Disclaimer: Naruto and Inuyasha don't belong to me.

A/N: I realize that the previous chapter was short, annoying and confusing but I hope this one will clear some things up. I will try to update again soon. Thank you very much for all your wonderful reviews.

Chapter 7

"Inuyasha! Don't hurt him!"

Kagome was sure that the hanyou was over his anger towards their new friends. She lectured him extensively on controlling his anger. She explained that Neji wasn't trying to make him angry on purpose and that Inuyasha wasn't the most polite person to begin with and that the ninjas probably couldn't help themselves but answer in kind. Kagome was sure she got through to her favorite half-demon when he settled to pout over his ramen.

She didn't realize how devious Inuyasha was becoming until he just took off, seething with lethal intent the minute her attention shifted completely away from him.

There was no doubt in her mind where he was going.

"He's going to kill Neji, isn't he?" Shippo summarized what everyone was thinking with his one question.

"No, he won't - we are going to stop him," Kagome was determined to protect her new friends. The thought of Neji actually holding his own or winning the fight with Inuyasha never even entered her mind.

As determined as Kagome was to stop the confrontation, by the time she caught up to the hanyou he was already fighting. Breathing hard, Kagome froze, an angry "sit" never leaving her lips. All she could think of before was protecting their new friends but Tenten wasn't there and Neji definitely didn't need protecting.

***

Getting tackled by a half-demon was not a pleasant feeling and Neji cursed himself for allowing it to happen at all. Activating his Byakugan Neji proceeded to throw Inuyasha violently off him while looking for Tenten at the same time. She was already out of his range of vision and Inuyasha was not done attacking him.

Well, then he had to take care of the yokai first before he could go after Tenten.

There were no chakra pathways through his body, Neji noted. Instead, what he could se was that every part of Inuyasha's body was full off pulsing energy. At this moment, he didn't care about Inuyasha or how he worked. All his thoughts were centered on Tenten.

He didn't even try to examine his earlier actions toward his ex-teammate. There will be plenty of time for that later. Right now the only thing on Neji's mind was saving her. There was something very wrong with Tenten. He knew it without a doubt. Neji felt it and with it he felt an unfamiliar emotion - fear. Fear for her safety.

"Fight me, you bastard," Inuyasha's growled demand had little effect on Neji, "I will rip you to shreds," and with that he attacked again. It didn't take any effort on Neji's part to dodge his clumsy attacks.

Neji realized that he couldn't close off his chakra pathways since Inuyasha had none but there were plenty of internal organs to damage. Killing him with a few well placed strikes would have been easy too. All he had to do was attack his heart.

"If you do not get out of my way I will kill you," Neji was in no mood to play. Delivering strikes to vital organs as he spoke jounin expected this fight to end here, as Inuyasha landed in the dirt. Neji was already turning away from the half-demon to follow Tenten when hanyou got to his feet. Neji was mildly surprised by his strength - any normal person would not have been able to shake off those injuries the way Inuyasha did.

"I will kill you first, you bastard," pulling out his giant sword Inuyasha proceeded to use the Wind Scar. Neji was once again surprised by half-demon's power while easily avoiding his slow attack, "who the fuck do you think you are?" Inuyasha was obviously not done and his fighting was getting more and more determined, "You come here. Endanger my pack and then try to walk away like nothing happened while talking shit the entire time! I will kill you first." With those words Inuyasha put everything he had into his next attacks. Neji was sure the half demon gained speed but it still was not that difficult to avoid his strikes. Every time Inuyasha came within striking range Neji would deliver several damaging attacks, but to his amazement his opponent was still standing and showing no sign of slowing down. Though his strikes hit their intended targets every time Inuyasha was stubbornly fighting through any pain and damage Neji caused him.

"Inuyasha! Neji! Stop," Kagome, after regaining her breath and her wits, was finally able to get out. She didn't dare "sit" Inuyasha. Their fighting was too vicious and they were moving so fast her eyes could not follow their movements. "Please, Inuyasha! We shouldn't be fighting!"

