Disclaimer: I own nothing but the awesome plot, and the idea behind what has been said during the show. . . okay maybe not even that, but I can hope, right?


Kakashi and Gai took a moment to process this. Asuma, an upstanding ninja. . . . alright. Kakashi leaned against the wall of the tower. He had expected the ninja to be more. . . like Danzo, or someone else with the same disregard to their teammates. Asuma wasn't going anywhere though. They could save the who was or wasn't there for later. Kakashi caught sight of Gai's dirty jump suit. The bloody mess wasn't easy to ignore anymore. Kakashi was half afraid he'd see a tooth sticking out of the skin. Gai obviously hadn't left the hospital, or sought help within the hospital.

"Before we take care of this, would you mind doing something about your arm? It will certainly get an infection."

Gai glanced down at his arm, frowning. "I forgot about it, it's just the shirt's all dirty."

"Here," Kakashi ripped the whole sleeve off, quickly disposing of it with a Jutsu.

"It looks messy," Gai muttered, looking at his arm from each angle. The jaw prints were so clear that Gai could count each and every tooth in his student's mouth, bite marks, and long scrapes, four of which were deep enough to break skin. "Doesn't need much attention though, I'll just have to put on a new suit."

"Let's just hope he doesn't have rabies and you should be fine." No one laughed at his comment.

"You go do that, I'll see if there are anymore medical reports." Kakashi turned back to the hospital. Gai followed behind, still looking at his injury.

"Don't bother, Branch members aren't allowed to seek medical attention," Asuma tossed the butt away, and pulled out another cigarette. He waited a few seconds then ran to catch up.

"You said Ibisu was there? Last time," Kakashi brought them back to focus.

"And then what happened?"

"Yeah, Neji came in asking to see the Hokage. He looked sick, really sick, and nervous. Ibishu told the kid to head off home, it was rather late, and the judges from the exams were meeting. Remember Harate, the judge that died? that's what we were discussing. That's why I was there, wind chakra was used in the attack.

"We were waiting on Ibiki's report, when the kid caught Ibishu by surprise and came barging in. He told The Third that he'd been threatened that he'd be attacked during the match. Hiashi, when he got there, was told to ensure that didn't happen. That's when we told Neji that there was nothing we could do."

Asuma shrugged, sighing.

"And you told him that his teammates couldn't help?" Kakashi even looked furious, and all they could see was his back ahead of them.

Gai decided to give his college a sense of doubt, something out of place for him. Being sure was what kept him going, it kept him young. Kakashi stopped walking and let them catch up to him. He raised the eyebrow they could see, waiting for an answer.

"Yes. Every clan has laws that enable them to follow their inheritance, the Hyuuga have a law that their branch members can be punished as any main branch member sees fit. It isn't right. . . "

"And Neji just believed you?" Gai hissed angrily. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, it didn't sound like Neji to just give up like that. He was a fighter to the very depths of his youthful soul.

"No, the topic of his father was briefly mentioned, no ninja could step in there to save him either. I do believe even you were there that time. We gave him a few examples."

Asuma was trying not to feel threatened. Something hard to do when neither of the men in front of him had reason not to judge him. And they were judging him, he could tell just by the way they were looking at him they were running his entire history behind their eyes. They were searching maticulously for little tidbits of information. Everything they knew about him, his habits, his morals, his actions, his words. . . all lay ready for scrutiny.

"You know what's worse than breaking the law?" Kakashi didn't have to finish, they all knew what he's going to say. "And I wasn't there when Hiashi pulled that one."

"I know, but now we have time to fix it. We'll remind the other ninja that teammates come first," Asuma told Kakashi.

"This doesn't happen again," Gai adds.

"You were there too, not for the first bit. . . but for the match."

"We'll take care of it," Asuma adds, holding the hospital door open.

"Back so soon?" The secretary raises an eyebrow, "We just knocked the patient out, you'll have to come back tomorrow when the healing has run it's course."

"No, I'm afraid we need to see some medical files, and he needs his arm seen to."

"Lady Tsunade already informed us to get you what you need. I was certain you wouldn't be here until at least tomorrow. . . " She typed away on her computer. "Someone will be right out."

A mednin showed up to drag Gai away, tsking over his arm the entire time. Asuma nearly laughed at the scene he raised if they weren't so serious now maybe he would have. Another mednin came to take them to the medical history of reports.

The room was poorly lit, with book shelves upon bookshelves of files.

"The files are kept in order of date. Specifically date of birth or first registry. Black tags mark deceased patients. Red mark heart attack, white mark stroke, green is for allergies. . . white files are ninja, red files are John and Jane Doe."

"July 3rd," Asuma sighed, "It's not here!"

"Try December 27th a few years later," Kakashi muttered, reading a white file.

"Got it," Asuma pulled the file out. He let out a low whistle, "If you're done reading some poor girl's physical exam, you might want to read this."

Kakashi snapped the file closed, "What?"

"He had a bad allergic reaction to the curse mark. A really bad one."

"Hmm, last year two John Does came in with stroke symptoms. Barely survived. One was a healer."

Asuma rolled his eyes, "I'm sure no one noticed her."

Kakashi was quiet as he read the other file.

"Who was the other?" Asuma asked, pulling another white marked red file down.

"A teenager with a bad allergic reaction," Kakashi handed the file over.

"Here's another, a few weeks after the exams. How'd we miss that one?"

"One from an ANBU, dropped while reporting in. I think I remember something about this."

"You should, he was supposed to get that mission to the fire temple before you. Tragically, he is still incapacitated, can't think or use his entire left side."

"Is it the same guy?"

"Same date, and it is clearly marked here, ANBU." Asuma showed him the file.

"12 year old strokes out after academy exams. Same year Neji graduated." Kakashi flips to the next file.

"9 year old kid falls down the stairs, it's marked white. Same year Neji would have been," Asuma take a second to glance at the injuries, "They seem to only come when things get life threatening."

"I found a 6 year old, nearly drowned outside the academy. 8 years ago, and lived. He has a note for the nurses to avoid all spicy foods."

"Another kid here. Not him, the kid's too old. He's fifteen and he had a stroke."

"Might not even be a ninja!" Asuma exclaimed.

"Wouldn't matter if he were the paper boy. Either way, the kid's blind now."

"We have what we need, any more and there wouldn't be a reason to keep the clan," Asuma grunted, opening and closing his cigarette package.


Hey, thanks for reading and don't be afraid to leave a piece of your mind behind. . .in a review lol.