Impossible Is Nothing

What began as a debt becomes Sasuke falling in love with Neji.

Part One: Certain Truths

Contrary to popular belief, Hyuuga Neji has strong memory of his mother. She didn't die until he was six years old, only a few days before he entered the Academy. He mourned her, but did not grieve her. He did not feel that her death was an injustice to her or to him. She died with honor on a mission protecting the ideals of Konoha.

Hyuuga Sango had her named carved proudly into the stone. On that day, Neji had gone to the stone with a single Yuri and cried pitiful tears of an orphan. Hyuuga Sango's favorite flowers were lilies and every year he brought them to that marker in her memory. He always bought the Yuri flowers from the Yamanaka Ikebana and came to know Yamanaka Tsuta very well. As a result of one of his frequents, Hyuuga Neji learned of a talented shinobi named Uchiha Sasuke, whom Tsuta-san's daughter, whose name he hadn't thought to remember, was raving about to some other girl who was equally enthralled by Uchiha Sasuke's talents and appearance.

Hyuuga Neji himself had a following of kunoichi. He knew from personal experience that hordes of shinobi potentials didn't flock to a single fighter without justification. That was what led him to investigate Uchiha Sasuke and determine the level of his talent. What he found in his searches was something exceptional.

He found something worthy of his own talents.

He found a challenge.

Not too many people knew what it felt like to lose their most precious person. Many were lucky in that regard. It's a pain that can build hatred if that precious person was thieved away. Neji knew kindness from one man his entire life. One man who wanted better for him, one man who knew that his worth was beyond his talent… that Neji deserved kind eyes and a gentle voice when spoken to… His chichiue… his strong and kind father who was taken from him…

Few people understood betrayal like Hyuuga Neji. He only knew of one person who experienced that pain, to have someone of their blood thieved from them by another person of their blood. Uchiha… Sasuke.

They hadn't met successfully. Uchiha Sasuke had never even seen Neji fight. Neji had wanted to defeat the annoying blonde boy and face either Uchiha Sasuke to find satisfaction or to fight Sabaku no Gaara and avenge Lee. He was awarded neither opportunity, but from that fight with Uzumaki Naruto he had gained something valuable in truth and a new direction.

But that direction still involved a fight…

It still involved Uchiha Sasuke, who, too, was unlike Uzumaki Naruto, who, too, was born exceptional.

The partial destruction of Konoha and the death of the Hokage had put all ambition on Neji's part on hold. It did not dull determination and it did not hinder ambition. After visiting Lee in the hospital, he and Tenten would observe Uchiha Sasuke in his own hospital room, usually beyond the observation of the daughter of Tsusta-san and the annoying pink haired girl.

Tenten crossed her arms under her chest and leaned against the door frame outside of Uchiha Sasuke's hospital room. "I heard it was that Uchiha Itachi that did it to Sasuke-kun." Tenten supplied.

"The same Uchiha Itachi who erased the Great Uchiha Clan… Under what circumstances did he return to Konoha?"

"I don't know all the specifics, but I doubt it's as simple as returning to finish the job." Tenten responded. "He's a top ranked missing nin in Konoha's bingo book and as such his records are sealed, I can't find anything other than the obvious on him. Age: eighteen; type: Genius, fire-skill, Sharingan, ANBU ranked, from rumors his talent for jutsu rivals the legendary Sannin, some say even Hokage level… what he's been doing and why, that remains a mystery to me."

"But not to Uchiha Sasuke… I am led to believe that Sasuke does know… if Uchiha Itachi returned, Sasuke would neither run nor hide."

"He's the kind to act as an avenger and at his level…" Tenten trailed off.

"He was defeated. There is no mystery in this."

"You still want to fight Uchiha Sasuke. In this state, he will never be a challenge again. His condition is…"

"Like Lee's."

"There's nothing we can do and you'll become restless again. What do we do now? We can gather more information about the Uchiha. Their kunoichi would know something."

"I'm under the impression that the kunoichi is useless." Neji responded flatly.

"You're hard on all kunoichi. Setting your mother as the standard is unreasonable. We all pale in comparison to her…" Tenten pushed her hands onto her hips and looked through the observation window to see the pink haired shinobi as she adjusted flowers by the window, "She's going through a difficult situation."

"And you're not?" Neji asked.

Tenten smirked. "I'm made of tougher stuff. I have to be to deal with number one cool-headed guy Hyuuga Neji and number one hot-headed guy Rock Lee."

"You're best suited for it." Neji responded.

"Hai, hai. You want to go train? I'm working on a scroll binding jutsu. I could use a moving target."

"Later, I'm going to visit Lee."

"Right, don't forget we still have to meet with sensei for seal sequence practice when he gets back from his mission this afternoon."

Neji nodded. Tenten waved and left. Neji observed Uchiha Sasuke for a few minutes then went as he said he would to visit Lee again. There had been a significant change in their relationship, between Neji and Lee, since the Chuunin exam. They had never liked each other and it had been both their faults: Neji didn't respect Lee and Lee only saw Neji as a target and never a person. Lee's personality hadn't changed, but Neji had and for Tenten's sanity, it had been enough.

In a complicated interplay, Neji and Lee had suffered from the same complex emotion: jealousy. Lee was jealous of Neji's talent and Neji was jealous of Lee's character: the kind that got attention and praise and affection. Genius entitled him to none of those things, but changing his talents would have gotten Neji nowhere, even if he thought himself capable of change. No one ever paid attention to the crisis of Genius, except his father, except Tenten, and except himself.

That was why he had sought Uchiha Sasuke out so eagerly. Tenten had been amused at his enthusiasm and aligned herself to help, the way he knew she would. Tenten was the only person he could count on: he hoped that would change with Uchiha Sasuke.

