Does Anyone Know
By Ammie Hawk
Disclaimer: Still not mine.
AN: Okay, so here's the second chapter. I hope it clears a few things up. Anyway, enjoy, or not it's up to you.
Chapter 1
It felt like he was floating through an inky black abyss. Occasionally, he thought he could hear voices around him, but he couldn't make out what they were saying. He didn't know how long he was there, as there was no way to track the movement of time.
A sharp pain in his side caused a groan to escape his lips, as his eyes fluttered open. He barely had time to register the unremarkable white, board ceiling above him before he was leaning over and emptying the nonexistent contents of his stomach onto the floor. As he continued to dry heave, he felt someone gather his long hair away from his face and a hand begin to rub gently against his shoulders.
"Just relax, Hyuga," a soft voice said from behind him. "Let it out, and take it easy."
Once he was finished, the hands guided him back onto the mattress as the pain in his side spiked once more. When he was settled, his pale gaze drifted to the other and finally locked with dark blue that was almost black. A frown marred his features, those eyes did not quite belong in the almost recognizable face, though he wasn't sure where he had seen it before.
"Wh-where am I?" he croaked, his throat too dry to make the words more than a whisper.
"Here," the stranger held out a small glass of water, which once it passed his lips, he drank greedily.
"Take it easy, Hyuga," he continued, as the long haired brunet started to choke slightly. "As for where you are, you are in my house, along the southern border of the Land of Fire and the Land of Rivers. You were injured and managed to make it here. My husband has been tending to your wounds, but we weren't sure you were going to make it. You've been unconscious for three weeks."
"Th-three weeks?" he stuttered, reminding himself strongly of his younger cousin. "I-I have to go."
"You will remain here until my husband clears you to leave," a hand pushed him gently, but firmly, back against the mattress. "You received a nearly fatal wound, Hyuga, you are still healing and in no shape to make the journey back to Konoha."
"You don't understand," he protested, trying in vain to remove the restraining hand. "I am a Jonin of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. I was on a mission. I have been away for too long. I must return and give my findings to the Hokage."
"Your report has been returned to Konoha," the other soothed, but at the confused frown he received, he went on. "Let's just say, I have a long standing arrangement with the Hokage. If any Konoha shinobi ends up in my care for an extended period of time, I am to send their reports straight to the Hokage. I may be a retired shinobi, but my loyalties are, and always have been, to Konoha."
The Jonin nodded, that made some sense. If he were to retire as young as this man appeared to be, he would still help out his village in any way he could. And maybe that's where he recognized this man from. He probably saw him around, after all, he couldn't be more than five years older than he himself was.
"Wait," he frowned as he realized just where he'd seen this shinobi before. "You're not a retired shinobi. You're Itachi Uchiha! You're supposed to be dead."
"What is going on here?" a soft male voice sounded from the doorway.
Both men turned to look at the speaker. In the doorway stood a rather effeminate looking man, with his long black hair pulled back into a ponytail, tied at the back of his head. He was dressed in a dark green yukata, and if he hadn't spoken, Neji wouldn't have been able to determine his gender at all. In his arms, he carried a small bundle of bandages and a bowl of steaming water.
"Your patient woke up," Itachi explained.
"I can see that," the other nodded in the Hyuga's direction. "Now, you are obviously upsetting him, Itachi, so please leave."
"Of course," the former Akatsuki member held up his hands in surrender. "Now, Hyuga, I suggest you listen to everything he tells you. There is more to Haku than meets the eye."
With that the Uchiha pushed to his feet and left the room, only pausing to place a kiss on the newcomer's head. As soon as he was gone, Haku closed the door and made his way over to the bed. His brown eyes narrowed slightly as he caught sight of the mess Neji had made upon waking.
"Is your stomach still upset?" he asked, taking the recently vacated seat.
"No," the brunet shook his head. "It just hit me when I woke up."
"I see," Haku nodded. "Well, let's change your bandages, and see how your wound is healing, then I will check and see if I can figure out what happened."
