Pain. Blood. Gasps of agony and helplessness.
Neji Hyuga stood gasping and panting as yet another kunai struck him from behind in his very blind spot, where he could not detect it with the Byakugan. More red blood poured freely from his wound, as Neji reached behind and feebly tried to pull the kunai out, without any success.
There was no telling how he had managed to hold on for so long without dying or losing consciousness. Shikamaru, Naruto and Kiba, the rest of his team, had already gone on ahead a long time ago, as he had told them to, leaving him behind alone to take on Kidomaru. And Chouji, the last member of his team, had yet to catch up with them; there was no telling whether he was still alive, or already dead.
The pain became more and more unbearable, and Neji staggered to his knees, his vision blurring. Behind him, Kidomaru, cruel, merciless, laughed aloud, and Neji felt his strength drain completely from him.
"Too late, scum! This is the end for you! You'll never make it out of this alive! Not unless one amazing miracle should happen. And is that likely to happen, eh, scum?"
"Shut up," Neji hissed, through his heavy gasping.
"Die!"
Unable to move in time, Neji could only grunt and cry out with pain as Kidomaru's arrow pierced him all the way through his chest, until it even flew out from behind. Following through with the motion, Neji grunted again as his already injured back struck a tree behind him.
Move, Neji, move! With extreme slowness, Neji placed a hand on the ground, trying to push himself up again, his breath sounding deafeningly loud for no apparent reason.
"What, still alive?" Kidomaru mocked. "I'm amazed you can still stand!" His hand moved to his side, very slowly drawing out yet another kunai.
Memories flashed back swiftly throughout Neji's tortured mind. Watching his late father Hizashi tortured by the Hyuga clan's curse mark. Sparring with Lee only to defeat him again, mocking his own teammate, telling Lee he would never be as good as him. Fighting with Hinata during the Chunin exams, scorning her efforts, ready to kill her even as she stood half-dead from his Gentle Fist attacks. And then fighting with Naruto during the final round of the Chunin exams, telling him it was already 'fated' that Naruto would lose to him.
So this is how they felt when they fought me? Lee and Hinata? To be down all the time, and yet still get up and try, despite the pain? Even as they were mocked and scorned for always losing?
"This is the end for you, tough guy!" Kidomaru laughed, poising the kunai. "Now, die!"
The kunai flew right towards Neji.
So this is the end. Neji, with a sigh, said nothing, merely bowed his head and shut his eyes, waiting for the blow that would no doubt take his life in a flash. Forgive me, father, forgive me for not being able to live on! I know you told me to, but there are times when…
There was the sound of something flying in his general direction, followed by a metallic clang, and a terrific explosion. As Neji forced himself to open his eyes, he was just in time to see a girl leap down from the trees neatly, a girl with dark brown eyes, dark hair tied back in two buns, and a whole bunch of scrolls on her back.
"Ten Ten?" Neji managed to gasp hoarsely.
"Hold on, Neji!" she cried out, her arm already moving to her back to pull out another weapon scroll. "Don't move! I'll take care of this monster for you!"
Ahead of Neji, the smoke which had engulfed Kidomaru gradually dissipated, so that Neji was able to see better. From whatever his blurred eyes could take in, Kidomaru was already injured, a victim of Ten Ten's unexpected exploding tags.
"What the – who are you?" Kidomaru roared, wincing slightly with the pain. This attack had been too unexpected; he had had no time to put up his usual defense. "What's the meaning of this?"
"Let's just say, this isn't the end for Neji yet!" Ten Ten roared ferociously. "Get away from him, you three-eyed monster!"
"So, another useless Genin from Konoha, eh?" Kidomaru's smile was pure evil. "Gah! It's useless! Your friend dies today!"
"You think?" Ten Ten sneered, reaching out for two scrolls on her back, laying them down on the ground before performing the hand seals. "Twin Rising Dragon!"
Now's my chance! The arrow's still connected to this guy! While Ten Ten's got him distracted, I'll finish it off!
With a still-trembling hand, Neji reached out to grasp the arrow, rather feebly.
"Jyuken!" he uttered, shutting his eyes and concentrating on the last of his chakra like never before.
Slowly, his hand begun to glow with a pale blue colour, as more and more chakra concentrated in his hand. Neji smiled. Yes, this was working very well indeed, he thought, as his chakra moved further and further up Kidomaru's arrow.
