The rain fell mercilessly upon the shinobi in thick icy sheets. The wind whipped just as hard. It didn't help that it was going against the shinobi, pushing them back and delaying them; holding them up. Even the Hyuuga's Byakugan was slightly hindered by this. After all, what good was enhanced sight if one's eyes could barely be kept open to see? Neji scoffed to himself and put his hand to his eyes, shielding them, and stopped for a moment. Beside him, Lee and Tenten ceased their movements as well, waiting for some sort of report from him. Quickly Neji activated his Byakugan and turned his head from side to side, investigating questionable objects and creatures.
"There's nothing keeping us from moving forward at this point except this weather," he growled, keeping his hand in front of his face, tasting a mouthful of rain and wind as he spoke. He turned to Tenten and she nodded, her arm hiding her face, the white sleeve that covered it blowing in the wind. Some strands of her hair had escaped from the usually neat buns on top of her head and one of her eyes was clenched shut, the other as close to it as possible without actually being so. Neji's eyes swiveled to Lee, his Chuunin jacket over his green jumpsuit whipping back. His eyes were open and Neji suspected that his thick eyebrows made this possible. His teeth were clenched and an arm was up, a fist clenched, in front of his face.
"How close are we?" he shouted above the rain and wind. Neji looked forward. He scowled.
"I can't see it," he yelled back. "We must be a very far ways away from it. I can't see anything much that might hint at any sort of residency. Just forest!" Lee growled slightly out of frustration, and Tenten swore. They had been at it for two days now. Their destination was Kirigakure, and unfortunately, the storm they had been trying to avoid had caught up to them and now they were stuck in the middle of it. They should have arrived after two days, but the storm had greatly slowed their progress and didn't show any signs of letting up. Neji was debating about whether or not to stop, but there was no place he could find even with the Byakugan that would provide sufficient shelter for the three of them. With that in mind, he had begrudgingly kept moving, with them right at his heels.
"Neji, I can't take this anymore!" Tenten shouted from somewhere beside him. "Please, let's just stop! We can all handle this better if we just move as far out of the storm's way as possible!" Neji stopped and considered this. It made sense. But at the same time it didn't. On top of his team members' safety, Neji, as the leader of this mission, was charged with the successful completion of it, and already one half day had been wasted. This was a simple surveillance mission but they needed all the time they could get. It was against Neji's priorities to shirk on missions, after all. His humane instincts told him to get the hell out of that storm and find somewhere safer, but his shinobi instincts ordered him otherwise. And those were the instincts that always won out.
"We'll continue for a while longer, Tenten!" Neji shouted firmly. "When we can't see one foot in front of us, we'll stop!" Tenten grumbled angrily to herself and rolled her eyes, aware that Neji's Byakugan allowed him to see her doing this. Neji sighed, annoyed. This was not going well at all.
And it was made worse by the fact that the Hyuuga did not recognize that they were being pursued until the enemy shinobi actually attacked. And that made him angry.
"Tenten! Lee!" he cried. "On your guard! We're being attacked!" Lee and Tenten were immediately at ready position. But they were at a disadvantage. Their opponents were missing Mist nins. They could use the rain and wind, while Neji, Lee and Tenten were handicapped by it. That wouldn't stop them, though. They were, after all two Chuunin and a Jounin. Not easy to beat.
They sprang into action. Neji soon discovered that their opponents were only two missing shinobi. Simple to overcome, the only problem being the weather. Neji took on the one his Byakugan informed him to be the strongest while Lee and Tenten fought the other. Their whereabouts, though far from being lost to him, were not taken into consideration as Neji fought his enemy. Maybe that was why he ended up in a very bad situation.
The Mist ninja, though outnumbered, were exceeding Neji's expectations. He pushed back a slight feeling of panic as the enemy nin evaded yet another of his blows. He countered quickly, but the Hyuuga blocked it deftly. He was forced to jump up and backwards, though, as an attack he did not see came at him from what seemed like nowhere. Neji didn't realize exactly where he was landing and thus didn't know that it was right in the midst of Lee and Tenten's fight with the other shinobi. At least he didn't know until he became subject to an attack meant for Lee.
