Chapter 1
It's a sad truth that no one wanted to admit, it seemed that Raven had defected from Konoha and to the sound. Just like Sasuke had so long ago. Many of the people that knew him were very surprised and shocked; some was automatically taken off active duty to deal with it. Neji blamed himself, believing he wasn't strong enough to save Raven from defecting. Not like he was the type of person to let it show.
It started off innocent. During Raven and Neji's sparring matches Ravens skills improved drastically causing Neji to get more serious. Which in turn made Raven get even better. It seemed innocent enough but Raven was becoming more angry and violent during the matches when Neji stepped up his game to better Ravens. An accident occurred and Raven was hospitalised for a while, resulting in the anger and violence to cool down. Neji just assumed it was normal stress he had been under. Considering the risks with people as young as 11 being in charge of killing people in the blink of an eye, it was more than understandable.
Then during a chuunin exam Raven went mad, during his battle with his opponent he used some sort of kinjutsu and proceeded to attack Tsunade Sama. Neji quickly made his way there to stop him but Raven fought him back and with just 2 hits Neji was stopped and a few of his ribs were broken. During the fuss Raven ran, right out of konoha. People speculated about maybe it wasn't actually Raven and some sort of spy. But no evidence was available to back it up.
When they finally received word from ANBU it turned out Raven was intercepted upon his escape, but they were unable to stop him. One of the ANBU who happened to be a member of the yamanaka family was able to use a technique and found out where Raven was heading. The information he'd learnt while in Ravens mind was distorted and foggy but the ANBU member concluded where Raven was heading for.
He was heading for the sound village.
A few months passed and a hyuuga clan member mysteriously disappeared, only to be found dead a few miles into the dense forest, which surrounded the whole village. One thing about it the incident that none but the ANBU, Tsunade and Hyuuga Hiashi knew about was that the victim's eyes were removed. Done by some sort of medical kinjustu. The hyuuga clans prized byakugan was compromised.
Another few months passed along and rumours of a new ninja in the bingo book that fitted Ravens description came up. Tsunade Sama had no official comment on the matter. Neji, who didn't believe it to be true, had become a jounin by then and had realised their was nothing he could of done to save him, instead he just vowed to be stronger for if he was ever to save the ones he cared about. Others just put it down as coincidence.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A while later while on mission to the water country, a team consisting of Neji, Lee and Tenten was assigned the simple task of picking up some important documents from the Mizukage. But the mission turned into much more when Raven confronted them on their way back.
Having decided to take a break from jumping through the tree's, mainly because of Tenten and her own private reasons, they were more than surprised when a taller and older version of Raven was sat in the middle of the road waiting for them.
Neji was stuck in the spot and unable to talk. A while after Ravens dissapearence and the hyuuga incident, he had overheard a rumour stating that the person matching Ravens description in the bingo book was killed. But met complications when a female ninja jumped in to distract them and got away with the body, making it impossible to clarify the identity. All in all Neji and the others was all under the idea Raven was dead.
But he wasn't, he was sat right infront of them.
Lee was a little slower in making the connection between the person in their way and Raven until he overheard Tenten mumble something, "Raven.. is that you?"
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Neji snapped back to reality once Tenten had said his name, comfirming that it was him and not his imagination. But he stayed still, his byakugan still full of chakra. Mainly thanks to a training regimen from Hiashi sama, the object of said training was to keep the byakugan full of chakra as if in a fighting situation for as long as he could till he had no other choice but to let it down. With the purpose being that making the activation of the byakugan and control of it a second nature, a split second in the shinobi world was split second wasted.
Lee instantly had flashbacks of the last time he and Raven saw each other and subconsciously rubbed his shoulder, exactly where he got most of his burn marks.
Tenten repeated herself and out of habit reached for a kunai from her pouch. Realising Neji still hadn't moved from his position between her and Lee, she aimed the kunai towards Raven and tried getting the Neji she knew back. But looking closely his byakugan was being pumped full of extra chakra. He was surveying the surroundings for any possible threat.
Raising his arms up as a sign of surrender Raven shifted from his position and layed down on his front on the dirt road. "Here this might make you more comfortable with me."
Lee glanced towards Tenten who returned the look with a nod, not needing to be signalled twice he quickly used his speed and pressed his knee into Ravens back.
"Ohh, your speeds's improved. Nice one" Raven said as cheerfully as he could while giving Lee a thumbs up. Even if he was on the dirty floor he was their by choice so had no reason to complain about something he'd planned on.
Finally finished surveying the immediate area and creating a mental plan Neji spoke up, "Why are you here?" though a little quieter than he intended his order/query ended up sounding more like a friendly question than the cold demand he intended.
Looking over in Nejis direction, Raven frowned before taking a deep breath and spitting it out. "I want to make a deal." The response was far from what Neji or his team expected.
"You're an enemy of Konoha with orders to be captured. What deal are you thinking about? You did get captured afterall" Tenten piped out quickly, what was meant to confident and practised came out far from it.
"I request to see Tsunade sama and the Konoha council" Raven said while averting his eyes to the ground so no one could see any emotion from him.
"What buisness have you with the Hokage?" Lee questioned, his question came out exactly how he intended, with a slight hint of hostility. After all their friendship didn't end on a good note.
"Well I would also like to request a more personal conversation with Neji during the trip back. In regards to your question, I would like to suggest a trade. The jist of it is, I want to trade information regarding sound and Orochimaru, as well as other groups and organisations such as the black and red cloaked kind, in return for safe asylum for me and one other." The way Raven said it sounded practiced, like he'd forseen this moment and practised it over and over till it sounded just right. Which in all honesty he had.
Neji finally found his voice again and made sure this time to speak up, "Tenten, write a message regarding the situation. Lee ease up on the pressure and keep in mind he let us capture him by choice. He wouldn't of given himself up without something up his sleeve."
