Red Roses2: Sorry this took so long, but I had to catch up in the episodes and whatnot. I'm now on episode 90.

-

Jiraiya, Naruto, and Neji walked along the road, the town coming into view. Jiraiya glanced at the back where Neji was. He didn't like the fact that he had to drag another brat with him, but that Iruka guy said it was necessary. Something about therapy. All Jiraiya knew about it was that Naruto and Neji seemed to be in awkward situations and didn't talk much around the other. Of course, Jiraiya had no idea about how much Neji was supposed to talk, but he didn't say a word around Naruto. The hermit sighed and kept an eye on where they were going. This was going to be a long journey, especially if those two stayed so quiet.

-

A knock at the door interrupted Naruto's chakra molding and Neji's meditation. Neji looked at the door as Naruto got up to answer it.

"Why would anyone knock the door?" Neji asked.

"It's probably just Ero-Sennin," Naruto reasoned.

"Wouldn't he just have a key?" Neji said.

Naruto jangled the room key.

"No. We have it," Naruto said.

"Just to make sure . . . . Byakugan!"

Everything in Neji's vision turned black and white. The door seemed to melt away and revealed the person on the other side. Neji didn't recognize him, but he definitely wasn't Jiraiya.

"Well, who is it?" Naruto asked.

"I don't know," Neji said, deactivating his Byakugan. "But he's with someone with a giant sword on his back. The one with the sword looks like a giant fish, somewhat."

"Really? That's weird." Naruto made a face. "Do you think I should open it?"

Neji thought about it for a moment. He shook his head.

BANG!

The door hit the wall. The man walked in. The fish-guy stayed in the hallway. Naruto's and Neji's eyes widened. This guy had the Sharingan?

"Naruto-kun, come with us," Itachi said.

Naruto gasped when Neji stood in front of him.

"If you want him that badly, come and get him," Neji said, activating his Byakugan again.

Itachi showed no reaction.

"Kisame, do you think you can handle this one?" Itachi asked, voice emotionless.

Kisame looked over Itachi's shoulder.

"Hyuuga, huh? Wonder what he's doing with the Kyuubi container," Kisame said, lowering his sword.

'What Kyuubi container? Kyuubi no Kitsune is dead . . . . Right?' Neji thought. The Hyuuga could see Naruto with his Byakugan. He noticed that he tensed and made for his kunai. Whatever was going on, they were in trouble now. 'Jiraiya, where are you when we actually need you?'

They waited for the other to make a move for a while, then Kisame ran toward them. Neji and Naruto jumped away from the wall.

"Naruto! Try to find Jiraiya!" Neji shouted, running toward the door.

The thirteen-year-old did a half-turn and blocked the door from Kisame and Itachi. Naruto barely got out.

"Go!" Neji ordered.

"But what about you?" Naruto asked.

"We don't stand a chance on our own! If Jiraiya is the great Sannin like he says he is, you have to go get him or they'll kill both of us!"

Naruto hesitated.

"What are you waiting for?" Neji asked as Kisame ran at him, Itachi following at his own pace.

"But - ," Naruto said, but he never finished his sentence.

"Naruto! Neji! Leave this to me!" said a familiar voice.

Before Neji could comprehend what was happening behind him, Kisame lunged at him, sword in hand, about to attack. Neji ran up and hit three of his chakra pores before Kisame kicked him and sent him through the wall.

"Kagh!" Neji grunted, hitting the ground and a splash of blood escaping his mouth.

Neji managed to sit up, only to meet a pair of Sharingan eyes.

"Mangekyou Sharingan!"

Itachi sent Neji into a world of black-and-white world. Familiar faces of beloved family members flashed before his eyes, the last vision he saw of them being splattered with blood. The only thing with color was blood. Red poured out of his father by the gallons. Red bled from Hinata's mouth, gut, and neck, a sad smile on her face, the faint sound of her saying everything's going to be alright. Hanabi's head fell off her shoulders, red spraying out like a fountain.

"AAAAAHHHHH!"

Hiashi coughed up red. A line of symmetry was drawn down his mother, red spraying from the line. Crimson covered the ground, the walls, the bodies, the kunai, the shuriken, the faces, the windows, everything.

Then everything repeated.

"AAAAAHHHHHH!"

Again.

"AAAAAHHHHH!"

And again.

Neji lost consciousness, and everything went to black.

-

Neji opened his eyes. He couldn't remember what had happened. All he remembered was blood.

"Neji?" Naruto asked, hovering over him.

Neji groaned and sat up.

"Are you okay?" the Hyuuga asked.

Naruto nodded. Without warning, the blond hugged him tightly. Neji blinked repeatedly, surprised. Jiraiya stood across from them, arms crossed. Gai-sensei was also there, carrying Sasuke on his back. When did Gai get there?

"Neji-kun, are you alright?" Gai asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Neji answered as Naruto let go of him. Neji held his head. He had a headache though.

Jiraiya sighed, "That's a relief. At first I wondered if we'd have to take you to a hospital. Thanks to whatever that therapy stuff Iruka was talking about, it's not like we can just let Gai take you back to Konoha."

Neji nodded.

-

Neji stood behind a tree as he watched Naruto practice the Rasengan. Neji had been with Jiraiya for part of the day, if you could call being on the same street with someone. He became bored, though, and decided to see how Naruto was doing.

"Do you want some help with that?" Neji asked, coming out from behind the tree.

Naruto turned to Neji. His face betrayed his surprise.

"Uh, sure. But, are you sure? I mean, you don't have to," Naruto said.

Neji glared slightly. The blond had been acting weird ever since he found out that Neji was a prostitute. He walked toward the blond.

"I'm sure." Neji activated his Byakugan. "Now try again so I can see what's going on."

Naruto took another rubber ball out and started his exercise. Neji could see the amount of chakra Naruto had stored inside of him and how much he was excreting.

"You need to put more power into it. It's never going to pop properly if you don't," Neji directed.

"But – it hurts. My arms - ."

"Sometimes you have to ignore the pain if you're to do something properly."

Naruto looked up at Neji for a moment. Neji could almost see the thoughts running through his head. Naruto nodded and flowed out more chakra.

"A bit more. Bit more. Almost there," Neji coached.

POP!

Naruto fell on his rear and Neji deactivated his Byakugan.

"Thanks, Neji." Naruto said, grinning. "For the help, and the tip." Naruto stood back up. "Now, let's go find Ero-Sennin and tell him what happened!"

Neji smirked. There was the hyper-active blond he had fought in the Chuunin exam.

-

Red Roses2: How was that? I won't be updating at all this Labor Day weekend because I'll be at Dragon Con. Not much happened in this chapter, but oh well. I'm getting there.