With his hands in his pockets Neji made his trek to Lee's room and found the bowl-headed taijutsu master doing one-handed push-ups on the floor. Neji walked up his team mate and firmly put his foot on Lee's uninjured shoulder and pushed him firmly to the ground.

"Nah!" Lee groaned. Lee looked up around the blue shoe to meet Neji's gaze. "Neji, please remove your foot."

Neji crossed his arms over his chest. "Lee, you know you cannot do this yet. I will not have the nurse yell at me again for not preventing you from further exerting yourself."

"I apologize for the nurses scolding you by calling you Neji-chan." Lee responded.

Neji resisted the urge to stomp on the injured Lee… but he made a mental note to stomp him later.

"Neji, I must train. Please allow me to continue. You understand the importance of my training hard."

"Yes, for your nindo. However," Neji removed his foot and squatted down beside Lee, pressing his palm firmly to replace the weight of his foot. "You should understand that it isn't just about working hard, it's about working right. Have you considered training your weak mind over your weak body?"

Weak? Lee asked himself.

"Meditation is the training I'm most proficient at. It isn't my physical muscles that make me superior to you still and those who fight like you."

"You lost to Naruto-kun." Lee responded when Neji released his weight from Lee's body.

Neji nodded simply. "Yes, I did. I wonder if that makes you stronger than me, Lee? Will you continue to rely on another as a marker of your own power?"

"Nani?"

"For a year, you have used me as a target to overcome in an effort to satisfy your nindo. Have you become stronger the way you wished to? Are you a great ninja because a Genius type was defeated? You've lost sight of your ideal. When you put the face of Genius as your enemy instead of yourself, you stopped following your goal."

"I…"

"I know that you fought Uchiha Sasuke before the Chuunin exam. You made him a target without knowing anything about him other than he was a Genius type. Does that satisfy your nindo? Can you be strong without comparing yourself to someone else? Can you get strong as you are now?"

"I…"

"You can: but will you will be the triumph or fault of your own. Tenten and I will continue to train and improve to satisfy our goals. When you're ready to reach our level, we will assist you. That is our teamwork."

"Neji…"

"Tenten and I are going to train our seal sequences and work on Tenten's newest tobidougu kuchiyose no jutsu (projectile weapon summon technique). We'll come back later with sensei and we can develop a meditation training for you."

"Ha, hai." Lee responded.

Neji never said goodbye when he left people behind, even with Lee who he intended to see catch up. Neji stuck his hands into his shorts and turned his back to Rock Lee who sat in the lotus position with his head tilted down to miss Neji's exit.

Neji never rushed, he never did anything he didn't intend to and he never obsessed in his failures. The latter was the result of believing he never failed. When he lost, he won, and when he triumphed, he shined. But something was missing.

Neji saw when he passed Uchiha Sasuke's hospital room that the pink haired girl had left for the afternoon. The raven colored Sasuke lay completely motionless against the stiff white hospital sheets. He entered the room cautiously as if half-expecting Uchiha Sasuke to spring out of bed and attack him. He walked to the edge of his bed, turning his back to the yellowing flower in the sunlight. His body blocked the light and cast Sasuke's stable body in shadow.

Neji thought for a few moments before making a series of seals and activating his Byakugan to observe Sasuke's system. There was irregular activity in his chakra network in his brain, like he was still being affected by a genjutsu.

But for that to be the case, the level of jutsu would have to be… What monstrous strength Uchiha Itachi possesses…

Saru (monkey), Ousu-buta (boar), Inu (dog), Saru (monkey), Usagi (rabbit), Hebi (serpent)

Neji completed the seal sequence and generated a pale green chakra around his right hand. The mystic palm chakra glittered against Neji's moon pale skin and against Sasuke's colorless skin when Neji laid his palm against Sasuke's forehead. Neji's powerful eyes watched his chakra interact with the disrupted chakra of Sasuke's system. He watched as his chakra moved Sasuke's system temporarily before the superior talent of Itachi's genjutsu overcame his mystic palm. Neji released his jutsu finding he had made no difference in Sasuke's condition.

I suppose it would take a skill level at Haha's (mother's) level or greater to dispel this. I wonder if there is such a talent in Konoha… or if I will have to become that talent…

Hyuuga Neji released his bloodline limit and left Uchiha Sasuke behind his back as he remembered his promise to Tenten and went to meet the kunoichi and their sensei.

Neji's hands were faster than Tenten's. Tenten's hands were efficient, Neji's fingers danced. Juuken was an art; it was fluid in all of his motions. He excelled because he studied art and movement. During their training and exposure to the chakra paper, Tenten had been the wind, Rock Lee had been the earth and Neji was water. His motion paralleled the flow of water, which mimicked the flow of chakra, which Neji followed within an inch of his life.

Every Hyuuga was water, even the bumbling Hinata. When Hyuuga found the path of water, like Neji had at the age of four, their Juukenhou became Konoha's greatest grace, like Hiashi-sama's and Neji's was, the way Neji's Chichiue and Haha's had been. Neji still remembered: though it had been years and years ago, buried under more painful times, since he had last seen how his mother and father moved together as they made Juuken the art more beautiful than the dance of the leaves that hid their village. He had been four years old the last time, before his father was thieved from him in a cloud of unrevealed truths and before his mother lost her life in the service of Konoha shinobidom on an S-rank mission. He had been ready to dance with them and now with them gone, he had to dance for all of them.

The dance step was difficult, but he had Tenten, he had Lee, Uzumaki Naruto, and he would have Uchiha Sasuke to add movements to his dance steps.

End of Certain Truths