The Jonin nodded, he wasn't sure why, but there was just something about this man that put him at ease. Haku set to work immediately, helping the younger male to sit up and began removing the old bandages. He gently cleaned the wound, but Neji still flinched in pain.
"My apologies," the other said quietly. "I have studied the healing arts for many years now, but I will not claim to be as proficient as what you are probably used to. I am not the legendary Sanin Tsunade, after all."
"Its fine," the brunet took a steadying breath. "It just hurts."
"Understandable," the healer nodded, applying some sort of cream, followed by a cold compress. "As I'm sure Itachi explained, you have been unconscious for three weeks. You were severely wounded, any higher and it would've punctured a lung, and any lower it would've gotten your liver. Subsequently, you lost a lot of blood. I wasn't sure if you would make it for awhile there. Though, the fact that you are awake now is a good sign."
"I see," he took it all in stride, he'd had too many close calls in his life to let it affect him too much. "Do you mind if I ask you a question?"
"Hmm?" he hummed as he began to bandage him up again.
"How did you end up with Itachi Uchiha?" he asked curiously. "You don't seem the type to associate with S-class criminals. I mean, I know he had his reasons, and was not as evil as he was portrayed, but that is not common knowledge."
"As Itachi said, there is more to me than meets the eye," Haku chuckled slightly as he helped the younger man to lay back. "As it stands, I have been associated with S-class criminals most of my life. My first… partner was Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Hidden Mist. He practically raised me, and trained me himself. After his death, at the hands of Kakashi Hatake and his genin squad…"
"Wait, you're that Haku?" lavender eyes widened in surprise, as the other began running a chakra coated hand over his chest and abdomen. "I thought you had died. Naruto speaks vey fondly of you, and he mourned for you greatly."
"Naruto was an interesting individual when I met him," a fond smile graced his features. "He was a good kid, and I've heard he's grown into a fine young man. And it is as you said, I was thought to be dead. They even buried me. I managed to crawl out of my grave, though, and I still would have died shortly thereafter if it had not been for a traveling medic who healed me. From there, I trained with her for awhile in medical ninjutsu.
"After while, Kisame Hoshigaki came to visit Zabuza's grave. He convinced me to travel with him, as he could use a well trained weapon such as myself. I left my training and followed him. That is where I met Itachi.
"We grew close over the years, Itachi and I. He was actually the one who made me realize my life was more valuable than just a human weapon. Eventually, I discovered that he was ill. I became determined to cure him, because as the years passed, I realized I had come to love him. I finally discovered a cure, but he had gone to fight his brother. I arrived shortly after their fight, and Itachi was barely alive. I managed to save his life, and cure his disease, but unfortunately, his eyes had been taken. He was determined to live his life blind, but I found a suitable replacement pair and convinced him to take them. From there, we let our subsequent deaths go unchallenged and relocated to here, where we built this house. To protect our secrets, Itachi placed a barrier around the property that only allows someone who is injured to cross."
"That is quite the tale," Neji shook his head. "And in gratitude for you hospitality and care, I promise to keep your secret safe."
"I do appreciate that, Hyuga."
"It's Neji, please," he smiled. "You have been more than kind to me, formalities are not necessary."
"As you wish, Neji," he nodded, before his expression morphed into a frown as his hand hovered over the brunet's abdomen. "This is odd."
"What is it?" Neji asked concerned.
"There is a foreign chakra signature here," Haku motioned to the other's stomach. "It's faint, which is probably why I didn't notice it before now."
"Is that bad?"
"Not bad, per se," he shook his head. "It's just odd. This phenomenon is usually only found in pregnant women, the foreign chakra belonging to the child inside them. There are a couple things I can do to confirm or deny this. And if it's not, as I'm leaning toward, as I've never heard of a male being pregnant before, it is a simple procedure to remove whatever it is."
Neji paled at his words and his hand moved instinctively to his stomach. What the other was saying was impossible, but there was a niggling doubt in the back of his mind.
"Neji, what's wrong?" brown eyes narrowed in concern. "It's nothing to worry about. I will be able to fix it. I may not be the best, but I can assure you, I am capable."
