"The irony," Neji stated, walking ahead of his two teammates.
"It may be ironic, but at least the trip promises to be eventful!" Lee shouted in excitement. Before the group had left, Gai had informed them that they were escorting a merchant by the name of Urandi Kawa to the land of rice to deliver his shipment, said shipment being the subject of Neji's ire: rice.
"A bandit controlled toll road isn't exactly my idea of a good time, Lee," Tenten reprimanded, trying her best to look stern.
"That may be so," Lee replied, "But it's not every day we get to test our skills against such unyouthful opponents. I, personally, consider it a marker showing how I've improved over the past year."
Tenten smiled. Despite his outrageous persona, Tenten easily considered Lee her best friend. He had his flaws, some obvious, some not so, she found his attitude endearing. He constantly pushed himself to go farther than anyone believed he could and, most of the time, he succeeded. Sure, he may be a boy at heart...longing for excitement and danger rescuing princesses and liberating townspeople, but he was also a wonderful man at heart as well. He was always there when she needed him, so it was no surprise when she began developing some sort of feelings for him, even if it was just as a very close friend.
"Surely there are better ways to do that, Lee," she admonished.
"Yes Lee," Neji added, "I'm certain there are better ways that don't embarrass yourself while you're at it." Neji was referring to a mission that had happened a few months prior where Lee did, in fact, embarrass himself. It was a simple C ranked mission to the Land of Birds where he finally snapped out of boredom and challenged Neji to a fight. Ten minutes late saw Lee running around the town, but he didn't notice the mudhole until it was too late. He spent a good part of the rest of that afternoon either running from male pigs or scrubbing himself down in the shower, each time proving unsuccessful as he was forced to run from the pigs again.
Gai gave a glance back at his pupils. He had always sensed an unease in Neji and recently he had come to a revelation on what it was exactly: Neji felt inadequate. He would hide behind fate and talk down at others to make himself feel superior to others when the truth was far worse. He was forever banished to be considered less than human in his clan, and would remain a slave to his family until the day he died and even in his death he would serve the clan. Gai knew Neji wanted to run from his fate and find something better in the world but it was up to Neji to discover the truth around him. He couldn't see Tenten's crush for what it was and Lee's rivalry as a sign of true friendship, instead seeing her crush as a desire to be more than just another ninja and seeing Lee's rivalry as someone fighting to be more than what he was: a failure. Gai could only hope that Neji would open up one day and accept the affection of those around him; only then would he truly be free.
"We are still a few days out of my next destination," Urandi commented offhandedly to Gai, continuing their previous conversation, "But if you would like to stop for the night, I would not be opposed."
Despite his sleek manner of speaking, Gai could feel the undercurrent of unrest in the man's voice, like he didn't want to make it where they were headed. If it were simply bandits, then he was certain the man wouldn't be so worried. Something about this mission felt wrong; Gai had learned long ago to trust his instincts and right now, the alarms were blaring.
"So you said this bandit toll road was along the Takimaru path leading into Rice country," Gai replied after a moment, not really acknowledging Urandi's previous statement, "Why not simply take another route again?"
"I'm headed to Remu City," he replied staring dead ahead, "Taking any other path into the country would add days to my journey, which is why I hired your team. It is more profitable to simply hire you ninja to escort me through than to spend the extra few days it would take me to follow a different path."
'That sounded rehearsed' Gai pondered, narrowing his eyes at the unsuspecting man, 'This may be a trap'.
"So why is it you hired our team, specifically?" Tenten added, joining in the conversation.
"The young man over there, actually," Urandi replied, almost uncertainly nodding towards Neji, "I've heard about the Byakugan. It allows the user to see every direction and even see through objects. Seeing as the road is roughly forty miles long and the bandits have been known to set up their toll within a twenty mile stretch of it, I felt the boy's bloodline would be the most useful tool to carry along the way."
Now the others had caught on too. Despite the man's calm atmosphere and smooth way of speaking, there was an undercurrent of uncertainty in his voice. It sounded rehearsed up until he started talking about Neji, immediately informing Gai of the true purpose of this mission. This man may have been a merchant, but he doubted this toll road was run by simple bandits, and the payment for the toll appeared to be nefarious. They were after Neji Hyuuga.
Neji was laying on this futon staring at the ceiling. He could tell they were walking into a trap, despite what Gai-sensei was trying to tell them. Even if he didn't give away any of the subtle signs of lying that a man usually would, he could tell simply from his overall attentiveness to the mission; generally the man was boisterous to say the least, even going so far as to shouting about youth to the world. Since overhearing that Neji's Byakugan was the main reason their team was hired, however, Gai had been slightly subdued and ridiculously attentive to the mission.
He laid there for nearly an hour when he heard Lee stir beside him before the boy turned to face him.
"I see you can't sleep either," Lee commented.
Neji didn't respond, instead opting to glace at his teammate before returning his gaze to the ceiling.
"Whatever is waiting for us down this road, we'll all walk it together," the boy continued, matching Neji's gaze, "Remember that we have your back, Neji. We're a team don't try to ostracize yourself from us. Whatever comes, we'll face it together."
