Author's Note: I meant to upload this before the holiday, but I was so rushed in getting out of the house that I totally forgot. Oh well. Better late than never? I also wanted to say that I'm really enjoying the comments you all are leaving me. Even the short ones are excellent motivators ;) Enjoy!
Thirteen: Intense, like Camping II
Naomi had been hit three times: once through her shoulder, once deep into her thigh, and the last had pierced through the soft muscle of her left calf. The team's reaction was immediate. All three shinobi had created a triangle of defense around Naomi, who was now doing her best not to scream anymore or make whimpering sounds of any kind. The pain was severe, sickeningly so, but it was the fear over seeing giant needles sticking out of her body that affected her most. She wasn't bleeding too badly—not yet. As long as the senbon weren't jostled or pulled out, blood loss wasn't a great risk. Biting back a groan, Naomi tensed her jaw and sat huddled on the brook's small bank, eyes scanning what she could see of the trees. When she saw Team Guy standing protectively around her, she was momentarily touched, but then realized that this was simply what they were trained to do.
"Neji, do you see anything?" Tenten shot under her breath, unrolling one of her smaller weapon scrolls. The Hyuga was silent as he scanned the forest with his Byakugan—why hadn't he detected something sooner? The forest was still. From her place on the ground, Naomi was the first to feel the chilled air that began to cover the earth. When she looked more closely, she noticed a thin mist had begun to settle around the team.
"Guys…" she whispered. But no one had the time to listen to her. "Guys," she tried again, voice more urgent as the mist thickened around their feet. But all of their eyes were trained into the trees. Her injuries throbbed and Naomi winced, trying once more to get someone's attention. "Guys, look." And just as everyone realized what the problem was, the mist billowed into the clearing and swirled around them. It was so dense that Tenten could hardly make out Lee's green suit only four feet to one side, and Neji's white shirt... she didn't even try to find that in the fog. The Byakugan was their one chance at visibility. As Naomi watched in silence, she couldn't help but notice how Tenten kept throwing glances back at her. 'To make sure I'm alright,' Naomi realized.
"Neji, is this genjutsu?"
"I—"
"No," Naomi suddenly interrupted. "The mist is real." No one questioned her outright, but everyone was wondering how she could say that with such conviction. Naomi didn't want to tell them that she could feel how her skin reacted to the miniscule water droplets—about the tingling she felt as they settled against her body. The way the air sizzled just inches away from her. She just knew that something within her was physically responding to the hostile mist that filled the area.
"She's right," came Neji's voice, tone flat. He didn't like agreeing with Naomi. "Whoever's producing it is able to completely conceal themselves behind it." Translation: he couldn't see anything, either. An eerie stillness had settled over the forest with the arrival of the fog. It muffled everything, even the voices of the people Naomi sat three feet away from. Lee had never been so quiet, she mused in an attempt to keep calm. But then, to her dismay, fresh adrenaline began to seep into her bloodstream, signaling the presence of a danger that she couldn't see. One that no one could see.
Utterly soundless, the fog began to thicken in concentrated areas around Tenten. Her arms, her waist, her throat… Tendrils began to coil around Lee's legs, Neji's chest. Naomi, for now, somehow remained unaffected. Precious seconds ticked by, and Neji's Byakugan suddenly let him see the threat. Chakra, in quantities that were nearly undetectable, began to flow through the mist where it had thickened around the team's bodies. He saw it move like snakes through the air, becoming more powerful as time passed.
"Move," he suddenly called out. "Now." Immediately, both he and Lee leapt away, dissipating the chakra as they passed through it. Tenten, however, had not been quick enough. The chakra-induced mist that coiled around the kunoichi's body had suddenly surged with power, constricting her airway and restraining her arms. Naomi could hear the air that fled from her friend's lungs under the immense pressure and her mind raced for ways to help. Pushing to her feet, pain flaring up her leg, Naomi tried to pull Tenten away from whatever had a hold on her. But the mist simply came along for the ride, staying with Tenten even as she fell to the ground struggling for air.
"Lee—Neji—someone help Tenten!" she called into the blinding fog. She heard their voices, but they sounded so far away… And then, realization hit her, and so did a wave of nausea. 'The mist… it doesn't just conceal the person creating it…' It concealed everyone. The others couldn't find her. "Hold on, Tenten," she pleaded, watching as color drained from the kunoichi's face and her eyes struggled to stay open. In her desperation, Naomi did the only thing she could think to do: she closed her eyes. 'Come on,' she screamed in her head. 'Do something! Come on!' But nothing was happening—Naomi's buried skills were not offering anything for the current situation. 'There must be something I know how to do!' Frustrated, her friend slowly drifting away in front of her, Naomi called out and fell onto Tenten. She embraced the kunoichi and fought back angry tears, her eyes now screwed shut against pain, fear, and distress.