"You don't understand," the brunet took a shuddering breath. "There are rumors in the Hyuga clan, of a forbidden jutsu that allows for a male to become pregnant. But I thought they were just that, rumors."
"Relax, Neji," Haku placed a calming hand over his own. "Try not to panic. Remember, you are still injured. I will run the additional tests. Until then, we know nothing for sure. We will worry about it when we do know. In the meantime, get some rest. I will be back soon with something for you to eat."
888
Neji sat quietly on the bed he'd been provided, reading a book Haku had lent him. It had been a week since he had woken up, and according to his hosts his wound was healing nicely. Though, on the other matter, he had been told nothing.
He wasn't sure if he should be worried about this or not. On the one hand, no news was usually good news, but on the other, he hadn't seen the medic at all in the past few days. He had taken Haku's advice and decided not to worry about it until they knew something for certain.
He had been sleeping quite a bit in the past week since he had first awoken. The medic said this was normal and a good thing. At first he agreed, but lately he couldn't stop the images that plagued his subconscious. Every time he closed his eyes, he could see his former boyfriend, Shikamaru Nara, the way he had the final time he had seen him.
He had gone to one of the clearings the lazy shinobi was fond of frequenting for his cloud gazing. As he entered the clearing, he knew immediately the other was not alone, but he never expected the scene that greeted him. Shikamaru, who hadn't been lying back watching the clouds as he had expected, was instead straddling the other figure, their faces intimately close. At first, he hadn't been able to distinguish who the other was, but as he stood there in shocked disbelief, he recognized the blonde hair that had been pulled back into four distinct, spiky ponytails. He watched as the Sand kunoichi placed her hands on the raven's biceps. He had fled after that, unable to watch anymore.
He shook his head to dispel the images. It was bad enough they were disturbing his sleep, where he could not control it, he didn't need to dwell on it when he could control it.
He turned his attention back to the book in his hands, but it failed to hold it. He was spared, however, as the door opened and the recently absent medic entered the room.
"How are you feeling today, Neji?" Haku said by way of greeting.
"Sore," the Jonin answered, "and ready to be out of this bed. You have been gone the past few days. Is there something wrong?"
"Not in as such," the healer shook his head, as he set about tending to his wounds. "I had an errand to run. And I also wanted to seek a second opinion about your predicament. Do not fret," he soothed as the other tensed at these words, "I was most discreet."
"And what did you find?"
"This wound is healing nicely," Haku prodded the still tender flesh gently. "I think you should be able to get up soon, as long as you take it easy."
"Haku," pale eyes narrowed suspiciously, "what aren't you telling me?"
The medic took a deep breath, "Well, it seems there is no deterring you. There is no easy way to tell you, so I'll just lay it out. Neji, you are in fact pregnant, and unfortunately, with what I discovered from the jutsu used, I cannot terminate it without causing irreparable harm to your chakra network."
Pale eyes closed in resignation at these words. Ever since the other man had mentioned that this was even a possibility, he had feared this would be the outcome. His clan was nothing if not sadistic, especially to those of its members they deemed lesser.
"How far along?" he tried to keep calm but his voice shook slightly.
"About nine to ten weeks," Haku gently took his hand and made him look at him. "There are a few things you'll need to be careful with, but we can go over that later. The main thing is, for the duration of the pregnancy, you cannot, and I cannot stress that enough, use any chakra."
"Why?" a dark frown marred the younger's face.
"It's the same reason I cannot terminate," the healer rubbed the back of his hand soothingly. "The jutsu is redirecting your chakra to form the womb. Now, I know this is a lot to ask and take in, especially for one so young and who never asked for this, but know that you will not be alone in this. I will be right there with you every step of the way."
Ammie: So yeah, Neji's not dead... don't kill me. I'm going to say this now, this is a Neji centric fic, so Shika will not be around for awhile, but don't worry, he will show up again later. Also, I posted the other Naruto fic that has been brewing in my head, also a Neji centric fic, called Chance, if anyone is interested in checking it out. It's an arranged marriage fic, and its currently open for suggestions on the pairings. Anyway, please let me know what you think.