Chapter 4

Sasuke was sitting on a chair in an unfamiliar room. He was looking at Neji, who was being healed by Tsunade. Kiba and him had raced through the forest, to this city, had found Tsunade relatively easily and then had asked her (Sasuke had more like commanded her) if she could heal Neji. She had checked him and then started. Sasuke found himself unable to leave Neji's side though. And that made him wonder. Why was he so worried and why did that worry feel so unfamiliar? And why about Neji? Neji didn't know him, there was nothing to gain and Neji wasn't exactly the nicest guy in the world. Or maybe that was exactly the reason Sasuke had taken a liking in Neji. Neji really did feel like a friend. And that was probably why Neji being near death worried him. He still didn't understand though, what that other feeling inside him was, when he looked at Neji now. Apart from guilt and worry, he shouldn't be feeling anything else. But there was another feeling. He couldn't place it though. Sasuke was then brought out of his thoughts, when a moan was heard from Neji. He stood up from his chair and looked at Neji.

"Is he ok?" He asked.

"Chill out Sasuke, he just moaned." Kiba said, as he too was watching the operation. He knew Tsunade was so concentrated that she wouldn't reply to Sasuke's questions. She would only speak if Neji would be awake and there was some information she needed of him. Kiba furrowed his brows though as another moan came from Neji and Neji slowly opened his eyes.

"Is he ok?" Sasuke asked once again as he looked at Neji. Tsunade frowned a little, as she was still busy getting the poison out of Neji. He shouldn't be awake right now.

Neji now looked at Tsunade as he swallowed.

"..W-what hng... is happening?" He then asked.

"Lay still." Tsunade said. "I'm healing you."

"I asked a question." Sasuke said, starting to get annoyed.

"Sasuke just shut up and let her concentrate." Kiba now said, now getting annoyed by Sasuke.

"Well I want to know." Sasuke told Kiba.

"How are you feeling Neji?" Tsunade asked.

Neji looked at the woman now and was silent for some time, before replying.

"Not g-good.." He then said.

"I can imagine. I'm almost done, after that you will start to feel better soon." Tsunade said, getting more of the poison out of Neji' stomach.

Neji closed his eyes as he tried to breath normally through his nose, but he found out his breath was fast and uncontrolled. It was probably because of the pain he was feeling. God.. what had happened to make him feel this way?

"Next time you take berries from someone, make sure they're not poisoned." Tsunade said as she worked the last bit of poison out of Neji's body.

"...T-they were poisonous?" Neji asked weakly, frowning a little. He hadn't tasted anything suspicious on those berries.

"Yes they were. The might taste sweet, but that's exactly what nature tried to do. Sweet things aren't supposed to be poisonous but they are." Tsunade answered and once she was done, she checked Neji's fever. "It seems to be coming down."

"I g-guess." Neji muttered.

"Thanks a lot Tsunade." Kiba said, nodding gratefully to the friend of his mother.

"You're welcome. I'll leave the three of you alone to talk and come check up in half an hour." Tsunade said and got up.
"Do you want me to leave too?" Kiba asked Sasuke now, while he was looking at Neji's besweated face.

"Why would I want you to leave too?" Sasuke asked Kiba, looking at him as if he was crazy. What was Kiba thinking?

"..Don't you want to be alone with Neji?" Kiba asked now with a frown, talking softly so Neji couldn't hear it.

"Why would I want to be alone with Neji?" Sasuke asked back, also keeping his voice down slightly.

Kiba just frowned at Sasuke now and then shrugged, as he sat down. He thought there was some kind of deeper bond between the two of them but apparently, he had been wrong.

Sasuke looked at Kiba for a while, before he pulled a chair next to Neji's bed and looked at him.

"Are you starting to feel better?" He asked.

Neji looked at Sasuke and then nodded slightly. He was spend though. He was so tired he couldn't even move his legs.

"Well w-we did learn something of those berries hm." Neji softly said.

"Yeah, we did." Sasuke said. "We learned a lot about berries in general. They can be poisonous."

