"Hyuga Yu, why did you never dare to see me?"
Hearing the faint mockery in Hyuga Natsu's words, Hyuga Yu fell silent.
Why was that?
Hyuga Yu thought, was it because he had been busy?
No. Of course he had been busy, but no matter how busy he was, he could have found time to see her, even if only for a few minutes. He could have checked on her, comforted her, said a few pretty words that cost nothing, or deliberately arranged some work for her to show that he needed her.
Ethically, morally, emotionally, and in terms of interpersonal skills, Hyuga Yu could have done those things easily. People always wanted to be needed.
No matter how busy things got, there was always some fragmented time to spare.
But then, why?
Hyuga Yu suddenly recalled the decision he had made a month ago in the Land of Bears to save Nohara Rin. What he had thought then was that Nohara Rin could interfere with Uchiha Obito's actions;
that she could prevent Uchiha Madara from meddling in the situation in the Land of Rain;
that to keep things from reaching the worst possible outcome, Nohara Rin needed to stay alive, even if she was barely alive. Those had all been rational, calm considerations made after weighing the pros and cons.
But he alone had not thought of Hyuga Natsu.
More precisely, he had assumed Hyuga Natsu would understand.
Because Hyuga Natsu had always been the one who understood him best. From when they had joined forces to seize Hyuga Genko's Main House Byakugan, to when he had sent her back to the village to seek aid from the Medical Team's higher-ups and Tsunade, to when he had commissioned Root and asked her to act as an intermediary to pass