At first Naomi couldn't feel how the air around her seemed to sputter with energy. Goosebumps raced along her skin, causing the small hairs to stand on end. The fog suddenly felt much too warm—a stark contrast against the chill it had provided only moments before. And then, suddenly, the mist surrounding Naomi and Tenten hissed and fizzled away, leaving that small area free from the white barricade. Naomi felt Tenten's chest heave beneath her and she sat back, watching as the kunoichi gasped and wheezed for air. Dark bruises already lined her throat, and she was still struggling to breathe steadily through her damaged airway. But she was breathing, and that's all Naomi cared about, except… why? What had Naomi done to force the fog away? The girl's teary eyes widened and frantically peered into the surrounding mist.
"Neji!" she screamed, praying he could hear her beneath the muffling blanket. "Your chakra! It will disperse the mist!" Silence, broken only by Tenten's painful sputtering, followed. Naomi waited, positioned vigilantly at Tenten's side while the kunoichi struggled to recover. When a small breeze passed through, Naomi became hopeful—she recognized it, not as a breeze, but as Neji's outbursts of energy. Only several yards away from the girls, Neji had heard Naomi's cry and quickly fallen into his Heavenly Spin. Almost immediately, the fog had recoiled, and continued to recede until the Hyuga could make out the silhouettes of his teammates. He continued expelling more and more of his chakra into the mist and, eventually, when enough had been displaced, it lifted away from the forest, disappearing like a bad dream.
"Tenten!" both Neji and Lee called in unison. Lee rushed to the kunoichi's side while Neji carefully scanned the area for their adversaries. He cursed audibly—they had fled, whoever they were. Lee's voice called him over to their fallen comrade.
"Neji! Tenten will require further medical assistance—her internal damage is severe." With his Byakugan, Neji could see the damage quite clearly: broken ribs and wrists, internal bleeding, and an almost unusable trachea. Then his eyes found Naomi—she was in much better shape, but probably would be no good for speedy travel. Damn it.
"Lee," Neji began, voice full of authority. "You know the way. Get her back to Konoha." With a resounding "yes" from Lee, Tenten was scooped carefully from the ground and carried away into the trees. Naomi watched them go, silently wishing them a swift trek back to the village. Neji's quiet sigh caught her attention, and she looked up at the jounin. His eyes were closed and his face was impassable, but Naomi knew that he, too, was deeply concerned for Tenten.
"She'll be okay… right?" Naomi asked, voice small.
"If they make it back before tonight, then yes."
"Why didn't you take her?"
"Because," Neji began, opening his eyes to stare out into the forest. "Lee is faster." And if the mist came back, Naomi probably wouldn't survive it without his help. He needed to stay as her second pair of eyes, as it were. But Neji would never say this out loud. Naomi nodded, leaning back on her hands. As the adrenaline started to leave her body, a dull throbbing began where she had been hit—she'd forgotten about the garish needles that were currently sticking out of her bruising flesh. She hissed through her teeth as she tenderly fingered the gleaming tip coming out from under her right shoulder, and then Neji also remembered the senbon. He crouched beside Naomi and re-activated his Byakugan. None of the needles had pierced any arteries, her lung, or her bone. They'd basically just sunken into solid meat.
"We can take them out," he concluded. Naomi could only stare and shake her head, sidling away from the Hyuga.
"How about we don't take them out, and save that treat for the nurses back in Konoha?" Scoffing, Neji stood and folded his arms.
"Alright, fine. If you can walk, we'll head there now." The challenge in his voice had Naomi feeling indignant, and so, using her right leg only, she pushed herself onto her feet.
"See? No problem." Neji quirked a brow and tilted his head in their designated direction.
"Go ahead." Straightening up, Naomi set her jaw and took a step. As soon as she placed any weight on her left leg, however, her muscles tried to contract around the senbon and the ensuing pain had Naomi crying out. She crumpled to the ground and dry-heaved, forcing tears away. The needles going in had hurt far less than keeping them there. Once again, Neji crouched down beside Naomi. "Not up for the walk, I gather." Naomi glared daggers at him, face flushed.
"Well," she snapped. "Then you'll just have to go back by yourself and tell them where I am." This was obviously the only solution. Huffing, Naomi scooted over to the base of a tree and sat there stubbornly. "I'll wait right here." Releasing another sigh, Neji approached and knelt in front of her, staring hard into her cloudy eyes.
"I can't leave you."
"Why not?" Naomi countered immediately.