Neji didn't bother replying and turned to lay on his side, facing the wall. After a few minutes, he could hear Lee's snores and turned to lay on his back again. The truth was, Lee's proclamation bothered him greatly. He still didn't feel as if Lee was a worthy adversary, nor did he care too much for the boy's personality, but there was something about him the made him want to believe his fate wasn't set in stone. Neji tried to squash the feeling down, but found that he simply couldn't.
'Freedom' he thought to himself, smiling gently, 'Perhaps it's not so far away after all'.
Neji closed his eyes and after a few moments, found the bliss of sleep.
"Two thousand seven hundred fifty three *thunk* Two thousand seven hundred fifty four *thunk*"
Tenten was getting exhausted just watching Lee train. So far he'd done ten laps around the village, five thousand jumping jacks, and two thousand pushups - surprisingly light for the young man. Despite the intense amount of exercise Lee had been doing, it was still nothing compared to what he had normally accomplished by this time of day. After a brief protesting, when Gai had ordered Lee to take it easy training on the mission, he obeyed and dumbed his workout down a good sixty percent.
Lee decided to pause in his workout after his last kick broke through the tree he had been using, causing it to fall to the forest floor a good distance behind the group.
"Will neither of you two be joining me this morning?"
Neji spared Lee a glance before continuing his meditation while Tenten merely scratched the back of her head with an awkward smile, "Sorry Lee, I'm taking this mission as a bit of a breather on training. Besides, if we do run into trouble, I'd like to know that I have all of my weapons on hand. Don't want to chance losing any in training."
"Right," Lee said almost sarcastically, "Like you would actually lose any of them. I can't even remember the last time you missed a target, much less lost a weapon you threw."
Tenten smiled at the compliment, but turned her gaze towards the ground, "True enough, but honestly, I'd rather spend this time thinking of a plan of action for when things actually do go south. And you know they will."
Lee nodded solemnly, "Ever since tour charge made mention of Neji's Byakugan, he's been a bit more reserved. It's almost a guarantee that this is actually a hit."
"My concern isn't the thought of losing my eyes," Neji commented idly, "When I die, my bloodline will be sealed with me; if it comes down to it, I will end my own life to protect the secrets of my clan. My concern has less to do with the 'what' and 'why' and more to do with the 'who'."
Lee took a moment to think on it.
"I agree, my young students," Gai stated, landing behind Neji, "There are any number of potential clients for the eyes of a Hyuuga, but I'm beginning to doubt that this is a bandit controlled road."
Lee voiced his question, "But why would you think that it wasn't, Gai-sensei?"
Gai's face turned serious before pointing at himself, causing Lee's mouth to form an 'O'.
"Bandits don't stand a chance against ninja, and few less a chance against an experienced Jounin like me. I don't mean to sound cocky, but I'm the eternal rival of Sharingan Kakashi. There's no minor bandit in the world that could stand a chance against me. The only other option," he stated, gesturing lightly with his hand, "Is that they either have a ninja or so under their employ, or..."
"Or they are all ninja," Neji finished for him.
The man nodded his head solemnly.
"I think I'm going to go for a walk," Neji commented offhandedly, "And please, don't follow me. I can handle myself."
Lee looked like he was about to protest when Gai interrupted him, "Very well, but please do not wander too far from the village. We'll be planning a strategy right before nightfall, so I expect you to return before then."
"Very well." And with that, Neji took his leave.
The others couldn't see it, but Neji actually cracked a smile. Perhaps he could defy his fate after all.
To Gai's surprise, the group didn't have any real trouble for the rest of the trip. They had run across the bandits some twenty miles down Takimaru path and dealt with them handedly. As they bid farewell to the merchant after arriving in Remu, Gai could've sworn he saw an evil smirk cross Urandi's face, before it was replaced with the impassive look of a businessman. Overall, the entire mission left Gai feeling very uneasy; a short while after Neji had returned to discuss strategy, Urandi showed up looking much more at ease than he had before. When asked why, he simply stated that the town had a red-light district and he was feeling far better than he had in a long time.
Despite his missions success, the eccentric man felt that it wasn't over and had every intention of filling in the Hokage when they returned later that evening. With the growing tension with Kumo, any and all anomalies needed to be scrutinized over and then scrutinized again.
*Splash* Naruto dove under the water again, swimming for a moment before surfacing and jumping out, landing on his feet in a sprint. A few weeks prior the group had decided to resume their training; the rain wasn't letting up anytime soon, and they had quickly learned to jump anytime a thunderbolt struck the water, but they were making due. It had been Shino's idea to continue their training, justifying it by informing them just how long they'd been on the island compared to how much stronger they could've become by now. Needless to say, Sasuke and Naruto were more than jumping at the opportunity to get some serious training done...Ino and Shikamaru, not so much. They all fell in line eventually though, and were making some vast improvements. Kiba even suggested adding more to their routine, which now included running up the side of a cliff face that had been mostly turned to mud over the past few months.
