A/n: Thank you to those who took their time to read, review, follow or favour this story. I'm off my school holidays now, so I won't be updating as quickly :( though I still will be on - trust me, I am always on

Warning: There will be a bit of swearing in some chaps and gory violence if you have an insane imagination – there might be slight OOC with characters, I try not to get them too OOC so don't expect Neji to walk away in a tutu (That's what Naruto SD is for)… hehe… the images

There might be errors, trust me: most of them are unintentional

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto but I own this plot– that is all

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Living Dead of the Night

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Chapter 2~Enter Mistress of Weapons

A partner. Neji sighed with annoyance when he recollected Itachi's words. He had respect for the man, but sometimes the Akatsuki were going overboard with the whole partnership thing. The Hyuga had only been partnered once, and that was with his hunting trainer Sarutobi Asuma. Asuma lived to train the hunters, but one day he was sent on a solo mission, only to have Shikamaru find his limp body on the cold roads. Neji later on was informed that he would be working solo from now on.

He didn't expect to be given a partner after so long. No details of his future partner was given, expect she liked weapons and that she was a she. Neji didn't expect a girl to be his partner, usually they would cry out over a broken nail. This girl probably won't even last a week with that sort of attitude.

It's for Hinata-sama. The Hyuga would constantly remind himself as he folded his arms back and laid his head on his hands. If he had to be put up with a girly, slobbery fan girl then so be it. He couldn't disagree with the Akatsuki on anything until Hinata was safe.

Neji doesn't remember much about his younger cousin, except for her shy lavender orbs, short indigo hair and the little blush on her round face every time she met someone new. She probably has grown up to be a beautiful young woman, once he saves her from the demons then they would go live far away from the demon mess and probably settle down. One part of him never wanted to leave the hunting business, it made him feel alive and secretly it thrilled him whenever he would stake a vampire or slice open a demon's throat.

The peaceful moment of Neji's was suddenly interrupted by the phone call that he had been dreading over twenty-four hours suddenly rang, and Neji sat up on his bed to answer the phone with a plain, "What?" He grumbled, getting a quick change of clothes so he could be at least presentable to his new partner.

"That stick's still hanging up your ass?" Hidan wondered dryly, coughing back a chuckle as if he had known that Neji would glower at the small device. "Anyways, new chick's downtown – I wanted to test her out so I sent her to go kill something – some possessive demon."

"Did you not know that she's inexperienced?" Neji hissed through the phone, he could already imagine the worst possibilities. Though she wasn't the first to fallen for the classic trick of 'testing before use' even Neji had fallen for the trick, mostly because of his pride. Realisation dawned on him as he thoughts things over. This girl probably had pride.

"Ah… who gives a fuck, you get to hunt solo again and I get a sacrifice to Jashin-sama. It's a win, win if you ask me." The phone went dead as Hidan hung up and Neji resisted the powerful urge to slam his phone on the wall.

However it didn't matter now, Neji had to go rescue some damsel in distress. He rolled his eyes at the thoughts and collected his necessary weapons before jumping out of his window. His routine had become a nightly thing; Neji wakes up, gets his call from Hidan, gets ready for his hunt, and jumps out of his window and over rooftops he goes. It doesn't change often.

He relied on his enhanced vision from it to find any other unnatural creatures of the night. As oppose to a normal human being, the demon hybrids have superior senses, their speed is faster, their strength can sometimes be monstrous and there would be very few cases when the hybrid had unique abilities. Neji knew that most of the Akatsuki were part demon, and he has met only a few other than them but he doesn't officially know any hybrids. The very idea of knowing something part demon secretly sickened him; even being a part demon was revolting to Neji.

His hearing picked up on a howl of the night, signalling the direction of the demon. He pulled out his revolver and checked if he had any empty barrels. Demons were sometimes weaker against certain guns, which was why he used only certain guns at a time. As a possessive demon, they mostly take the form of spirits and can't be seen by the naked human eye but if they really want to chase someone down then they would possess another human body to enjoy the hunt.

