Neji is having problems with Minoru (an OC, btw). Tenten is suspicious of Neji who is having trouble sleeping. Enter Gaara, Kankuro, Iruka, and Shinobu (another OC). Only the third part of this chapter is in the Land of Snow.

Enjoy.

Chapter 1

Five years later…

Neji woke up feeling groggy and annoyed. His head pounded slightly, causing him to raise his hand to his forehead, groaning softly. The dreams that had been haunting him for the past week were starting to affect his sleep schedule in a less than pleasing way.

Glancing over at his alarm clock, he saw that it read four thirty a.m. His room was dark, indicating that the sky was still as well.

Sitting up, he groaned again. Added to the loud pounding in his head, the wounds from his last mission were still hurting a bit. Swinging his legs over the side his bed, Neji stood and padded to the bathroom. He grabbed the small bottle of cream that Tsunade had given him and opened the lid, smearing some onto his hand. Setting the bottle aside, he applied the cream to his various cuts.

Most of the bruises had already healed, though a few still remained a ghastly yellow color. Several small gashed covered his arms and shoulders. The largest one, about six inches in length, was situated just below his collarbone. He sneered slightly as he looked at the giant tear. The bastard had tried to cut his stomach open, but Neji, being the genius that everyone knew he was, had managed to duck out of the way and defeat his opponent with a strong blow to the neck. He knew that the wound would heal into an ugly scar that would mar his otherwise beautiful body, but, instead of worrying about it, Neji had decided to wear it like a badge of honor. It was a scar well earned, he believed.

"You really do like that scar, don't you?" his reflection asked him as it lifted one hand to run a finger over its own identical scar.

"I'm proud to have it," Neji spat. "Do you really need to talk, Minoru (1)? You're ruining my morning."

"We both know that's a lie, Neji," his reflection, Minoru, laughed.

"Shut up, you annoying bastard," Neji cursed.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

"Better go answer that," Minoru said, leaning forward in the mirror to glance in the direction of the door.

"You'd better not make an appearance while that person's here," Neji spat.

"How can I?" Minoru asked, smiling. "You don't have any mirrors anywhere else in the house."

Wiping his hands of the remaining cream, Neji trudged through the small living room and kitchen to the front door.

Following his promotion to Chunnin, his uncle had allowed Neji to move into one of the smaller homes that lined the edge of the Hyuuga compound. Perhaps it was his uncle attempting to make amends for what he had done, or perhaps it was just a way to get Neji away from him. Either way, the young Hyuuga didn't care. He enjoyed having his own space to spread out in, to use as he wished. When he was younger, he'd always felt trapped in the giant house that the Branch members lived in. Now, he could come and go as he pleased with no consequences. He finally had some freedom.

Pulling the door open, Neji sighed and asked, "What the hell? It's four thirty a.m."

Tenten just smiled at him as she stepped inside.

"Why should it matter what time it is? You're obviously awake," she laughed.

"Shut up," Neji hissed, closing the front door.

"Having trouble sleeping?" Tenten asked as she watched her friend practically slither into a chair at the kitchen table.

"Yeah," Neji muttered.

Walking over to the stove, Tenten picked up the kettle that sat there and filled it with water. She turned on one of the stoves burners and left the kettle to heat, taking the chair across from Neji. Narrowing her eyes a little, she studied her close friend carefully.

His hair, usually so smooth and perfect, was wild and even knotted in a few places. A slight sheen covered the skin around his scars from the ointment he's applied less than a minute earlier. His cotton pants hung loose over his muscled, but sleek legs and rode low on his thin hips. A few lines that she'd never noticed before were situated under his pale eyes.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why are you having trouble sleeping?" Tenten asked.

"Oh," Neji murmured, blushing slightly.

Tenten giggled a little and leaned forward, curious.

"Come on," she urged.

"I have dreams," Neji confessed. "I don't know if I should call them nightmares or not."

"What are they about?" the kunoichi asked.

He could feel rough hands move over his waist, softly rubbing the cloth of his shirt as the arms snaked their way to his back. Taking a small step forward, Neji let himself be pulled into the warm embrace, wrapping his own arms around the lithe body in front of him. The man's hands moved up and down his back in a comforting way. Closing his eyes, Neji sunk happily into the tight hug. Everything, every pain, every ache was forgotten.