The group had run into several monstrosities since first encountering the Wendigo, but none of them were quite so humanoid and none of them had heard from the creature since. The truth was, Naruto wouldn't mind coming across it again, certain he could take it down, but his reasoning wasn't quite so simple. If he ran across it again, that means it's still alive, and whatever caused that shockwave wasn't a real treat...but if they didn't run across the wendigo, then surely they would run across the thing that killed it sooner or later. Naruto wasn't sure he was ready for something like that.
"Eye's on the prize, blondie," Kiba shouted, noticing Naruto's lack of attentiveness, "You keep zoning out like that and one of those freaky manocampth will get you."
Naruto laughed at his friends' expense. The only reason Kiba knew about the ancient fish was because, like Naruto now, he was zoning out and one jumped out of the water, swallowing him whole. It was only Ino's quick thinking that saved him, taking over the fish's mind and forcing it to upchuck her comrade. Kiba was so traumatized by the event that he didn't run over the ocean for a week after.
"Don't worry about me, fish-food," Naruto called out, smiling at Kiba's grimace, "I think they have a taste for dog now!"
Before he knew it, Kiba was on him holding his head underwater, "Let's see how funny you think it is when you have to grow gills!"
Thinking quickly, Naruto tapped Kiba's foot, effectively cutting his chakra flow keeping him standing. With one last glub, Naruto jumped out of the water and bolted away from Kiba, laughing the whole way.
"Boys..." Ino sighed, shaking her head, "At least it's entertaining."
Hinata ran over to where Kiba was and hoisted him to the surface of the water, hitting his foot and enabling him to chase after the blonde. Hinata smiled to herself; the boys were as bad as brothers which, if she really thought about it, was the purpose of this training anyway.
Kakashi banged his hand on the monitor in front of him again, as had been his ritual for the past week or so. From what the Hokage had told him, it wouldn't help at all, but he couldn't help it. Besides, it was a stress reliever and he had stress in metric tons. Gai had returned from his mission the previous night, and Kakashi had been the anbu guarding the Hokage that night. He was absolutely positive that Kumo was after Neji, so the fact that the rest of the mission had been uneventful bothered him. A loose byakugan, even a marked on, would be a benefit to them, and they past attempts at obtaining one had almost been successful. So it didn't make sense to Kakashi that they would just let Neji go without so much as even trying to...Kakashi paused in his thoughts. Perhaps they did try to get it from the boy; there was a period of time where Neji was separated from the rest of the squad. But that didn't make much sense. Sure the boy was a prodigy, but he was no jounin, and he was certain that Kumo would spare no expense at getting their hands on his eyes. Things were getting complicated and there was too much that Kakashi didn't know. He had to report to the Hokage.
Sakura was beside herself. Everything she was doing was right according to any book she'd read on human anatomy, but she couldn't stop his screaming. There was no sign of any physical damage but if the guttural screams coming from Kiba's mouth were anything to go by, the pain he was in must have been excruciating.
"I can't do anything for him," Sakura whispered, her voice carrying the sadness she felt.
"None of the herbs I could find seem to be doing any good either," Hinata added, wondering what she could do for her friend, "I've even tried using Nern Root to knock him out; nothing's working on him at all!"
Shika was about to offer a solution when Kiba's screams fell silent, and his eyes stared ahead blankly.
"Is he..."
"No, he's just passed out," Hinata commented, checking his pulse, "I don't understand why his eyes are open though."
"It doesn't matter," Shika finished, "We need to make sure we have plenty of water for him when he wakes up. If the screams are any indication, he'd die of dehydration long before this thing kills him."
Outside the cavern, Naruto was running a stick through the mud, his thoughts on his Inuzuka companion. It was true that he threw barbs at him occasionally and that they were generally at each other's throat, but he still felt a strong bond with the boy. The fact that he was in this much pain and that he could do nothing about it bothered him greatly; if only there was something he could do to help. Unfortunately he wasn't skilled with any medical ninjutsu nor was he well versed on medical herbs, so he was of little use here. The only thing he could do was be there for him when he woke up.
As night began to fall, Kiba began to stir, catching the girls' attention. They were about to call for Naruto and the others when they began to witness something terrifying as Kiba's eye began to turn white and his body began crunching. His screams were once again resounding throughout the cave, and that was all Naruto and the others needed to rush in to see what they could do. The sight that met them, however, was one that they wouldn't easily forget as the monster that Sakura was holding down with vines began to rip through them. It was a terrible sight to behold and it was made far worse when they noticed a patch of fur that had grown in white instead of brown on the beast's right shoulder: it was shaped the same as Kiba's tattoo.
"I think we have a problem here guys!" Sasuke shouted, attempting to get the others to the cave as fast as possible.
Shika and the rest arrived just in time to see the vines get shredded as the beast flexed. It looked up at the top of the cavern they were in and stared at a hole that had let the full moon shine down on it. It was easily the scariest thing any of them had ever seen as it threw its head back and bore its claws. It was the most terrifying howl Naruto had ever heard.