Part Fifty-Six: When You Were Gone

"Who was that?" Arcin asked, staring at the door blankly.

Neji glanced away and took another drink of his tea. "That's not important. Now, since you've been presumed dead for two years, tell me, have you found Tara?"

"Yeah, I think so," replied Arcin, taking a bite from another of the apples. "We think Orochimaru is keeping his base in the ruins of our old village."

"How do you know?"

"We've seen Kabuto around the area," she replied. "And we have witnesses who say that they've had mysterious deaths in the area, starting about six months ago."

"So he's had Tara go out and do his killing for him?" asked Neji.

She nodded. "That's what we think, since most of the people who died were related to underground and black-markets in his…uh…industry."

"I see," replied Neji. "You should let the Hokage know about this immediately. If you know where Orochimaru is, then we can send shinobi to find Tara and Sasuke."

"I forgot about the Uchiha being in his control," said Arcin thoughtfully. "I suppose it's getting close to when he would want to change bodies again, isn't it?"

Neji nodded.

"Yassa, what do you think?" asked Arcin. "Hey, Yassa?"

Yassa looked up at her sister, obviously having been in deep thought. She smiled and nodded. "Yeah, that sounds good."

"Did you even hear what he said?"

She stood up. "Something about telling the Hokage about knowing where Orochimaru's at."

Arcin looked up at her. "Hey, Yassa, we don't have to leave yet…I mean, we can't just—"

"Tara and Mr. Uchiha are in the grasp of the most notorious villain in this area," she replied, slipping her sandals on. "We don't have time to waste."

"In that case," said Neji, standing up as well, "I would like it if Arcin would go and see the Hokage. I…have to talk with you…" he glanced at Arcin and added, "Privately."

Arcin stood up and approached Yassa, placing her hand on her sister's shoulder. "I can take care of this. You stay here."

"But—"

"Besides," she said, cutting Yassa off, "we'll be less noticeable if I go alone." She replaced her hat and wrapped the bandages around her face and slipped her sandals on. "I'll be back before nightfall." With that, she left the room, sliding the door shut behind her.

Yassa let her sandals slide off again and turned to Neji. "What did you need to talk to me about?"

He motioned at the table and said, "Sit down, it might take a while."

She nodded and sat down again. "I'm listening."

"As I'm sure you've noticed," he said slowly, "there's an extra person around here…"

"The girl from before," Yassa said with a nod.

"Yes," he replied. "About a year ago, my uncle arranged a marriage for me. There was a big commotion about it, and girls from all over the area came to our home. He finally agreed to have me marry one of the noble family's daughters from the Hidden Rain Village."

She nodded. "I understand."

"Yassa, if you had returned," he said softly, "I…would have married you instead."

She looked shocked. "W-what?"

"My uncle, though he never met you, thought you were a very…interesting person," Neji said. "He told me after you left that I was to have an arranged marriage. I asked him how long he could wait before deciding who I would marry, and he figured that I was talking about you. He gave me a year, and when you didn't come back, he decided on Umi instead."

Yassa looked truly shocked. She couldn't find any words to come to her, and so she remained silent.

"He thought that the fact you already had the Byakugan was rather unusual, but it also went very well with your skills," Neji said. "He admired your work in the Chuunin Exams. You would have been a great addition to the family."

She looked down at her hands and replied, "I'm honored that he considered me for the marriage."

"I wish you had come back," Neji said softly. "Every day Shikamaru and I waited for you to return, and every day you failed to do so."

Yassa nodded. "I understand that we have caused you, our friends, pain, but had we returned, we might have caused your deaths. We had hoped that you would move on, believing that we were truly dead."

Neji looked out one of the windows and replied, "It's hard to move on when someone you loved has disappeared."

"Would you still have wished for us to come back, knowing that you would die?" she asked.

"Yes," he replied.

She looked at him, her eyes sincere—even cold, in a way. "Then it is a good thing we didn't return until now. If we had come back, you and Shikamaru would have died."