"Neji, what are you doing!?" Tenten shrieked. Neji ignored her and whirled to face the offending ninja. He effortlessly stopped the attack and then watched as his eyes saw the centripetal force of the unfamiliar chakra move away swiftly. He followed it with his eyes and informed Lee and Tenten of its whereabouts. His teammates didn't hesitate. They were after the ninja in moments, careful, though to maintain knowledge of Neji's location and condition.
The Hyuuga, thereafter, returned to his fight with the other shinobi. But he wasn't doing very well. On the contrary, he was doing worse than before. And that was unusual. He suffered blow after blow, but they felt slightly distant. As though he were a third party witnessing the display and not actually there. And it was then that he realized…Genjutsu!
As quick as he could, Neji performed a series of seals and felt the spell upon him lift, and he wondered how much of the fight had been an illusion. His head whipped around, seeking out his companions, finding that they were still fighting. He himself was on the ground, rain mingling with sweat, his hair stained with the brown mud. He pushed himself up and moved to the fight. He inwardly sighed, understanding that he might have to use his Jyuuken abilities. Perhaps the Hakke Rokujuyon Sho, if the battle prolonged further. He had hoped, though to save his chakra as best he could.
Deftly, silently, as was a shinobi's skill, Neji slipped behind one of the Mist nin. His Byakugan was still activated and he sought out the chakra points that would cripple him the most were they dealt damage. Finding them quickly, he attacked, driving his palm into the man's back and releasing a large amount of his own chakra into the other, damaging the flow slightly. He heard the man choke and saw him stumble. Swiftly, the Hyuuga moved around to the man's side and dealt another blow. This one, fatal. The man tried to breath in, stopped, spluttered and fell to the ground. His comrade, angered, attacked Neji. The Hyuuga was ready though, and now he fought alongside Lee and Tenten. The nin was clearly no match for the three of them; two Chuunin and a Jounin; but he didn't stop his angry attacks.
Shouting furiously and driven by animosity and anger, despite the fact that emotions were never to be shown by shinobi, the missing Mist shinobi attacked mercilessly, suffering blow after blow.
Finally, when he saw that victory was never going to be achieved, the man turned to his final resort; his trump card; his ace in the hole. He made a series of signs and released the one thing that could never really be prevented. Kekke Genkai. That was one thing none of the Leaf nin expected. A missing nin with a kekke genkai? They had never heard of any such thing, with the exception of Uchiha Sasuke and Uchiha Itachi. Neji didn't know how to react and it cost him dearly.
He felt his slip on reality slacken and his mind went slowly blank. He heard Tenten's furious shouts at him to get a hold of himself. He heard a sound and heard Lee shout at him in panicked and angered confusion. He couldn't stop himself, though. He had no control over anything anymore. And he felt everything around him going dark. He heard his teammates shout. He heard Rock L—
Rock who? Who was the one shouting at him? There was someone else, as well. Someone whose name he remembered began with a 'T,' but he couldn't remember anything else about them. Maybe they were female. Their voice was incredibly high and feminine.
What was going on? Who was he fighting? Why was he fighting? Hell was he even fighting? He couldn't remember. His mind went slowly dark and his ears popped. His eyes—well he didn't know what his eyes were doing. He couldn't keep track of his body anymore. He only watched from the side for a few more moments, before he lost track of everything and blacked out…
Somewhere around him, he heard a sound. A chirp. A soft cooing in his ear. He felt something tickle his cheek. He felt something blow across his face. His eyes were closed and he couldn't open them. What was going on?
Neji finally managed to separate his eye lids so he could see. A soft blurry green world came into focus. His body began functioning again and he realized that something was sitting on him. He slowly and painfully moved his head slightly to the side. A bird; a small red bird sat on his shoulder, preening itself. Neji's breath hitched in his throat as he watched the bird. He didn't know why but he couldn't seem to take his eyes off the beautiful serene creature. It seemed to demand his attention.
