She sighed heavily as she dropped to her own knees and placed a hand on either shoulder. "Listen to me, Neji-nii-san," she said quietly, ignoring the strangeness of the whole situation. "I do not hate you. Nor have I ever looked down on you for being a member of the branch family. My mother's sister always told me that every member of the clan is important and is irreplaceable. When I thought about it hard enough as a small child, all I thought of was how impressive you were. I was proud that you were my cousin."

She would not cry. Neji-nii-san did not cry when speaking to her, and she would at least extend that small comfort to this younger version of him. "When we fought during the chunin exam, I was scared, but I didn't let that hold me back. I still fought you, even though all the odds were against me. Because, I wanted to prove to myself that I wasn't just some weak, stupid, useless member of the clan. I needed to know that I wasn't just replaceable."

The corners of her mouth twitched even as guilt tugged at her heart. "I will not tell Tenten-san, if you will not tell Naruto-kun I was so harsh."