oh, you’re here. Come in, have a seat.” Neji obediently walked through the door. The two ninjas sat on the couch, leaving some space between them. Tenten spoke up, avoiding eye contact with Neji. “Look Neji, we really need to talk. What you did at the exams… I’m really having a hard time forgiving you for that.” Neji knew this was coming.
“Tenten, I’m very sorry.”
“Sorry doesn’t bring Hinata back. The reason I asked you here is that even if we’re not friends anymore, we’re still squad-mates”
“Does that mean you’ll forgive me?” Tenten shook her head.
“I can’t do that Neji. What I’m saying is that we can’t have our personal feelings getting in the way of our missions. I haven’t forgiven you, I may never forgive you. But we still have to be able to work together. If I’m constantly worried about you betraying me, we can’t function as a team. Do you think we can at least promise to work together?”
“Of course we can. I’m not going to betray you, Tenten.” He extended his hand, and Tenten shook it.
“Thanks Neji. I’m glad we understand each other. We should go to training now. Just as squad-mates though, not as friends.”
“Right, just squad-mates.” Neji and Tenten left the house together, Tenten putting her hair in buns as she usually does.