"Because it would be frowned upon." Bristling, Naomi fell silent. When Neji reached a hand toward her leg, however, she was yelling.
"Whoa! Hey! No way—don't you dare touch me." With limited movement, Naomi did her best to pull her leg up and away from Neji. The look in his eyes set Naomi's heart pounding in overdrive and her body went rigid. It was a look that said "Don't think I wouldn't enjoy immobilizing you." She knew that he saw her reluctance as weakness, but, in that moment, she didn't care. 'Judge all you want.' "You are not ripping these things out of me."
"This is the best solution."
"I don't care."
"Do you want an infection?"
"Yup."
"That'll hurt much worse."
"I'll ask for morphine."
"You're assuming you'll be back in the village before the bacteria set to work."
"I…" Naomi was momentarily out of snappy replies. "So what?" Neji quirked his eyebrow, tone becoming very formal.
"The senbon are coming out. Whether or not you are paralyzed during their removal does not make the least bit of difference to me." Naomi's determination fled from her eyes and blood drained from her face, making her feel a touch lightheaded.
"If I can't move… will it still hurt?" she asked meekly.
"Yes." Forehead creased with worry, Naomi briefly searched Neji's unreadable expression and then turned her face away. Her voice was shaky.
"Please don't paralyze me," she murmured. A small part of Neji was dissatisfied with this, but he agreed not to immobilize her if Naomi would agree to cooperate. Eventually, she gave a slight nod and Neji moved from in front of her to beside her. He reached toward her leg and she immediately jerked it away, ignoring the pain this caused.
"Oh, relax," he scoffed. "I'm not doing anything yet." Eyes wide, Naomi did her best not to move as Neji slowly extended her leg, pressing a hand down on her knee so she could no longer pull it away. He felt her shaking and inwardly rolled his eyes. This was not the behavior of the hardened shinobi her skill level implied Naomi to be, he thought. Another voice told him that, if she were accustomed to pain, she probably didn't remember how to handle it. Lovely.
"W-Wait! Wait! Wait, wait, wait," she stammered frantically as Neji's free hand moved toward the senbon that had neatly pierced her calf through both sides. He hesitated and looked at her, waiting impatiently. "Um… um… wait, I… just…"
"This isn't going to get better with time," Neji pointed out sharply.
"No, I know… just… I… oh man." Breathing shallowly, Naomi turned her head completely to one side and screwed her eyes shut, teeth clenched as she waited. The downward pressure against her knee increased as Neji held her leg down. If she jerked away while he was pulling, she could do far more damage that what had already been done. Finding a firm grip on one exposed end of the silver needle, Neji inhaled slowly and began to pull.
Almost immediately, however, he jerked his hand away. The movement startled Naomi, who opened her eyes to see an irritated Neji examining his palm.
"What?" she asked. "What's wrong?"
"It shocked me," he stated, clearly agitated.
"Oh… sorry… Maybe if I don't close my eyes…" Naomi turned away again, fixating on some random point in the distance. After touching the needle and deciding it was no longer charged, Neji resumed his grip and pulled. And, let's just say, it was a good thing his other hand was keeping Naomi's leg down. The girl cried out, clenching her teeth to suppress the noise, and pressed her back into the tree behind her. There was a sickening, fleshy noise and then, just as it had started, the pain lessened to a dull throb. Releasing her held breath, Naomi looked down at her calf.
The bloodied senbon now lay harmless on the ground and two, small puncture wounds bled slowly on either side of Naomi's shin.
"I'm bleeding," was all she managed to say, voice weak from her shouts of pain.
"It'll stop," was all the reassurance Neji offered before switching hands on Naomi's knee and reaching down for the senbon in her thigh. This skin around this wound was agitated. With an experimental pull, which caused Naomi to inhale sharply, Neji realized that the girl's muscles had begun to swell around the foreign object, trapping it in a fleshy vice. If Neji pulled too quickly, he would tear the muscles. Great, he thought to himself. She's not going to be able to contain herself. "You need to relax your leg," Neji instructed. Naomi scoffed, her rapid breathing audible as she tried to maintain a steady voice.
"Yeah, right. Let me stab you and see if you can just relax." Well, he was trying to be helpful, but if she wouldn't listen then… he didn't care.
"Fine," he replied coolly, already beginning to gradually work the needle from Naomi's thigh. She squirmed and bit back a stream of profanities, wishing more than anything that Neji would just. Hurry. Up. Bit by bit, the senbon eventually came free. The last wave of pain it sent her caused Naomi to clutch her churning stomach and fight off an intense wave of nausea.