One of the hands traveled down to his ass, where it rested calmly. Almost purring, Neji moved in even closer so his hips were flush against those of the other man. He felt the other man groan softly, the sound ringing in his chest and vibrating into Neji's ear. Slowly, the other man started to knead his ass, trying to pull the smaller Hyuuga closer as his leg slid between Neji's, grinding softly. Opening his eyes, Neji turned his gaze to look up at the taller man, their mouths only centimeters away. A tongue licked at Neji's lips and he opened them willingly, letting the tongue slip into his mouth as they kissed. The other man's thigh ground harder and faster against Neji and he moaned softly. The hand on his ass pulled him closer so that he was almost riding up the muscled leg. Before he closed his eyes again, the last thing he saw was a flash of red hair.

"Neji?" Tenten asked.

"Nothing. They were about nothing," the Hyuuga sighed.

The kettle started to scream and he calmly stood up. Walking over to the stove, he turned it off and took out two mugs, carefully pouring the hot water into them before dropping a tea bag into each one. He handed one to Tenten and sipped from the other one himself. She eyed him cautiously as she picked up the string attached to the tea bag, raising and lowering it in the water slowly to let the taste seep into it faster.

"I don't even remember what they were about," he added as he looked down into the cup of tea. Minoru was smiling up at him from the water.

Two hours later, the sun was just starting to rise over the trees, throwing soft light onto the village. Gaara sat on the balcony of the apartment the Hokage had let him and his brother stay in while they were visiting. After Shukaku had been ripped from his body, he still had been an insomniac. Now that he'd been returned following the destruction of Akatsuki, it continued.

Sighing, Gaara lowered his feet back into a bucket of water that lay at his feet. Although he'd grown up in a village much sunnier and hotter than Kohona, he had a hard time dealing with the excessive humidity of its summers. Cold water was one of the few things that was able to cool him down as using a fan just seemed to freeze the sweat that covered his skin.

"Little brother," Kankuro whined from inside the apartment.

Gaara glanced over his shoulder to see his older brother standing in the doorway. He wore only a pair of boxers, which were soaked in sweat. Even his face was bare. Ever since they'd arrived in the humid country, Kankuro had refused to put his makeup on for fear of it running everywhere. Gaara rolled his eyes at his brother.

"What?" he asked calmly.

"Do we have to meet with the Hokage this morning?" he whined.

"Yes," Gaara said. "We have to. She's going to go over the list of new missing-nin with us."

"Can't we just give her the list and be rid of this wretched humidity? I don't know how Temari stands it," the puppeteer muttered.

"She puts up with it because she has to. Shikamaru would never leave Kohona and she knows it," Gaara replied. "And no, we can't just give her the list. We have to brief the Chuunin and Jounin too."

"Why?"

"Because we have too many for us to just give names. They have to be able to identify them on sight."

Kankuro gave his brother a sideways glance.

"Are you sure that it has nothing to do with a specific Jounin that you particularly like?" Kankuro asked.

"I'm positive," Gaara replied coldly.

"Why not just ask him out?" Kankuro asked, leaning against the doorframe.

"You know why."

"Because he's a Hyuuga?" Kankuro laughed. "Sure, Neji has a lot of pride, but, if he does turn you down, well, at least you tried. Even better, there's a lot of men to choose from."

"Should you really be the one saying that? You've been crushing on Kiba for years and haven't bothered to ask him," Gaara replied playfully.

Kankuro blushed and spat back, "That is a different matter."

Both brothers turned to look at the horizon as the sun continued its steady climb.

"It's going to be a hot day," Gaara murmured.

"Shinobu (2)! Shinobu!" Iruka called.

He was dressed in a pair of black pants and a skin-tight black wife beater, his bare feet making barely any sound on the grassy forest floor. His hair was much longer than when he'd left Kohona six years earlier, but it was still tied back in its signature ponytail. A bag was swung over one shoulder.

"Over here, Papa!" a child shouted, his voice somewhat faint.

Turning to the right, Iruka quickly jogged through the forest. His muscular body moved with ease, leaping over giant rocks without any problem. He felt tempted to go onto all fours as he usually did when going in search of his mischievous five-year-old son, but he held back. Now was not the time to change forms.