Without question Lee eased up slightly but still kept his knee against him. In truth he wanted to press his knee harder, until he heard some sort of crunch preferably.
Tenten got to work on that letter and had it ready quickly, before handing it over to Neji to check. While handing it over she got close enough to whisper "Did you see anything with your Byakugan?" With a barely visible shake of his head he took the note and read it through "No, nothing. But you know as well as I do, my Byakugan can't see into solid earth" taking a breath and nodding in approval he glanced at Lee.
"Lee I want you to take this note straight to Tsunade Sama as fast as you can. Ten ten and me will slowly start our way there with Raven. If we get halfway and your not back we'll stop and wait for your return with our orders. Under no circumstances are you to give the note to anyone but Tsunade Sama. While your there make sure that Tsunade gets a team of ANBU to check konoha's surrounding for anything out of the ordinary. On your return if were not at the halfway point in 2 hours, return back to Konoha and request reinforcements to come looking for us. Go."
"But Neji-kun, what if it's a trap or an ambush?" Lee questioned sceptically, he was actually quite confused as to why Neji was taking the ordeal personally. Having been on the same team as Neji for a while, it wasn't that hard to notice the really small things.
"Lee, I said go now. That's an order," Neji commanded with his usual stoic emotionless face. Being a jounin and the highest rank of the group as well as the acting leader for their mission, he was the one to call the shots. He had taken everything into consideration already. Lee's speed would definitely be useful incase of an ambush, but it was without a doubt there was major hostility towards Raven. Lee's personal vendetta could and would, have to wait.
Without a second glance at Raven and Tenten, Lee was off. His speeds making the four-hour journey back, like a brisk walk around the backyard.
"Tenten, secure our weapons, cover our tracks and use summoning scroll to scout the area since Lee's separation from us." Without needing to be told twice Tenten got to work while Raven stumbled to his feet, brushing dirt off of his clothes.
An eerie silence emanated between the two, past friends turned enemies reunited. The whole thing seemed too cliché for Neji's liking. Neither one spoke or moved once while Tenten was using her scroll to summon 3 birds, which scouted the surrounding area while she covered the tracks.
Upon her return she took her place at Neji's side, "Nothing out of the ordinary, our tracks are covered and our weapons are secure."
"Good, we set out in 5 minutes, do what's needed before we set out."
"Neji, what if Lee was right, what if it is an ambush or trap?"
"Well if it was then the moment we saw him we'd of already fell in it. Also while my Byakugan can't see anyone, he mentioned a second person, so we might be being watched as we speak."
"If so wouldn't it be better to have Lee here in case?"
"I'm confident in Lee's speed, as well as our abilities. Also konoha's safety comes before our own."
While Raven had stayed quiet where he was stood, he pointed his finger up to get some attention, "If you don't mind me saying. The second person I referred to isn't here. My partner is in the grass country but should be joining us soon. Also there's no ambush, no traps, Orochimaru doesn't even know I'm gone yet"
Tenten and Neji both looked in Ravens direction unsure a little in what to say so Raven spoke up again. "If I was going to spring a trap it would of gone off the moment you saw me, you were all surprised after all."
Raven took a few steps closer, holding his hands up in he air in a sign of good faith. Both Tenten and Neji drew kunai's just incase.
"No need for hostility, I'm unarmed, the only items I have on me are 3 scrolls of information and a tuning fork"
Neji quickly went through the situation at hand and quickly came up with a plan of action, "Don't step any closer. At this moment in time your still classed as an enemy of konoha. A ceasefire situation stays in affect until we receive our orders. However, if I see reason to, I will kill you" turning slightly towards Tenten while keeping his scrutinizing gaze on Raven, he sighed, "Tenten, stay by my side and prepare for any possible evasion manoeuvre. We're heading out."
"Raven, turn around and walk."
Sighing and shaking his head slightly Raven did as he was told.
"If we're going to make it in two hours like you told Lee, then we need to run a medium pace."
While Neji knew that fact well, he had planned on upping the pace to a run later; being cautious to begin with was his initial idea.
"If you're worried about traps I'll go first, deal?" Leaning over to pick up a stick Ravens hand was just a few inches away when a kunai viciously penetrated the ground where his hand was reaching for. Neji being the one to have thrown it.
"Don't, move." Neji snapped, Raven instantly recoiling back to his previous standing position.
"Look I was just going to tie it to me, to make myself a bigger target"
While Neji's instincts told him to deny and be cautious he also realised that what Raven said was true, using his byakugan he could be sure of the direction they were going so no misleading and Raven would set off any traps with something so large strapped to him. But he had to refuse. It wasn't protocol and it wasn't the academy, something so stupid could be remedied by logical shinobi thinking.
Taking a moment to think Neji turned to Tenten, "Tenten will summon 2 more birds, they will scout ahead transformed to look like us. While her previously summoned birds will continue to watch our backs and sides."
"Ok. But nothing will happen."
Giving Tenten the chance to follow his plan Neji kept close gaze on the surroundings, still nothing peculiar.
"Well then, you guys ready for the trek back?" Raven asked while looking up at the sun.
"By the way my partner I mentioned earlier, should be arriving within an hour, chances are an object will be left in the middle of the road. You can use your byakugan on it to check and then my partner will show."
Neji nodded slightly, while he didn't like having to agree to the terms he wasn't setting, in regards to a possible trade of important information and an alliance with an orochimaru rebel, he accepted. The information was too much to give up.
Nodding in return, Raven started off onto a slow paced run and then into a medium speed, allowing Neji and Tenten to match it.
For the most of 45 minutes, the journey stayed silent and Raven noticed only a few glances between Neji and Tenten.