Tearing through the trees at break-neck speed with the wind roaring in his ears, he nearly missed it. Nearly.
A muffled cry rang through the forest: a voice so terribly familiar that it made Neji's blood freeze in his veins. Hovering in mid-spring on a low branch, he snapped his head back towards the sound. His eyes widened a fraction. How- It wasn't possible.
It only took him another instant to make up his mind.
Neji dropped to the ground and out of the steady stream of Allied Shinobi whizzing past him, sprinting across the forest floor back the way he had come. Fallen leaves were startled into a coiling tail behind his feet.
"Byakugan!"
At the snarled command, the veins about his pale eyes crackled to life.
Over his head, his division continued to fly through the foliage, oblivious to the Hyuga's sudden break of formation.
He heard another cry, followed by the ear-grating screech of steel-on-steel. He ground his teeth and doubled his pace.
Neji burst into a clearing: he had found her, her chakra signature disturbingly weak, barely managing to fend off an opponent with a single kunai gripped in her pale fist.
"Hinata-sama!"
His cousin's watery eyes met his for a heart-stopping instant.
"N-Neji nii-san!"
She squeaked as her opponent suddenly lunged forward, seizing the opportunity of the momentary distraction and landing a blow. Hinata staggered backwards, her now useless arm swinging sickeningly by her side. The kunoichi clutched at the wound as her knees buckled beneath her.
"Nii-san," she cried, scrambling across the leaves away from her enemy. "H-help me, please!"
Neji was already charging into the clearing towards his cousin's attacker, eyes blazing with murderous intent.
Hinata's opponent whirled to face him, her bright brown eyes widening. Neji jerked to a stop. He froze, drawing a sharp breath.
"Tenten?"
Her jaw tightened. She raised her hands in a placating gesture.
"Neji, wait, let me explain-"
"Tenten, what are you-"
"Nii-san! Don't! T-that's not Tenten-san! It's a c-copy!"
Neji's eyes flew between his crippled cousin and his kunoichi team mate. He took half a step backwards. Tenten's shoulders visibly tensed as the Hyuga heiress continued.
"S-she tricked me into thinking that she was t-the real Tenten-san, a-and then attacked me! Please trust me, nii-san!"
Neji twitched into the Gentle Fist stance.
"No, Neji, stop!" yelped Tenten, lurching out of the path of a chakra-infused strike. "She-it's not me, it's her!" Neji hesitated. "I'm the real me, I'm Tenten," she pressed desperately. "You know me!"
Neji 's brow creased, and his eyes roved over her face.
"Don't listen to her!" wailed Hintata.
"Your division doesn't place you anywhere near here, Tenten," said the shinobi dangerously. Tenten blanched. "Why are you here?"
She opened her mouth to answer.
"B-because she's not Tenten-san, Neji-nii-san! Don't listen to her!"
Neji's stomach lurched as something in "Tenten"'s expression hardened. She rushed towards him, a kunai raised- Neji disarmed the fake easily, snatching the kunai from her grip, allowing her to collide with his chest as he buried the blade into her back.
Silence.
The false Tenten sagged in his grip, and Neji took the opportunity to press his mouth to her ear.
"You will not touch Hinata-sama again," he hissed. The fake gave a strangled gasp as he twisted the blade deeper, slowly, emphasizing each syllable. Neji's fist tightened against the smooth handle, noting with savage pleasure the slick, hot blood of the enemy that oozed through his fingers. "And if you have hurt Tenten in any way, I will-"
Anger flared in his chest as the body slumped against him shook with wheezy laughter.
"Gotcha…" rasped the false Tenten.
A loud crunch behind him caused Neji to start, a sound which he had become accustomed to: the sound of a body hitting the forest floor.
He tilted his head in alarm, wondering what new foe he-
Neji's heart stopped.
There, spread amongst the leaves, lay a corpse, a single shuriken star lodged neatly between wide, unseeing eyes. Unseeing eyes that were slowly fading from a pearlescent Hyuga grey to a sickly shade of yellow.
A single kunai was gripped loosely between its chalky fingers.
Neji hadn't seen the Zetsu clone move to throw it: it was lying right in his blind spot.
Tenten's arm brushed against his torso as she lowered it, her fingertips still curled from the release of the star. The small movement, and the shaky sigh that accompanied it, brought Neji crashing back down to earth.
Zetsu clones didn't bleed.
Tenten did.
"…after that, I found out that Hinata was still travelling with your company," she was mumbling into his shoulder. Neji was having a difficult time focusing on anything but the liquid life flowing over his hands. "So it didn't make sense that you would have let her out of your sight, I know you're funny like that-" she gasped as Neji suddenly jerked the kunai free, urgently pressing his hands against the wound in an attempt to staunch the flow of blood. "-so I tailed her. Sure enough, when they made camp for the night the clone showed his true colours and started attacking the rest of the party."
His breathing now came in shallow bursts, much like Tenten's; his heart lodged itself in his throat while his stomach twisted itself into painful knots. Neji stared unseeingly over her shoulder as, together, they slowly sank to their knees. "I had to blow my cover then, since he was causing some serious damage…" As her voice grew fainter Neji pulled her tighter into his chest, as if to squeeze the words out of her. "…but he got away. The others went on ahead to issue your division with a warning, and I followed the clone again. I found him here, but I was nearly out of chakra, it was such a long way… And then you came." Her shoulders shook, and it took Neji a moment to realise that she was laughing. "I have to say, I was a bit surprised. But, I knew…"
Tenten's voice was very faint now: Neji was straining to hear her against the collar of his vest, and so carefully, gingerly, he tipped her head back slightly. It was hard, because she was limp and his fingers wouldn't stop shaking. His team mate wasn't looking at him, but instead at the treetops. The corners of her lips were stained red, and when she sighed a thin, dark line dribbled down her chin.
"…I knew that I couldn't get to the clone while you were there and he looked like Hinata," said Tenten softly, almost a little sadly. "And as it turned out, I guess the clone didn't feel like waiting while I came up with a plan."
At last she lowered her eyes. And when she smiled at him Neji felt his entire chest collapse in on itself. It was excruciating.
"At least you're alright though," she murmured hazily. The kunoichi hummed contentedly, suppressing a gurgling cough.
"Tenten," croaked Neji. His voice was small and tight and higher than usual, so he swallowed. "Ten-"
Tenten's breath caught in her throat.
"Tenten!"
Her features slackened.
"Wait-"
Her lips were still curved in the ghost of a smile.
"T-"
Her eyes, trained on his, slowly lost their focus.