A gunshot escaped the air, and it wasn't Neji's gun. He stopped leaping from the rooftops and waited for another shot, in which it did. The gunshot was louder than the last time he had heard it, it meant that he was closer before. Neji's eyes picked up on a figure pointing a gun directly towards the other figure, who was still standing and walking towards her like a zombie. He jumped down to the ground, feet splashing on the puddles upon contact.

Both of the figures took a look at the newcomer, deciding whether or not he was the ally. Soon enough, the unarmed figure roared unnaturally at him, it sounded almost like a warning to his eyes. Two bullet wounds had covered its chest, with blood faintly trailing down its chest and soaking up the man's clothing. Well he was as good as dead once the demon would leave his body. With a cold look in his eyes, Neji lifted his gun and shot the demon in between its bright glowing eyes, making the man scream out in pain before he fell to the ground.

The final figure still had her gun, staring suspiciously at Neji. Her chocolate hair tied up into two equal buns with bangs parting at the edge of her face with severe chestnut eyes observing Neji's movements silently, wearing a black slim singlet and tights, Neji could assume that this girl could be some sort of dark, gothic girl. She had looked familiar to Neji, but he couldn't properly recall where he had seen her before.

Unlike most girls, this girl didn't hold any fear in her eyes as she slowly removed her gun. Neji hid his surprise well as he too, pulled his gun away from firing. She turned around and dropped to her knees, to gently hold onto another body that Neji didn't see sooner. If he didn't know any better, Neji would have to assume that this girl wasn't alone before she got caught up by the demon.

"Welcome to life." The Hyuga stated bluntly, as the brunette looked up at him with a glare. "If you choose the life of a Hunter then you lose everything else. You were fated to suffer, and your friends were destined to be possessed by that demon." He muttered, keeping his gaze away from the girl.

"So Hidan was right when he said that my partner is a prick that's got a pole hanging from his ass." She responded harshly, making Neji return a glare back at her. This girl was nothing like the girl he imagined earlier, she was feisty, and it appeared that she had put up a fight with the demon. "I had that fiend too."

"Oh really?" Neji raised an eyebrow and approached the girl, his silvery eyes narrowed into slits as he watched her. "Would a skilled hunter fight a demon with a Nambu? And I was informed that you were a mistress in weaponry." He turned his back on her to observe the dead body that laid in front of him.

The girl glowered, standing back onto her feet with a glower. "I am! But I had to give up all my weapons for 'updates' as that blasted club said it!" Her eyes flared furiously as Neji turned slowly back to her, unamused with her attitude. "Listen up Jackass – I've lost three friends this week, two are dead and one is missing. I don't even want to work with you, but if it saves Naruto then I would gladly be stuck with you." She spat, crouching back to the body with grief. "He's the only one left…"

Neji didn't want to show his surprise that the girl in front of him wanted to save someone. He looked over to her with a furrowed brow and watched her as she tightened her grasp on the man. "Come on." His voice sounded unusually quiet but the girl looked up anyways. "Well bury the bodies."

She glared, but stood up as she approached the body that Neji was near and grabbed his arms. "I still don't want to work with someone like you." Neji didn't reply when they lifted the body together and took it out to an abandoned yard. For the Hyuga, it was common for him to bury bodies, but recently he didn't have to bury bodies because he had been able to kill the monster before it harmed the humans then again, considering that he had fought a possessive demon, there always had to be a sacrifice.

The duo silently placed the body in the yard, and Neji grabbed the single shovel to dig out both graves. He spared a glance at the woman every so often, she looked like she wanted to cry but her face appeared blank as she stared at the two fresh graves. Neji considered himself lucky, to have lost his family at a young age - he wasn't as attached as this woman was to her companions. It was true that he had love for his father, but if he were in her shoes and lost his father recently then he wouldn't have been exactly sane.

"I apologise for your loss." He muttered quietly after burying the two bodies, making the girl look at him strangely. "These people must mean a lot to you… and it could've taken a lot of you to be able to fire your weapon at them."

Something shiny trailed on one side of the woman's face, but she shook her head dismissively as she rubbed her face. "It was, but Gai and Lee did nothing wrong, they drove a few people crazy but they were good people." She stated softly, resting her gun on her belt.