"Papa!" Shinobu shouted as his father came into the small clearing where he was sitting.

Various animals, deer mostly, were standing around him, grazing on grass. A huge buck raised his head as Iruka came closer, but quickly lowered it back down.

"It's time to go," Iruka said.

"Okay," Shinobu said softly.

He stood up and brushed some dirt off of the back of his dark pants before bounding over to his father. Kneeling down, Iruka let his son hop onto his back. The giant buck slowly walked over to the pair and eyed Iruka. Smiling, Iruka held out a hand to the buck, who sniffed it.

"Thanks for all the help. You've guarded Shinobu like he was your own," Iruka murmured to the buck.

Shaking its head somewhat, the buck licked Iruka's hand and, then, Shinobu's.

"Bye, Shika-san (3)," Shinobu said as the buck started to graze again.

"Are you ready?" Iruka asked.

"Will I get to meet Chichi (4)?" the small five-year-old asked as Iruka left the clearing.

"Yes, you will," Iruka replied, smiling sadly.

Shinobu wrapped his arms around his father's neck, squeezing a little.

"It's okay, Papa. He's probably waiting for us," the child said.

Iruka petted his son's hair and gave him a warm smile.

"I'm sure he is."

Breaking into a steady jog, Iruka moved as quickly and efficiently as a wolf. Shinobu, not at all bothered by the speed at which they were going, chattered away to his silent father about everything and anything. At times, he was commenting on the landscape that they passed. At others, he talked to the birds in the trees around them. Every now and then, the young boy would ask Iruka how long it would take them to reach his home village. Iruka would just smile and give the same answer: a week, if not two.

By noon, the boy had been rocked to sleep by the steady pace of his father's running. Iruka knew that he would have to stop soon, but he wanted to reach the nearest road first. He could feel the seal on his abdomen starting to creak and weaken.

'It's almost the end of the month,' Iruka sighed to himself. 'I'm going to have to reseal the incision before the first layer breaks.'

They had reached the road within minutes and Iruka slowed to a walk. His breath was coming in hard, but only because the seal was starting to bother him more and more. Hearing a loud clacking sound, he turned to see a horse and cart cantering towards him. He waved and the cart slowed to a stop.

"Do you need a ride?" the farmer who sat in the cart asked.

"If you are offering, yes," Iruka said, smiling.

"Hop in back. He looks exhausted," the farmer replied.

Quickly, Iruka did just that and settled onto one of the hay bales that filled most of the cart. Shinobu stirred slightly in his sleep as his father slowly and carefully removed his son from his back. Laying him in his lap, Iruka started to preen his son's hair with his fingers.

Shinobu had a thin, but pretty face. His cheekbones were high and sharp, his jaw set strongly. He had Iruka's darkened skin and chocolate brown eyes, but, somehow, he had startling white hair, a trait that had most assuredly not come from his dark-eyed, dark-haired papa. It was a trait from his chichi, something that Shinobu was more than proud of.

"How old is he?" the farmer asked as he glanced back at the father and son.

"Five," Iruka replied, brushing a strand of white hair of Shinobu's face.

"I have a daughter of a similar age," the farmer said. "She's quite the handful."

"As is he," Iruka laughed.

"Where's his mother?"

Iruka was quiet for a moment, thinking of how to answer. Ever since Shinobu's birth, the only human contact that he'd had was with occasional hunters that had come into his territory looking for deer and a crazy hermit that had taken up residence nearby for a while.

"Gone, huh?" the farmer asked.

Iruka nodded as he ran a finger over Shinobu's cheek.

"At least he has you. That's something."

Not far off, a wolf's call could be heard. Iruka and the farmer both turned to look at the giant beast that stood at the edge of the forest. It was calm and composed, just staring at them as they rode by. Iruka could feel the farmer's fear, but he just smiled as the wolf turned away and went back into the woods.

"Bye bye, Ookami-san (5)," Shinobu murmured before curling into a tighter ball in his papa's lap.

(1) 'Minoru' means truth.

(2) 'Shinobu' means endurance

(3) 'Shika' means deer

(4) 'Chichi' is the Japanese term for ones own father that is used in informal situations, such as when one is with their family.

(5) 'Ookami' means wolf

Preview for next chapter: the meeting with Tsunade, introduction of Kakashi.