For "A Smile and a Half" because I really like your username! And because I was in a writing mood. Since I get kinda queasy when writing "lovey" scenes, if it didn't turn out right please forgive me...

Maybe it started around the time her mother died, I'm not sure. I was less involved with her life around that time, and Hanabi had recently been born, making him less involved with her life as well. I locked the door to my room, as I do every morning, and slowly made my way toward the gates of the Hyuuga Compound. As I neared, I saw her waiting for me there, with her team and mine.

At this point of her life I see that she has never smiled more. She is obviously happiest when she is with her teammates, now that Naruto has left to train with Jiraiya. But she is still happy, even without his presence, and it shows she has improved. I can feel the warmth radiating from her smile, and her determination when she trains with her father. Yet…

Even when the usual group of friends get together to do something (though Team 7 has disappeared completely now that Sakura is training as well), I can see from my usual place in the corner that inside, she is breaking. On the inside, her gears are tired and are pushing themselves all with the power of her will. But it won't last much longer.

I hear her cry out at night, muffled sob and a choked back cry, and I go to her, merely hunching myself over her futon, letting my hair mix in with her indigo locks, and I try and figure out what is wrong. What is she thinking? What does she really want? If I look closely at her, you can see she'd covered in a thin sheet of sweat. Her face is contorted, and that radiant smile does not show. This is her true side; the one under the mask. The one that's still healing…

I can feel her pain. I can see it. I breathe it. It fills the Hyuuga Compound, like a death-like aura smothering the place. She will one day cave in, and the elders and her father will still not realize the damage they have done, though Hiashi seems to be coming around. The more burdens she takes on, the sooner it will come. She needs some sort of release, but she refuses to accept them. If she doesn't relent soon, she will be beyond repair; I see it.

So I force her to.

She struggled at first, when I surprised her that night as I locked her legs with my thighs. As I grabbed her wrists. As pressed my lips to hers. She struggled meekly, and before long she was taking more and more of it, being selfish for what might have been the first time in her life. She saw this opening and in desperation, sprang on it with fervor. I did not enjoy it, whatever we were doing. I did not want to enjoy it. I want her to vent in any way she could; to relieve that stress, her worries, and her burdens. I wanted to soak up that pain, understand exactly what she wanted and what she needed.

She had a sound sleep that night. She never mentioned it again; perhaps thinking it was a dream. But even as she blushed when I approach her now, I can see her shoulders do not sag as heavily, and her smile is less strained. It was necessary, what I did.

"Are you ready, Neji-nii?"

"Yes, let's go,"

It was necessary. At least, that's what I told her father…