"All those humans you were friends with, you should lose all attachment to. Monster hunting is a dangerous life, and having any attachments would just get your friends killed." Neji explained as he clapped the dirt off his hands and shoved them back in his pockets, deciding to walk back his home. He felt exhausted, women were too tiring to deal with - he wondered how Shikamaru could deal with two in his life.

"Wait!" The Hyuga paused, and slight turned to face the girl. Her chestnut orbs were focused on the ground, as she sheepishly tried to talk to him. "I'm Tenten - if I'm going to be your partner, I might as well know your name." She flicked her gazed towards Neji, almost as if she really wanted to work with him and to get stronger. He could read the sense of respect from the girl, as Itachi had told him the day before, she needed to train and get stronger.

"Hyuga." Neji replied coldly, as his ivory eyes leered at her. "Hyuga Neji."

Tenten relaxed, her eyebrows drew back as she slightly smiled back at Neji. "Thanks… For helping me with the bodies I suppose." She whispered, holding her elbow rather nervously.

He faced his back towards her with no emotion. "Hn. It was nothing special, it's my job to deal with the bodies." The Hyuga commented dryly as he walked out of the yard. "Hidan will call you when you have a mission." His eyes didn't spare a glance at his new partner as he spoke. "But until then, meet me at the café at noon for your first training lesson."

"Which one? Because there's probably eight cafés in this city."

"You would know which one." Neji retorted with a hint of cockiness. If she was to insult him then act like he was the bad guy then she's got another thing coming. He could call this part, her first training task - to get use to lack of sleep and find him in the right café. "If you don't know, it's one where people come in."

"Thanks for the clarification you jerk!" Tenten hissed, attempting to burn holes through his flesh. "I was being friendly with you and offering to be nice because I'm a human being!"

"Glad that one of us are." The Hyuga mumbled in a low voice, raising his eyebrow when Tenten gave him a look of annoyance. "Just considered this a part of your training. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to make a call."

Just as Neji leaped onto the roof of a building, he heard a loud, "You arrogant Jackass!" From his female partner. He leaped through the air, and briefly glanced over his shoulder, considering his new situation.

"Tenten." The name easily rolled off his tongue in a soft voice. She was a human girl, who apparently knew in weapons. It wasn't uncommon for a human to take up the job as a hunter, but so many human hunters ended up dead because of their lack of skills. Hopefully this girl was different; she was different in personality wise. A fierce and proud girl, who was nearly capable of hiding her emotions, Neji knew that she would gradually learn to mask her emotions in the years to come. It didn't take him long to learn it, because he was still a child when he learned. Then it hit him: she was the same girl he saw putting up the poster for the missing person. Whoever she was looking for, they must mean a lot for her to join the Akatsuki.

His thoughts were interrupted by the phone that he had been expecting ever since the hunt succeeded. He picked up the phone, and narrowed his eyes at Hidan's sudden voice.

"That chick still alive?" It sounded more like a demand question to Nei's ears. A silent groan escaped his lips, but it seemed that Hidan didn't hear it judging by the lack of response.

"Obviously, but two humans were killed during the hunt , one was before I arrived and the second was killed by me when the demon possessed him." Neji responded, landing on the final rooftop before entering the apartment. He placed his gun on the table, and took a seat by his chair as Hidan yelled out in excitement about two human sacrifices .

"Finally! Jashin-sama approves! That panda chick is tougher than she looks if she survived her first hunt. Jashin-sama might've liked her, but if she can fight then she can stay."

The Hyuga rolled his eyes as he placed the phone on the table and made the mobile on speaker. Sometimes it was just too much holding the phone to his ear so he could hear Hidan shout through the device. "Is that all?" A sudden beep declared that Hidan hung up, making Neji curse under his breath and glare at the phone. "Yeah sure - nice chat prick." He muttered, leaning back on the chair and stared at the ceiling. Neji sighed loudly to himself, it was a long night for him and the nights were about to get longer.

A/n: Now we introduce Tenten :D - I made her fiery! and I feel really, really, really, really bad that I killed off Lee and Gai. I love them to bits but, it was the only thing that seemed to fit in the story *Rocks in emo corner*

Please review and let me know what you think

Ciao, ciao!