Neji looked into Sasuke's eyes now, wondering why there was no smile on his face this time. He decided to let it rest for now, but later on he would ask about Sasuke's strange behaviour.

"..I'm thirsty." He then said.

"That doesn't surprise me, lots of water was removed from your body during the healing." Kiba said, laughing.

"Don't make jokes, get some water." Sasuke hissed at Kiba. He frowned slightly as he looked at Neji. He wasn't sure what to say or do.

"Jeez, chill, you have arms and legs to do that too you know." Kiba said, frowning, but walked away to get water anyway.

"..D-did you bring me h-here?" Neji now asked to Sasuke.

"Kiba did most of the work." Sasuke answered. "His mother figured out you were poisoned and she send us to Tsunade."

"..How come y-you didn't fall ill?" Neji then asked Sasuke.

"I didn't eat them." Sasuke answered.

"...You didn't check if they were p-poisonous or not?" Neji asked, frowning slightly. Didn't Sasuke care what happened to him or something?

"I ate one, but it didn't do anything to me." Sasuke said shrugging. "I figured they were fine."

"Right.." Neji muttered. He didn't know why, but it bothered him. Neji always made sure to look at the texture of the berries, the colour and form. He had been so ill that he just took the berries, thinking Sasuke had checked them, and had blindly trusted Sasuke. Something he wouldn't do anymore in the future from now on. It had almost cost him his life.

Sasuke frowned a little now at Neji's response.

"... What are you thinking?" He asked.

"It's n-nothing." Neji said, as he raised his stiff hand towards his forehead and wiped some sweat away.

Sasuke grabbed a cold rag Tsunade had left and put it on Neji's forehead.

"You were thinking something." He said.

"So?" Neji asked now, giving Sasuke a frown. "Am I s-supposed to share all my t-thoughts with.. hn.. y-you?"

"No.." Sasuke said. "I was just wondering." He muttered something after that and looked away.

Neji looked away as well and stared at the ceiling. Just at that moment Kiba walked into the room, carrying some water with him, and walked over to Neji.

"I got your water." He then said. "Can you help him sit, Sasuke?"

Sasuke sighed and then helped Neji sit up, holding him by the arms. It was the least he could do. He felt confused about a lot of things, but it seemed like his fault that Neji was sick now.

Kiba supported Neji's head and then brought the glass to Neji's lips, helping Neji drink it. You could see the obvious disliking in Neji's eyes, obviously about his current position and condition, but he greedily drank the water out of the glass.

Once Neji was done drinking, Sasuke laid him back down and then without saying anything, he left the room. He needed to think. Badly. And for one of those unexplainable reasons, he had to do it somewhere else, on his own.

About a week later, Sasuke was waiting outside of Tsunade's house. Neji was now finally completely healthy again so Sasuke and him had decided they would move further. Tsunade's house was not in a city or village, so there was nothing to build up there. Kiba had gone home the day before, having promised his mother he would be back soon again. So Sasuke was standing beside the door on his own, waiting for Neji.

At that moment the door opened and Neji came walking out, but without a word or even a look, he walked past Sasuke and just walked away, into the direction Kiba had pointed them to go to earlier.

Sasuke was taken aback a little, both by Neji appearing and by him just walking off. He quickly followed, frowning deeply.

"Hey, wait up." He said.

Neji just kept on walking as he was carrying his own stuff, and then suddenly looked at Sasuke, with a hard look on his face.

"I think we should go on by ourselves from here on." He then said.

Sasuke looked at Neji confused now.

"Why?" He asked. Why was Neji looking at him like that?

"Because we obviously don't have the same intensions of travelling together." Neji said. "I don't know what you're thinking and why, but I don't like it. I want you to continue on your own now and leave me alone."

".. I don't get it. Since when am I thinking things?" Sasuke asked, not realizing how stupid it sounded. "And I don't know what your intentions are by travelling together, but mine are not getting eaten or attacked or not being able to sleep because there is no one else to take guard."

"What do you want to do, having my 'ghost' watch you at night?" Neji snapped to Sasuke.