He tried to smile and he flinched. It hurt. Why did it hurt? What had he done to make it hurt? Slowly, Neji pushed himself up, the pain that came from doing so half drowned by the confusion that welled up within him. The bird, its calm tranquility now disturbed, flew away. Neji didn't notice. He thought back. He thought hard. Then he thought harder. Then he thought hardest. He only remembered…nothing. He remembered nothing. His mind was blank. He tried looking back but didn't see anything in his mind's eye. Wha—Why? He thought confusedly. His eyes widened and he quickly but clumsily stood.
His eyes, still wide, darted this way and that as he looked frantically around, trying to find one trace of anything familiar. He could find nothing. Nothing in the small rose bushes that were scattered here and there. Nothing in the trees, ever silent and watchful. Nothing in the rain drops and dew clinging to grass and leaves. Nothing in anything, no matter how hard he looked.
"Damn, why can't I remember!?"
Lee and Tenten were distraught. They were beside themselves. What had that Mist bastard done to Neji!? One moment he was on his knees, and the next he was manipulating Neji; forcing the Jounin to attack them! How the hell had that happened!?
And now, Neji was run off, and they had no idea where he was, or even if he was alive!
"Lee, we've got to do something!" Tenten said, voice raised and higher than normal. Lee was looking around frantically, all vigor and enthusiasm lost, to be replaced with worry and anxiety. He knew she was right. He knew they had to do something. Neji's life could be at stake. The mission was already lost.
Lee's eyes widened and he froze, struck with inspiration.
"Tenten!" he said urgently. She whipped around to face him, eyes wide with anticipation and impatience.
"What?" she said, her tone just as urgent. Lee looked hard at her.
"You go back to Konoha and alert the Hokage of this…incident," he said. "I will continue on the mission. It is, after all a simple surveillance mission and one shinobi is enough to complete it." Tenten looked at him, thinking the possibility over. Finally, it seemed, she decided that there was no other logical course of action, and agreed.
Swiftly as she could, the kunoichi turned and hurried off, as fast as she could go. Lee watched her for a moment, until he no longer felt her chakra presence before turning on his heel and speeding off towards Kirigakure as fast as he could, which just happened to be faster than anyone in Konoha.
Neji…you'd better be alright.
Neji wandered aimlessly about the forest, unsure of anything. Unsure of himself, his existence and the existence around him. It was just confusing.
Neji stopped as he entered a different part of the forest, this part, somewhat more eerie than the rest of the forest.
But it was unfamiliar, so Neji didn't hesitate to stray into the rather frightening section of the woods. He wasn't perturbed by such things. He couldn't remember a time when he had been afraid, so why should now be any different? That, the Hyuuga told himself, was reason enough to continue into the strange area. So he did. He walked on, indifferent to the frightening air about him, unknowing and not experiencing the fear that would've been building up in any other human being. Slowly, the trees thickened and the underbrush became darker, hidden from the sun as Neji walked onward.
After a while, the Hyuuga discovered something that made him believe that his efforts had not been in vain.
It was a house. A house of some sort. An incredibly traditional house that was built into the ground, it seemed. A stairway of pure white stone led down to the entrance to this house. The tiles covering the roof looked as though they were once a proud blue, but had chipped over time. The walls were stained with something that looked slightly suspicious to Neji, though he didn't know why until he approached it and realized that it was the same coppery red as dried blood. There was no door, only an entrance that led to a dark cavern that Neji seemed drawn to. It intrigued him. And repelled him. Something deep within him told him; screamed at him to get the hell away from there. But the other curious side of him struck down that voice and urged him to venture into the strange house; mansion, rather.
So he did. And what he found was interesting, to say the least. He expected a place as upper crust to have some form of security. But there was nothing. Nothing and no one. At least that he could see. Perhaps there was someone hiding from sight and then perhaps there were booby traps set up and hidden.
He stopped as he reached a questionable marking on the ground. A crack of sorts. His brow creased as he looked at it. Then, something in his mind went off and one word flashed through his head. Diversion.
His body twisted without a thought as to why and in a moment it became clear. A group of knives were flying at him, mostly likely triggered from some sort of string he'd tripped. Neji blinked, jumping out of the way of the onslaught. How had he known the secret behind the trap? How had he even known it was a trap? The Hyuuga thought confusedly, moving swiftly onward, avoiding more traps in ways he hadn't known himself to be capable of. He finally reached an unusual door and halted. It looked old and foreboding and his voice of warning was telling him to get the hell out of there while he still could, but something else told him to keep moving forward.
