Title; Following (09/01, old.)
Rated; G
Summary; Understanding filters from one genius--through another.


Sasuke sets the pace, and Neji follows.

Gai knows that Neji is not a follower. He has never followed, not in all the time that Gai has known him--not in training, not in learning, not in fighting. It has been almost six years that Gai has known Neji now, and for all those years and months and weeks and days...Gai does not understand him.

Gai understands Uchiha Sasuke.

Through Sasuke, Gai tries to understand Neji. He watches the Uchiha's pace, the splash, splash, splash of his feet through the mud and dirty water of a long-trampled path. He sees the determination in the boy's eyes, black and dark and deep as he stares straight ahead. Straight through the underbrush, straight through the trees--all the way through, past Konoha. Gai knows that Neji sees more. He has to, because Sasuke is his mission. Neji can not, and does not let him out of his sight. Because Neji is perfect. The mission reports say so, and Gai understands the mission reports.

Yet he does not understand how Neji has such perfect records without a hint of emotion, or give, or tell...or why he goes where Sasuke goes.

He understands the coil of Sasuke's muscles under skin covered in dirt and water, frozen from rain and should-be exhaustion. He can see the sharp lines of a face drawn almost perfectly from a woman Gai had once known, smooth and careful, pristine through all the years of bitterness. He understands Sasuke's face, and through it, tries to understand Neji's. Tries to understand why those white eyes do not waver, those muscles do not stop, those lips do not open in breath or speech. Tries to understand how that perfection is accomplished when there is no spirit behind those blank, cold eyes. Tells himself that it is because Sasuke's eyes do not waver, muscles do not stop, lips do not move. Tells himself that it it is because Sasuke sets the pace, and Sasuke is also perfect.

But he does not know why Neji goes where Sasuke goes.

The circle they follow around the city is dirty and old, and Gai can understand that. He can understand that Sasuke runs around Konoha because he can run nowhere else. He tries to understand Neji following, tells himself that it is because he too had a passion born of bitterness and hate--passion that no one understands, and thus is perfect in that lack of understanding. But Gai can try and understand it. He understands it through Sasuke, who is still driven by hate, muscles clenching, face hard--driven.

But he sees Neji, and knows just of Neji's bitterness and perfection and cold efficiency, knows that it can be understood because of this Uchiha and his similar crafting--yes. Because no one is that perfect and empty and closed. Gai understands this, knows it for a fact. But not why Neji goes where Sasuke goes.

Neji can not let Sasuke out of his sight. Not because he has never failed, not because his mission reports detail "perfection." It is not some clan standard nor arrogance inherent in both the boys that run through the rain and run and run and can't stop...

But because the rain is driving, and Sasuke will not stop.

And Neji goes where Sasuke goes.