But her pleas fell on deaf ears. And by the time Sango, Miroku and Shippo came to stand by her side Inuyasha and Neji showed no signs of slowing down.

This delay was making Neji angry. He shouldn't be here fighting a useless fight. Tenten needed him and all he was doing was wasting precious time.

"I will kill you," Neji was done playing. Though in the next instant Inuyasha's miko friend was standing in front of him, a glowing arrow notched, ready and pointed straight at him.

"You will stop this fighting NOW! Both of you!" and before Inuyasha could think of a suitable reply Kagome continued, "I will "sit" you until you become one with the earth if you don't stop right now Inuyasha!" and when he looked like he was about to argue Kagome gave him a seething look that left no doubt as to how serious she really was.

"This is all a misunderstanding," Miroku was by Kagome's side in a heartbeat, trying to help diffuse the situation while Sango stood by Inuyasha's side, just in case he needed help, "Inuyasha, I know you hated our guest from the very begging but he has done nothing to warrant death."

"I'm sure whatever trouble followed them has nothing to do with us," Kagome said and before Inuyasha could argue she continued, " and we will help in any way we can. I know they would do the same for us. Isn't that right, Neji?"

Neji, who hadn't moved since she stepped in front of him said nothing. But he didn't voice a denial ether. He was still mesmerized by the glow of her power. She didn't have chakra paths ether - none of them did. Now that he looked closer at her he could see the source of her power, located in the center of her body, it spread and enveloped her in gentle weaves. Neji never saw anything like it.

"Keh…!" Inuyasha haven't lost many fights but now that Kagome entered this one he knew he had to admit defeat. He did not expect this ninja to be so strong nor did he expect to take any damage or having to use Tetsaiga. Inuyasha counted on a quick kill before Kagome could get here but now it was too late and the smart thing to do would be to stop fighting. What made it even worse was that other then the initial tackle Inuyasha has not landed a single strike on his opponent while his own body was in agony in more ways that he could count.

Thank Kami for yokai healing.

"I need to find Tenten" Neji saw that the half-demon wasn't a threat anymore so now he could finally concentrate on his new mission.

"What happened?" Kagome, after putting her arrow back, very satisfied with herself, asked.

"Where did she go?" Sango still refused to let go of her boomerang.

"I'm going after her," Neji was not going to waste more time answering useless questions.

"Wait, we can help," Kagome could not go back on her earlier promise of help. There was obviously something wrong here. And she could feel that if she was in need Neji and Tenten would not hesitate to help her even if they might not look thrilled about it, "Inuyasha can track her by her scent - it's a lot faster then just following her trail."

Neji showed no visible reaction to her suggestion but he didn't move to follow Tenten on his own. He was in an alien country filled with magic and full of strange creatures. It would have been stupid of him to refuse help from the natives. He would have left them in a heart beat if they didn't offer to help him on their own.

"I'm not a fucking dog to sniff out trails - especially for this bastard, " Inuyasha was far from happy at being volunteered to track Tenten down, "I'm still going to kill him. This doesn't change anything."

"Come on, Inuyasha," Kagome used her most persuasive voice, " She may be in danger," Seeing that this line of reasoning was not getting her anywhere she changed tactics, "We may ran into shards on the way. I might have sensed some in that direction earlier."

"Why didn't you say so sooner, bitch?"

"Inuyasha…."

***

She will be here soon. He could feel her moving closer with every passing minute. Soon. Very soon. He will have exactly what he wanted…

 

A/N: Ok, there was a fight between Neji and Inuyasha in this chapter and I feel like I need to clarify certain things. Yes, overall Neji is a superior fighter but Inuyasha makes up for it in his raw strength, stubbornness and his accelerated healing. This whole thing is out of character but this was what I was trying to portray. And in this story I did not want to make it clear who would win. Who knows? Maybe Inuyasha would have won eventually or Neji could have finished him off. But this will be the extent of Inuyasha/Neji fighting in this story… I think.

Review. Tell me what you think.