He continued forward, having no idea what was compelling him. The door opened under the pressure applied by his hand and he stepped cautiously inside the room beyond. He choked upon entering. His eyes were met with a horribly gruesome sight. The sight of death exploited. There were containers, liquid filled containers that held what looked like preserved human beings with some deformity or other. Some were branded with questionable marks and others had limbs replaced with those of animals, or sported unusual characteristics. Neji's eyes were frozen open and he couldn't take them away from the revolting sight before and around him.
"Well, well, it looks like a little bird has strayed from the nest," a voice somewhere behind him hissed. Neji whipped around and flinched visibly. Standing there, a ways away from the Hyuuga, but still too close in the brunette's opinion, was a man. An inhuman-like man. The pale white skin that stretched over his face looked young and tainted, but heavy, as though it held some secret that would either intrigue or frighten Neji, he wasn't sure which. His eyes were narrow and piercing. The yellow pupils bored into Neji and the Hyuuga felt strangely vulnerable. The long smooth and oily hair that fell about the man's face and shoulders made Neji think of a rose; beautiful to look at, but something one could never get close to, for fear that they would get pricked by its thorns. The man stood tall and intimidating, the smirk on his face unusually snakelike. From what he had seen, Neji couldn't say he liked this man very much, but first impressions, he knew somehow, were not always correct.
Politely, Neji bowed at the waist, as was traditional, he knew, when in the presence of one's elders, and thus, superiors. He straightened and spoke formally.
"Konnichiwa," he said, surprised at the smooth sound of his own voice. It sounded and felt to him as though he had never truly spoken before this moment. The man looked at him, an amused surprised expression crossing his features. His thin brow rose and his smirk twisted and grew. He looked at the Hyuuga, understanding immediately what Neji did not. He took a small slithering step towards the brunette and lifted his arms, as though marveling at Neji's appearance.
"Oh, thank kami, you've returned!" he exclaimed, his voice changing to one of a questionable relief. Neji still heard the slight hiss in the man's voice, but didn't dwell on it. Did he know this man? He tilted his head slightly to the side quizzically and looked skeptically at the man.
"I…know you?" he asked, confused. The man nodded and took another gliding step towards him, arms still outstretched.
"You ran away from me as a child," he said, sorrow cleverly laced in with the relief. "I was so distraught when you left. I thought I would never see you again." He stopped and looked at Neji, his eyes narrowing and mesmerizing. The Hyuuga's own looked on in confusion. His brow creased and his face went blank as he tried to remember anything of this. But, once again, his mind was blank. He looked to the man.
"But I…don't remember you," he said, still hesitant. The man was now right in front of Neji, looking down at him. His oily smile was the fixation of the Hyuuga's attention. He reached out and placed his hands on the Hyuuga's shoulders. Neji's first instinct was to flinch away, but he resisted the urge. He was trying to decide if the touch was familiar. Through the hands of the strange man before him he felt…something. Something he couldn't name. Something he couldn't remember. He looked into the eyes of the man before him and saw…something. Something he couldn't name. Something he couldn't remember. He opened his mouth to speak and his voice sounded slightly distant.
"Who...are you?" the Hyuuga asked. The man's smile widened, and Neji never thought for a moment that it was a smirk. He couldn't distinguish the difference between a smile and a smirk. He just cautiously returned the gesture as the man spoke.
"My name is Orochimaru," he said, his voice a small whisper. He bent over and leaned in close to Neji, his mouth right by the Hyuuga's ear. Neji tensed but fought hard to relax as this 'Orochimaru' continued speaking.
"And you trusted me and loved me more than anyone," he said slowly, his breath brushing over Neji's sensitive skin. The Hyuuga's eyes widened when he felt something warm and wet ghost over his ear. Orochimaru pulled away and smiled at Neji and the Hyuuga looked back at him, confused.
