Okay, let's get this out of the way first:
Disclaimer I don't own Naruto.
I've been reading torture fics lately, and I wanted to try my hand at one. This is probably going to be mediocre, but…hey. I also wanted to try my hand at a Naruto fic, starring Neji and Lee!
Contrary to what I've put in my profile (about finishing fics before posting them), this story isn't finished; I'll write about a chapter a week or so. I've got a lot on my plate at the moment, with stories I'm working on (nonfiction) and reports, and, of course, school…grr…
There might be some OOC-ness, but hopefully not too much. I wrote Tsunade as best as I could, but I don't really know her character that well, so…I kind of just improvised. She doesn't have a big part, though.
Anyway, enough of me babbling. On to the fic!
Chapter One: Assignment
"Neji-san!" Rock Lee called as he approached the Hyuuga one clear, cool autumn morning.
Neji turned. "What, Lee?"
"Hokage-sama wants to see us," answered Lee, not breathless though he'd obviously sprinted from the Godame's office.
"Do you know why?" the prodigy wanted to know.
"A new mission, I think," answered Lee. "I am not sure, however."
Neji shrugged. "For our whole team or just the two of us?"
Now it was Lee's turn to shrug. "I don't know. Let's go find out! I'm sure that if Gai-sensei and Tenten-san are on the mission, they will have been told as well! Now, let's race to the building!"
Neji agreed, and the two raced off towards the Godame's office.
x-x-x
Tsunade peered over the large pile of papers on her desk at the shinobi assembled in front of her. Gai and Tenten had shown up five minutes after Lee and Neji, the former of whom had won the race, but only by a bit.
"You wanted to see us, Tsunade-sama?" said Tenten respectfully.
"Yes, yes," said the Hokage. "There's a mission I've got for all of you…where'd I put that damn thing?" She shuffled through her papers, picking up stacks and re-stacking them on other stacks precariously.
"Ah, here it is," she said after a few moments of searching. She was holding up a rather official-looking document. "This is a C-ranked mission. You'll be escorting a man and his family from a safe-house in another village to Konoha. This man's rich and important, though—so don't screw it up!"
"Hai!" said Lee. "Is there anything else?"
"Yes, I'm sure there is…" Tsunade trailed off, looking into the distance. Then she looked at Gai's team and snapped her fingers. "Yes. That's right. The other village is the Hidden Village of the Clouds."
x-x-x
Neji started violently. The Hidden Village of the Clouds… "No…" he breathed. "No…"
"What's wrong, Neji?" asked Tenten worriedly. "Do you feel okay?"
"N-not the Cloud Village," Neji managed to say. "Why…why?"
He'd accepted his father's death, but this—he could not bear to take a mission in the village…not the very village whose leader had been the cause of his father's death…
It was true—he had accepted his father's death, but that didn't mean that he took it lightly—he still missed his father greatly, and couldn't help but feel the tiniest bit of resentment towards Hiashi.
"Excuse me, Tsunade-sama," said Gai. Taking Neji's arm, he led the Hyuuga away from the others in the room. "Is this about your father?"
"Yes," said Neji hoarsely. His throat felt slightly choked. He swallowed hard and looked his sensei in the eye.
"It's still early…" Gai said, more to himself than to Neji. "Neji, I know this will be hard on you, but…well…you know what you have to do."
"Yes," repeated the teenager.
Sensei and student turned to face the Hokage. "Is there anything else to know about this mission?" asked Gai.
"Not that I can think of," said Tsunade with a shrug. "No, I think you're all set." She briefed them a bit more, about what the man was like, why they had to be his bodyguard, and so on.
Five minutes later, Team Gai had bowed to the Godame and left; they were now swiftly parting ways to get their needed weapons and provisions. They had planned to travel light; each only bringing a small pack. They were going to meet at the village gate.
After quickly gathering some food from the Hyuuga kitchen, Neji hurried off to meet the rest of his team at the gate. Lee and Gai were already there; he could hear Tenten running behind him, slightly out of breath.
"Now we're all here!" said Gai enthusiastically. "Let's go!"
The four shinobi turned and ran out of the village.
They started fast, but Tenten, who never had worked out as hard as the other three on endurance, began to tire. Neji could hear her pant, "Can we stop for a rest soon?"
"But Tenten, it's only been fifteen minutes since we've started sprinting!" said Lee. "Come on! Use the Spirit of Youth!"
"Right," puffed Tenten. "But I—I have to stop. You guys go ahead. I'll catch up."
"All right," replied Gai. "But if you don't come back in ten minutes, we'll come get you, okay?"
"Hai," said the weapons mistress, and stopped, leaning against a tree branch. The three boys quickly left her behind, though Lee kept looking back, making sure she was still there.
A few minutes later, the kunoichi hadn't caught up to them yet. Lee started looking back more often.
"It's been ten minutes," stated Lee abruptly. "Tenten's not back yet."
Suddenly, the piercing sound of a girl's scream split the air.
"Tenten," said Lee, Gai, and Neji in unison. Swiftly, they turned and headed towards the direction they'd heard the scream.
Author's Note(s)Five minutes ago, my entire story plot changed when I came up with this idea I was totally not planning to do. -shrugs- Oh well. It'll work, and I know where this is going to go, so…I'm all set!
The next chapter should be up sometime next week. I hope…
It'll probably longer than this one. I'm torn—it's easier to read shorter chapters, but long chapters can be fun to read too; you get more fanfic!
Like it? Hate it? Please tell me! And if there are any typos, or OOC-ness, definitely tell me!
Oh, yeah, and if you would like a reply, leave a signed review or your email address, or I can PM you. Thanks!