"Damn," she finally breathed, voice tight. "Thanks for taking your time." The intended sarcasm did not quite reach her tone, but she was in no mood to try and remedy it.
"The last one needs to come out through your back," Neji commented matter-of-factly. Groaning, Naomi seriously considered leaving it in as a souvenir, but then remembered Neji only agreed not to paralyze her as long as she complied, so she begrudgingly scooted away from the tree. The jounin now knelt behind her and she felt him press a palm against her right shoulder blade.
"Naomi." The sound of Neji calling her by name immediately had her attention, a cold certainty in his voice. "This senbon missed an artery and your lung, but just barely. It's vital that you do not move while I'm removing it. Do you understand?" Swallowing a hard lump in her throat, Naomi could only nod. To cut back on the risk of startling her and causing her to jerk away, Neji told Naomi to hold her breath. "When I say 'one'," he instructed. "You exhale and I'll take it out." As the countdown began, Naomi took in a breath and found herself transfixed on the sharp point protruding from her torso. Neji's palm against her back was comforting, whether he realized it or not, and she relaxed as much as she could. When the time came to exhale, the girl watched with morbid curiosity as the end of the senbon disappeared into her body. By the time she needed to take in another breath, the deed was done.
"That one didn't hurt as badly as the others," Naomi commented.
"Less muscle tissue to fight against," Neji explained indifferently. He paused before saying "It's also bleeding the most." Naomi groaned but then perked up, looking around for her small traveling pack.
"I have bandaids!" she announced excitedly. Neji looked to Naomi's belongings and went over to dig out the medical supplies. When he found them—just some gauze, lotion, and tape—he hummed quietly.
"Hn. Probably the one—"
"—good idea I've had. I know." Naomi grinned, congratulating herself on a job well done. Then she heard Neji sigh in quiet exasperation and she craned her neck to give him a look. "What?" He shook his head.
"Nothing." He just had a bad feeling that they were about to encounter another problem. "Hold still." Completely unbothered, Neji knelt behind Naomi once again and began to pull her shirt up along her back. Naomi immediately moved away, staring at the Hyuga like he had grown another head.
"Excuse me? What are you—"
"You're bleeding," he pointed out. "How do you propose we fix that?" Naomi clamped her mouth shut, cheeks burning with embarrassment and indignation.
"Well, I—you can't just—ugh!" Naomi threw her hands up and then pinched the bridge of her nose. "Alright, fine," she snapped, sighing in agitation. "But I'll take care of the front." This time Neji really did visibly roll his eyes. Honestly, what did Naomi think he'd been trying to do? Let's be logical here. While Neji resumed working on the puncture wound, Naomi kept busy by thanking all the gods of the world that she had not worn a kimono on this trip. Talk about worst-case scenario. 'He's quite gentle now that he isn't tearing spikes out of my body,' she observed. Neji worked quickly, passing the supplies to Naomi's hands once he'd finished.
"Wait here. I need to get firewood." Naomi waved him off, setting to work on the front exit wound once he was out of sight. His words, however, slowly began to sink in, and Naomi felt queasy all over again. Apparently, she would be spending another night out in the forest, only this time there would be no one else around—only her and Mr. Crazy Eyes.
vVvVv
Darkness had settled over Fire Country. The thick canopy blocked the stars from view, but the half-moon shone brightly behind the tree tops. Naomi sat near a small fire, absentmindedly reapplying medical lotion to her injured calf. Flames danced in her eyes and exhaustion crept along the edges of her expression. Her thoughts were with Tenten, wondering if Lee had made it back to Konoha in time. 'Lee would never let himself fail. At anything,' she quietly reassured herself. Across the fire, Neji's mind was racing. Who had attacked them today? Rogues? Scouts from Amegakure? And why hadn't he seen them coming? That damn fog—it had rendered his eyes nearly useless. Part of him screamed that Tenten's injuries were his fault, but the more collected part of him explained that it wouldn't do anybody any good to place blame.
"What if they come back?" Naomi's careful question pulled him from his thoughts and he glanced at her through the growing flames. Well, what if they came back? Both Neji and Naomi knew how to break the mist down, but what else did this enemy know how to do? Quietly, he shrugged and brought his gaze back to the fire.
"Then we handle it." Naomi nodded, deciding that this answer was fair enough. Silence settled in once again, until Naomi's tired mind began urging her to ask Neji some rather… irrelevant questions.
"Hey," she began, wondering how to ease into her inquisitions. The uncertainty in her voice didn't exactly grab Neji's attention, but he was listening. "…do you think Tenten will be alright?"
"I do." His answer was plainly unsatisfying.
