To Blindly Follow

Hello, thank you to all of those who reviewed. Reviews = LOVE!
and I also love it when Ideas are put in there too, seriously!
any way on with the show

I DO NOT OWN

About an hour after Sasuke found out bout Neji, he was sitting in the Hokage’s office, listening to her give him the rules for Neji’s care. He was only half listening reliving how Neji had been worried about something happening before the Uchiha left on his mission. “Sasuke, are you paying attention?” Tsunade asked.
Sasuke started a little and then looked at the Hokage. “Yes, ma’am,” he said, “I am sorry.”
“All right,” she said, “Neji will need some exercise everyday and he will need to learn how to do things on his own.”
“How do you mean?” Sasuke asked.
Tsunade thought for a moment. “Besides you, his kekkei genkai is one of the most powerful in the village,” she said, “he has also been able to see all of his life until now, so expect him to be disagreeable at times.”
The Uchiha laughed a little. “That is normal for him anyway,” he said, the sobered a little, “Will he be all right?”
Tsunade smiled. “That is up to him,” she said, “Even if he remains blind, he can still lead a fairly normal life.”
“I mean, the weakness on one side and all that?”
“Possibly,” she answered, “With the right amount of exercise, I would say he will be back to normal in that department.”
Sasuke nodded. “When can I take him out of here?”
“Today if you want,” she said, “He never liked being in there so it may help him more if he were comfortable.”
Nodding again, Sasuke stood. “I will go and get my apartment ready,” he said, “I will come back for him in a few hours.”

Meanwhile, Neji was sitting in an unfamiliar room, in complete darkness. Fearful, but not wanting anyone else to know it, he tried to use the Byakugan, but found that even that wouldn’t work. He turned his head a little, trying to hear what was going on outside of his room. ‘I must be in the hospital’ he thought, ‘Sasuke was here though; I know I wasn’t dreaming that.’
“Neji?”
The teen recognized that voice. “Lady Hinata,” he said, trying to stand.
“No, Neji, you must rest,” Hinata said, rushing over to him, “Father will be here momentarily to bring you home.”
Neji tensed and pulled away from his cousin. “No,” he said softly.
Hinata stared at her cousin for a moment and frowned. “Why?” she asked gently.
“He did this to me,” he answered in a whisper, “I don’t want to go back there.”
Hinata was about to say something when Sasuke, Tsunade and Hiashi walked in. Hiashi and Sasuke seemed to be arguing. Tsunade sighed. “Neji, you have a choice,” she said, “and those two idiots won’t have a damn say about it.”
“And what is that, ma’am?”
“Would you rather go back to the Hyuuga compound or go stay with Sasuke for your recovery?”
Neji closed his eyes and sat back. “Sasuke’s,” he said.
Hiashi looked at his nephew and frowned. “Neji, do you realize what could happen?” he asked.
“Yeah, no more bowing to you!” Neji snapped, “You took my sight and the only distinction that I had from the rest of you, so now I want my freedom, even if it means permanent blindness.”
Sasuke looked at his lover and grinned. ‘He’s finally standing up for himself,’ he thought, ‘though, it could be the fact the Tsunade and I are in here.’
Hiashi stepped towards his nephew, but Sasuke stepped in front of him. “Stay the hell away from him,” he growled, “You have done enough damage.”
The clan leader glared at the younger man, but stepped back. “If his sight were to come back, I would have to seal his Byakugan.”
Tsunade shook her head. “No, I may have need of him,” she said, “Forget it.”
She turned to Sasuke, who had sat on the bed next to Neji. “Take him home and I will have someone go and get his things from the compound,” she said, “If you have any questions, let me know.”
Sasuke nodded and then looked at Neji. “Are you ready?”
Nodding, Neji shifted to get out of the bed. His feet touched the floor and he tried to stand, but his left side could not support the weight. Sasuke was next to him before he fell, supporting him. He leaned forward and whispered in Neji’s ear, “Do you want me to carry you or do you want to try and walk?”
Neji blushed. “I will try and walk,” he said, “But thank you.”
Sasuke nodded. He led Neji to the door, brushing past the fuming clan head. “I will take good care of him,” he said, with a smirk.
Hiashi sputtered a little as the two teens walked out the door.


The first week had gone smoothly enough, but then Sasuke noticed something. Neji had become very quiet, not wanting Sasuke near him. The first time this happened, Sasuke shrugged it off, and left Neji in the room to do whatever he wanted, but today, it was a different story.
Neji had asked him softly to leave and Sasuke did so, going to get some food for them. He had not seen his team mates since Neji had come to stay with him, so he was hoping to meet up with them later. Arriving back at home, he heard Neji crying in the bedroom.
“Neji, what’s wrong?”
Pale eyes flickered toward him, but not focusing. “You left me here,” he whispered, “You fucking left me here alone.”
Sasuke stared at him for a moment and then sighed. “You asked me to leave.”
“I couldn’t get out of the room,” Neji snapped.
He looked down, his hair hiding his face. “I was calling for you.”
Sasuke looked around and sighed. The room was a little messy, signaling that Neji had tried to leave and kept hitting things. He sat beside his lover on the bed and put an arm around him. “I will tell you when I leave next time,” he said, gently, “I’m sorry that I wasn’t here.”
Neji turned his face towards Sasuke’s and nodded. Sasuke leaned forward and kissed him softly. “Are you hungry?’ he asked.
The pale nin nodded. “I was waiting for you,” he said, “You can’t leave me alone here.”
Sasuke sighed. “I am going to have to go back to doing missions sometime,” he said, “Tsunade is only letting me off to get you acclimated to being here.”
Neji pulled away from Sasuke. “You just want to get away from me,” he said, “you are only doing this because you feel like you have too, not because………”
He began to cry again. ‘This is going to be a long day,’ Sasuke thought.
“Neji, I wouldn’t have brought you here because of pity,” he said, “I do love you, and I promise to take care of you until you are sick of me.”
‘I wonder if I am going to regret that later!’

Neji calmed down shortly after and fell asleep on the couch. Sasuke got to work, making dinner for the friends he invited over. When everything was simmering, he walked over to the couch and leaned over the back. “Hey, Neji?” he said softly, “can you wake up?”
Neji shifted on the soft couch and smiled up at Sasuke. “What is it?”
“I invited some friends over,” he said, “Naruto and Sakura, do you want to join us at the table?”
Neji nodded slowly. Sasuke let out a sigh of relief. Neji seemed to be in a good mood. “They will be here in a few hours,” he said, “So you can finish your nap if you want.”
“Lay down with me,” Neji said, “Please.”
Looking into the kitchen, Sasuke lay down next to Neji and put his arms around him. “All right, but I have to watch the food too.”
“No problem.”


Next Chap: the dinner