"I-I did?" he stuttered quietly. Orochimaru nodded, pulling Neji into his embrace and breathed into him, "I missed you, my Kami."
Almost there… Tenten thought urgently as she sped towards Konoha. Damn! Where the hell did he go, that neither Lee nor I could find him!? Her eyes narrowed as she remembered the entire incident.
Flashback:
Tenten watched as Neji froze, hand pulled back, prepared to deliver the final blow. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion and then widened in panic as he turned and started towards her instead.
"Neji, what the hell are you doing!?" she cried. Neji couldn't seem to hear her. He continued advancing. He attacked. Tenten evaded. Neji attacked again. This time it was a very near miss. Tenten gasped.
"Lee!" she yelled. "Help me!" Lee whirled around to face Neji and jumped between the Hyuuga and Tenten, throwing a weak punch at Neji, not meant to hurt, only to delay. Neji avoided it easily and continued his attack. Lee was getting slightly distressed. As good as he was, he was not able to beat Neji. Only hold his own against him for a while.
"Tenten! Kill him!" he screamed, gesticulating wildly at the fallen Mist nin. Tenten whipped around to face him. The shinobi's eyes widened and Neji turned to stop Tenten, leaving Lee. The ebon haired shinobi took advantage of Neji's; or rather the Mist shinobi's mistake. He charged at full speed; well, with the weights on of course, which was still pretty damn fast. Too fast for Neji or the shinobi to react. Lee ran at the nin and whipped out a kunai, pulling it up close to his chest. He lunged out at the panicking ninja, extending the arm that held the knife. The blade ran through the shinobi's chest, and Lee's arm followed due to the momentum. Neji stopped attacking and stumbled. Tenten backed off, still wary. Lee turned to look cautiously at the Hyuuga, eyes narrowed, hand protruding from the enemy nin's back.
"Neji?" he said carefully. The brunette Jounin whipped around to face him and stood long enough for Lee to see the insane glimmer in his eyes. Then, without another word, Neji performed a series of complicated seals and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Lee shouted and withdrew his bloodstained hand, dropping the kunai. Tenten had her eyes closed, trying to seek out the Hyuuga's chakra, but finding nothing. Her eyes snapped open and she turned to Lee.
"What the hell happened!?" she cried, dumbfounded. "What kind of jutsu was that!?" Lee shrugged, still looking around desperately for Neji. He was shocked and angered that he didn't have one shred of an idea where the Hyuuga was. That was simply degrading as a shinobi. He was also unsure of Neji's condition, which made him even more ashamed of himself. For all he knew, Neji could be bleeding to death somewhere. That one spark in the brunette's eyes had scared Lee and the fact that it didn't go away scared him even more. What had that Mist nin done to him?
Oh, kami, Neji. Tenten thought. You'd better not be dead.
End flashback:
Tenten's brow creased as she neared Konoha. Her mind was working feverishly, trying to come up with reasons for his sudden and alarming disappearance. But she was no Shikamaru. She couldn't come up with strategies on a whim. And certainly not in a pinch.
Speaking of Shikamaru, Tenten wondered for the first time since Neji's disappearance how she would tell the Nara. The two geniuses had, after all, been living together for nigh on one year now. And she knew that the Nara couldn't be kept in the dark forever. Especially because she knew he would figure it out on his own anyway. And, besides that, she didn't know if Neji would come back of his own accord, if Lee would find him, or if they would need a search party. Tenten grimaced as she considered the latter possibility. As much as she hated it that seemed the most viable option. Neji hadn't been himself in any way when he had vanished. And if the way he had been acting prior was any indication the Hyuuga could be wandering the forest, maybe even another nation with absolutely no idea where he was, why he was there, or even who he was! That, very obviously, would be awful. Who knew just what kind of trouble he could get himself into if that were the case?
Eyes widening in urgency, the kunoichi sped up and hurried towards Konoha.
Okay, this plot is plot bunny #441 from cheysuli.envy.nu, also known as yaoi bunny farm. It's a cool sight, u avid yaoi fangirls should go there.
Anyway, how's the fic so far? Good? Bad? Alright? Total failure? Review please and tell me if I should finish it.
;D