"..What?" Sasuke asked, completely confused now, but trying not to look like he was. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh please." Neji said, actually displaying emotion by rolling his eyes now. "Don't tell me you were truly so stupid to not check those berries. I don't know why, but you obviously wanted to kill me."

Sasuke was silent as he stared at Neji in disbelief now. He then spoke again.

"I did not want to kill you and I told that I tried one of those berries and nothing happened." He said.

"I was too ill to think clear but when I started thinking about it a few days ago, I realised that the berries I ate were one of the most dangerous you can eat." Neji snapped. "You would at least have a very bad stomach ache right now, even if you tried one single berry. So I don't know why you're telling those lies, but I don't like it one bit. I blindly trusted you, but this shows me I shouldn't have."

"But I did try one." Sasuke snapped. "How the hell am I supposed to know why it didn't do anything to me? I am not telling you any lies." It pissed him off that Neji thought of him as some kind of killer, but it also gave him another feeling. And frustrating enough, he couldn't place it.

"Just shut your mouth and leave me alone." Neji said. "I don't feel like having you around anymore."

"Well I am not going to leave." Sasuke snapped. "I didn't lie to you, I tried the fucking berry even though I hate them apparently and now you're calling me a murderer? I travelled all over the place to get you better, if I had wanted you dead, I would have left you the second you fainted so that wolves or bears or whatever creatures there are in a forest would eat you."

"Like I said, I don't know what you're thinking." Neji snapped back to Sasuke. He then gave him a push. "Stop following me. I'm going further on my own and that's final." He glared at Sasuke one more time and then walked off.

Sasuke wasn't gonna let Neji go that easily though. He wanted to stick with Neji for God knows what reason, but he was gonna make it happen.

"I am not leaving, I am not trying to kill you and I want to travel with you." He said, still a little snappy.

Neji stopped walking now and looked at Sasuke.

"Sasuke, I want you to leave." He then said. "And you'd better leave. I no longer want you around and like I said before, you'd better not mess with me."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Neji now. Now 'that' pissed him off for real.

"Shut the fuck up." He hissed. How dare Neji assume he was stronger.

"What, you don't like me telling you that I no longer want you around?" Neji asked, pulling his eyebrows up. "Well it's reality Sasuke. I don't want you around, and that's final." He then walked away from Sasuke once more.

But Sasuke grabbed Neji by the arm and turned him around roughly. He glared at Neji.

"I don't like you assuming you are stronger than me." He snapped. "I don't like you calling me a liar or a murderer and if you think you can survive in the forest on your own, be my guest. I am going to follow you though, because these past days we spend out in the forest together, 'I' was the one who wasn't sleeping and making sure 'you' were gonna stay alive. So I think you owe me an apology."

"You didn't 'want' me to guard us." Neji snapped back, glaring back at Sasuke. "Why on earth do you want to follow me now? And let go of me."

"No." Sasuke snapped. "And I will follow you, because you will find out that you won't be able to do this alone and all I am trying to do is help you and you just throw it away. And no, I didn't want you to guard us, because I found out I barely need sleep and you do."

"Then why do you even bring up the point?" Neji snapped back, now tugging on his arm. "I'm warning you Sasuke, if you don't watch your words, I will make your body unable to move for at least a day so I can get away and we won't see each other ever again."

"I don't want you to call me a liar and I don't know why you got that idea. I want to travel together until we find a place to live and I want to know why in heavensname you got the idea I was trying to kill you. I tried the stupid berry, it didn't do anything and I gave them to you. I didn't know they were poisonous." Sasuke snapped at Neji, still holding onto his arm.

Neji glared at Sasuke now and within just a second, Sasuke's whole body started stiffening up slowly, while Neji snatched his arm loose.

"This is the last time we see each other Sasuke." He then snapped. "Get used to it."

Sasuke looked at Neji now as his whole body started tingling and then it went numb and he dropped to the floor. He couldn't believe this. Neji had actually used his powers on him. After all he had done for that brat he was shoved aside like some kind of criminal. He felt himself getting angrier by the second as he saw Neji leaving. He was laying there for quite a long time, and the anger built up more and more. Until it went dark.