"Take this!" Ten Ten was shouting now, as a whole handful of iron weapons flew out from her weapon scroll, lunging right towards Kidomaru.
"Pathetic!" Kidomaru snorted. "I'll show you…ahhhh!" As Neji's chakra finally found its target, intense pain like lightning shot right through Kidomaru, completely stunning him.
"Gotcha now!" Ten Ten roared, as her weapons found their target too.
A loud thud, and then Kidomaru was lying on the ground, facing the blue sky, eyes wide with pain and shock. Weapons were sticking all over his body; he was already bleeding profusely.
"What the – how could you?" he rasped with shock.
"You forget, I can project chakra from my hands," Neji replied, still breathing heavily. "This is the end for you now!"
"Cannot…be…" Kidomaru rasped heavily, as he finally resumed his original form. "Impossible…"
Need to finish him off now! Fighting against waves of immense pain and giddiness, Neji forced himself to his feet, half-running, half-stumbling towards Kidomaru.
"Neji, don't move!" Ten Ten's voice was a command, stern and firm. "He'll go soon enough; stop moving!"
"No. Can…move. Must finish this off… Gentle Fist!"
Kidomaru groaned aloud as Neji struck again, ferociously attacking his chakra points, forcing his own chakra into them. From behind him, Ten Ten watched, eyes wide with amazement. She had always known Neji to be extremely tough, but for him to fight when he looked more dead than alive…it was unbelievable.
Neji had already stopped attacking Kidomaru now, and was bending over him, panting heavily. Kidomaru was already dead, there was no mistaking it. His eyes were shut, his skin pale and cold, and there was no sign of him breathing.
"Ahhhh…" Letting out one long, quiet sigh, Neji let himself fall.
"Neji!" Alarmed, Ten Ten ran towards him at once, catching him just before he hit the ground. "Neji, speak to me! Are you alright?"
"Fine…" Neji mumbled faintly. "Ten Ten…is that you?"
"I'm here, Neji." Pale with panic and fear, Ten Ten gently cradled him in her arms, holding his head against her chest. "Oh my, I thought you were gone, for a moment, when that monster was about to fling the kunai at you."
"Can't…lose…"
"For goodness sake, stop talking," Ten Ten sighed, breathing out with relief. "Don't strain yourself. There are two medical ninjas nearby, so let's get you there. Can you walk?"
"Rest…first. Too tired."
"Of course." Ten Ten tightened her grip on Neji, her other hand moving softly against his hair.
Thank goodness he survived! Certainly don't like to imagine what I'd do if he died after all!
"Ten Ten?"
"Mmm?"
"Thank you…for saving me, my hero."
Ten Ten flushed at once. "Oh, don't say that kind of thing. We're best friends after all, aren't we? I was just doing what I had to do to save you. Nothing more."
"Still…you saved me. Thank you." Despite his severe pain, Neji could not help smiling slightly, as he buried his face in her chest. Being held so closely to Ten Ten…the pain was almost worth it. He might never get another chance to be that close to her again, surely.
"Neji, are you sure you're fine?" Ten Ten asked again. "Y – you're trembling. I can feel it. What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Neji muttered, flushing. There was just no way he could tell her the truth: that he was trembling because of the overly warm emotion he was feeling, just to be so close to Ten Ten.
"I hope you're telling the truth," Ten Ten sighed, "for if you're experiencing injuries worse than what I can see, I'm clearly in no position to be of any aid. I'm not the one with medic skills around here, you know."
"Don't worry, Ten Ten. I'm just feeling a little…cold. That's all."
Ten Ten's twisted lips indicated she didn't believe a thing.
"Whatever it is," she went on, "I think it would be of any aid if we just…ah! There they are! Thank goodness they had the sense to come over here!"
Knowing all was safe and well, Neji smiled a little again, and shut his eyes.
Thank you again, Ten Ten.
Finis, guys!!! Hope you like the NejiTen fluff. And yes, this is an AU, so the fight is pretty different from the original. Please review, and tell me what you think. Thank you!
Oh, by the way, I'm planning to write another oneshot sequel to this, 3 years later, centering around the fight with Kisame. Think I should write one? Or was this story too pathetic, so a sequel just isn't worth it? Please let me know in the review, thanks!