sooo i felt like being nice since it's x-mas and posting this lmao...i got me a new stereo for x-mas...my old one i've had for about 8 years and it doesn't play burned cds and only 1 cd drawer works on it lmao...and i got an external hard drive so i can finally back up all my files on my comp XD lol
dis: me don't own kishimoto's plot bunny that spawned the widely luvd anime/manga/games called naruto Y-Y
Neji looked through the bars of the "house". There weren't that many people out, just the normal, drunk crowd leaving the pubs as they closed. It was the middle of the night and the "house" should be closing here soon too. He sighed and lay on his back.
The night is so clear. I'm surprised I can see the stars so far in town, he thought to himself.
Raised voices came from in the "house".
Great, the owner's drunk and taking it out on a poor girl, again.
Neji sat up and concentrated charka to his ears to listen in on the conversation.
"You didn't earn enough money tonight!" A smack resounded with a thud and a whimper.
"I'm sorry, madam. I'll try harder tomorrow."
"You'll try harder? And how will you do that? Instead, why don't you convince your customers to give you more tips!?"
Neji stood up and slowly walked inside. A few of the girls were in the front. They're facades dropped and worry covered their faces as they looked at Neji.
"Tsuki-san, Madam's really drunk tonight and she's taking it out on Peach," one girl spoke up.
Neji sighed and walked towards the back room.
"Be careful," the girls whispered to his back.
The back room on the first floor was mainly for food storage and the small kitchen. Neji stayed in the shadows and looked at the mess in the room. There were a few overturned rice barrels, some broken dishes, and a broken chair. In the middle stood the owner and lying on the ground in front of her was the frail girl known as Peach. She was sobbing and staring up in fear at the raging woman. The owner stopped yelling and stumbled over to the island and grabbed something off of it. Neji saw it flash in the dim light. He watched her closely from the shadows as she stumbled back in front of the girl.
"You've been causing me more problems instead of getting me more money," she spluttered out. The woman raised her hand.
"No, madam, please, don't!" Peach sobbed louder.
Neji moved out of the shadows and grabbed the woman's arm. She jumped and stumbled in shock.
"Tsuki-san!" Peach gasped.
"Peach-san, please get out of here," he said softly.
The girl obliged and ran out of the room.
"You. You always do that. Are you asking to die?" the woman growled.
Neji smelled the sake on her breath and just continued to stare defiantly at her.
Her face crinkled in rage as she swung around with her free arm. Neji just stood there and took her hits, even the ones from the knife.
xx
Naruto jumped leisurely from tree to tree. It was mid-afternoon and Kakashi asked him to check up on Neji since he refused to tell where the boy lived. Naruto arrived at the house.
"Neji-san?" He knocked on the door.
Nothing.
"Neji, are you home?" He tried the handle but it was locked.
Naruto frowned and jumped off towards the field. He wasn't there either. Naruto got a bad feeling, something was wrong. He jumped quickly throughout the surrounding forest. Nothing.
"Kakashi-sensei, Yamato-sensei!" Naruto burst into the room, causing the three to jump up.
"What's wrong, Naruto?" Kakashi asked.
"I can't find Neji-san anywhere."
The jounins looked at each other.
"The "house,"" Yamato said.
Kakashi nodded and all four of them ran off to the "house."
Yamato casually strolled into the front entrance and inquired about the boy. At first the greeting woman said he was gone on sick leave, but after some persuasion by the anbu, she told him.
Yamato quickly walked outside to the others. "Apparently, the owner was drunk last night and Neji-san had to defend the girls. By the way that woman talked, it seemed like was a common thing."
"How badly is he hurt?" Sakura asked.
Yamato shook his head. "I don't know, but the woman is allowing us to see him right now since the owner is gone for a while."
Sakura stood up quickly and walked inside, followed by the others. The elderly woman that had greeted Sakura the other day led them into the back and down some halls to a secluded room. Quietly, she opened the sliding door and ushered them in. A couple girls stood up in shock at their entrance.
"It's alright girls," the woman whispered. "These people know Tsuki."
The two girls moved to a far wall and watched quietly. Sakura moved to Neji's side and pulled back the sheets. There were many bandages wrapped about his torso and blood was still seeping through them. The kunoichi began unwrapping the wounds.
"What are you doing?" one of the girls gasped.
"Don't worry, I'm a medic nin," Sakura replied.
"Can you tell us what exactly happened?" Kakashi asked.
The girls looked down.
"He always does this," the older of the two whispered. "Whenever Madam is drunk, she gets angry and takes it out on us. Tsuki-san always steps in between us and Madam's anger and lets her take it out on him."
"How often does this happen?" Kakash continued.
The two looked at each other.
"About 2 to 3 times a month. Last night, Madam was hurting me and she grabbed a knife. That's when Tsuki-san came out of no where and told me to leave."
"These wounds aren't that deep, and they aren't near any vital organs," Sakura stated.
"What is she doing?" the older girl asked, referring to Sakura.
"I'm healing the deeper wounds and getting rid of the infections," Sakura replied without turning away.
"Will he be ok?" the younger whimpered.
"Yes."
Silence covered the room as Sakura worked quickly. Naruto glanced over her shoulder and noticed the bruises that were shining faintly on his side.
Neji started to move. Sakura stayed where she was, continuing to heal him. The boy's eyes opened slowly and looked at Sakura.
She smiled. "I'm healing your wounds, so please don't move around too much."
The two girls came to his side quickly when they saw Sakura talking to him.
"Are you all right, Tsuki-san?" Peach asked quietly.
He looked at her. "I'm fine."
A tear slid down the girl's face. "Thank you, for saving me last night."
"It was nothing," he replied.
"Hey, Neji-san?"
Said boy looked at Naruto.
"Why did you let that woman hit you?" Naruto asked.
"If I dodge every one of her hits, she gets angrier and will be even harsher to the girls. But, if I let her hit me a few times, she feels like she's winning and won't take it out on the girls."
"Oh," was all Naruto said.
"You're always looking after us Tsuki-san," the older girl whispered.
Sakura sat back and looked at Neji. "None of your wounds were even close to being fatal. Does your head hurt?"
Neji shook his head no and sat up. All the cuts were gone, but some of the bruises remained.
"It's best if your body heals naturally most of the time," Sakura explained when she noticed him looking at the bruises.
"I know," he replied.
"Would you like anything to drink, or eat," Peach asked.
Neji shook his head again.
The greeting woman spoke up: "It'd be best if all of you leave here soon. Madam will be back any minute now."
Neji looked behind Sakura and Naruto and saw Yamato and Kakashi. They waved with a smile.
"Neji-san, would you like me to help you get home?" Naruto asked.
"No, I'll be fine."
"Ok."
The four shinobi slowly left the room. Naruto was last as he glanced over his shoulder at the older boy. He then turned and left.
"Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked when they were outside.
"Yes?"
"Isn't there anything we could do to get the law into this and shut down this place? It'd free Neji-san without any money needed."
Kakashi thought on it. "There might be a way. We could look into that while we wait for Hiashi-sama to return."
Sakura and Naruto smiled.
u kno...it's weird that i don't have much to say on teh a/n's in this story...in the other stories i usually have a bit more to say lmao...o well...comments welcome