Neji curled his hands into fists. "I already told you, it wouldn't have mattered to us."

"It would have mattered to us," she replied. "I couldn't lose you; like we lost Gaara and the twins…I couldn't let that happen."

"So you let us think we had lost the two of you?!"

"We had no choice," she replied.

"It doesn't matter!" he replied. "You always had a choice! You told Shikamaru and I that you'd return when you had news! You promised us!"

She looked at him sternly, "We have fulfilled that promise today, well haven't we?"

"That's not what I meant!"

"All we said was that we would come back when we had news," she said softly. "It has taken us a long time to collect the data, and we could not risk coming forth prematurely."

Neji stood up and prepared to make more tea.

"Neji," Yassa began slowly, "your wife, Umi, she loves you, right?"

He glanced back at her. "I think she's more in love with the power my family brings to her."

"How do you feel about her?"

He lowered the teapot onto the stove and looked out the window. "No matter how many times I try to tell myself that I do, I find more and more each day that I have no feelings for her."

Yassa didn't know whether to feel pleased, or to feel sad. She had, after all, put him into this position by not returning. "I…see…"

"I don't think you do," he replied, turning to look at her. "Yassa, you were one of the few people who understood me for me. You didn't see our family's heritage; you didn't see how well-known and powerful we were. You just saw me for me. You're the second person who hasn't cared about where we come from as much as who we are." He was, of course, talking about Naruto. "And then you left me. I went through so much crap after you were gone…I couldn't understand for a long time why I hated you so much for leaving. But, now that you're back, I find myself hating you even more than I did."

"Umi doesn't seem like a bad person," Yassa said, in way of apology. "She seems to be a good woman, and a good wife. I think—"

He turned on her and shouted, "Don't you get it?!"

She regarded him with shock.

"Don't you understand what I'm trying to say to you?!" he screamed. "I had to go two years without knowing whether or not you were alive! I had to assume the worst—that you and Arcin had died, Yassa! I loved you, and you left me alone, and now I'm married to some woman from some village who only married me for my heritage! You were the only one who never gave a crap about that, and you left me!"

She lowered her head and shut her eyes. "I know. I know I hurt you, and I know that you will never forgive me, but if I had come back, Tetsu would have killed you."

"I don't care!" he shouted. "I would rather die with you by my side than have you die somewhere out in the unknown!"

Finally Yassa stood up. She lifted her face to Neji, her brown eyes sad. "I can't take back what I did, Neji. I can't change the past. I did what I had to do, and I don't expect you to forgive me. However, sometimes we must sacrifice something we want to keep something we love safe."

She picked up her hat and continued, "I should go and make sure Arcin reached the Hokage. We will be in the village until tomorrow morning. I will come see you before we leave, if you'd like."

She began to wrap the bandages around her face, but Neji put his hand on her wrist. He looked up at her, his eyes sad. "…don't go."

"I have to," she replied. "The Hokage may not remember Arcin, and I should be there to help her. Besides, she gets easily distracted and—"

"No," he said. "Don't go after Tara."

"What?"

"She doesn't care about you," he said. "She doesn't care if you're trying to help her or not. She knows what she's doing…so please, just stay here…"

Yassa placed her hand over his and replied, "I can't. For one, Mr. Uchiha is still with Orochimaru, and Mr. Uzumaki wants nothing more right now than to save him. If he knows where to start looking, then we might be able to help him."

"Then…you're not going to go after Tara?"

"I have to," she replied. "She's my sister. We're all that's left of our family, and no matter how much she defies it, she needs us."

He relaxed and said, "Then let me go with you. I can help."

"If the Hokage wouldn't let you go before, what makes you think she'll let you go now?"

Neji just smiled, "Well, for one, this mission involves Sasuke, and for another, you don't know the Hokage like I do."

Yassa frowned but nodded. "Fine, then. Let's go and see her."

Neji followed Yassa to the door and they slipped their sandals on, Yassa wrapping her face and placing her hat back on her head. She returned the jutsu to her throat, and the two of them left the room.