"What if she weren't?" Naomi prompted carefully, watching Neji's face. He didn't answer, so either it was a stupid question—likely—or he didn't want to get into it—less likely. "What do you think about Tenten?" This question had the jounin's eyes moving up to stare into Naomi's. What was she talking about? 'Well, maybe I'll be able to help Tenten out.' Tenten's denial of feelings for Neji had Naomi entirely unconvinced.
"She's a skilled kunoichi," he remarked, not unkindly.
"Yeah… but, what about her as just… a person?" Neji's brow furrowed.
"Is there something specific you'd like me to say?" he inquired, tone a little accusatory. He knew Naomi was pushing for something, but she wouldn't just come out and say what. Frustrating. Naomi quickly dropped her eyes to the fire, idly poking at it with a spare stick.
"Well, no, not really. Don't say anything you don't want to say…"
"…are you trying to allude to the fact that she is a capable female on a team with two equally as capable males?" Naomi took a minute to chew this over.
"Um… yes. Or at least… I think I am." Neji sometimes wasn't as concise as Naomi would like him to be. "So… well? Anything to comment on the matter?" Neji was obviously annoyed by the ridiculous implications Naomi was clearly implicating.
"No."
"Oh, sorry then. I only assumed because, you know… the whole gender thing…" Trying to save face and make it seem like she wasn't only curious about Neji, for Tenten's sake, Naomi continued. "What about Lee? What are his interests?"
"Lee is infatuated with any female who looks his way." He paused, and then added "Actually, no—they don't even have to be looking." Naomi blinked at Neji quizzically, gasping.
"Was that… was that a joke? Did Neji just make a joke?"
"No." And that was the end of Naomi's almost-laughter. The girl's next question left her mouth before she could make it die a bloody death.
"Well… what do you think about me?" Neji's answer was insultingly immediate.
"I don't." Naomi stammered, realizing what her question might seem to imply at face-value.
"N-No, no, not… not you. Not personally. I meant more of… what do the three of you think of me? You know, being assigned to your team, and… and everything…" Now it was Neji's turn to watch Naomi's face carefully. His eyes burned into hers, and she couldn't hold his gaze so she resumed prodding at the fire with her dwindling piece of wood. Eventually, Neji gave a simple answer.
"Ask them, if you're so concerned about other people's opinions."
"Hey," Naomi shot back. "I am not concerned about what people think of me." 'Only some people.' But she pushed that thought away. Neji scoffed, highly doubting the validity of her claim. Before she could dig a deeper hole, however, Naomi gingerly got to her feet and fetched her sleeping bag, unrolling it several feet away from the fire. "Wake me when it's my turn to keep watch," she remarked. As she snuggled into 'bed', propping her head up on a tree root, she felt grateful that it was much warmer than the night before, and it wasn't long before she'd drifted into unconsciousness.
Not much time had passed when Naomi was suddenly startled awake by a shrill cry. She sat bolt upright, irritating her injured shoulder, and looked around for the source of such a horrible noise. She caught the tail of something not much bigger than a cat darting back into the foliage. A kunai had hit the ground at the foot of her sleeping bag, and her eyes immediately found Neji, still seated neatly across from a much smaller fire.
"Whassat?" she asked not too intelligently, rubbing her eyes. "What's going on?" Neji murmured something that she couldn't catch and then he sighed.
"They smell your blood."
"…what is a 'they'?" Neji shrugged.
"Shrubrats. Or rootrats, depending on how you prefer to call them."
"I'd rather not call them at all," Naomi remarked, peering into the surrounding darkness for any signs of another… rat-thing. She heard Neji shuffling around, but didn't look to see what he was doing. "Is it gone?"
"That one is." Naomi grimaced.
"How many are there?"
"Enough to be a nuisance." The close proximity of his voice caused Naomi's head to whirl back around, nerves jumping. Neji had moved and now sat right beside her, leaning back against the same tree whose roots she had been using as a pillow.
"Um…"
"As long as you have those open wounds—bandaged or not—they'll keep coming back. So, either you can deal with me here, or risk waking up to one of them chewing on your leg." Naomi swallowed and double-checked the surrounding area for any signs of another demonrat.
"You are absolutely welcome to sit there," she chimed nervously. "In fact, I insist that you do." Something flashed across Neji's expression, something Naomi could not quite place, but it was gone in the next instant.
"If they smell me here, too, it should keep them away." 'Right, the smell that is neither good nor bad,' Naomi reminded herself.
"And… if it doesn't?"
"Then we'll have a hearty breakfast."
Hearing this, Naomi felt infinitely safer and thought more positively about sleeping, so she settled back down and nuzzled her face into the material of her bedding. "Alright, well… goodnight. And happy hunting."