They came to a stop when Neji did, all three of them breathing hard and looking around frantically. They didn't have long to search before they saw their teacher. As it turned out, they had ended up behind the Kusa leader, who was staring Guy-sensei down. "…know why I brought you to the border of Grass and Fire, do you not?" the head Kusanin was saying. Guy's eyes narrowed, but he didn't answer. The Kusa leader finished in a voice that was suddenly a wolfish snarl, "To allow your people to give you a proper burial!" He leaped into the air, his arms outstretched and his fingers splayed. "Thousand blades of death!"
Now that his opponent wasn't blocking his view of them, Guy's eyes fell upon his pupils. Too late, Neji realized that their appearance had distracted Guy-sensei—and as a result, he waited an instant too long.
There was no way he could avoid the attack.
Tiny, wicked blades of grass, sharper than razorblades, sliced into him from every angle. Transfixed, his students watched them tear right through him. Through the whistle of the air through the blades, they could clearly hear Guy's breath catch in his lungs. His blood spurted everywhere, staining the grass around him darkly. It was all over so fast. And their sensei was left standing there, his breath coming in agonized, choking gasps, dripping his own blood.
"Guy-sensei!" Lee screamed, beside himself. He leaped toward their enemy, uncharacteristic rage burning on his face. Caught unaware, he Kusa leader turned. He hadn't realized till now that the three of them were there. With the element of surprise in his favor, Lee proceeded to engage him in combat.
Tenten didn't hesitate for a second, but rushed across the meadow to Guy's side. Neji followed. He wondered, as he watched the tender way she helped their sensei lie down with a makimono pouch for a pillow, if all kunoichi were taught the basics of the healing arts at the Academy. Was it instinct or skill that caused her hands to move gently and capably? She took off her hitai-ate headband and wiped his forehead with the cloth that held it in place. Then she pulled a blanket out of her pack and began frantically cutting it apart with her kunai. Using the resultant pieces of fabric as bandages, she tied them around his wounds. It was by no means a permanent cure, but it might hold them until they could get their teacher proper medical treatment.
Neji turned to survey the battle. To his surprise, Lee was currently forcing their opponent back. Surely the shinobi from Kusagakure had never seen anything like this formidable young genin, who fought with neither weapons nor jutsu. Hand-to-hand combat in the ninja world was normally brief, used more often by shinobi to assess their opponent than to actually battle. But with Lee it was different. He turned hands-on fighting into an art, truly a jutsu of his own. His speed was incredible. His blows held such power that the Kusagakure leader was grunting with pain merely from blocking them.
"I will never forgive you!" Lee howled without breaking the flow of his punching combinations. "You will pay for what you have done!" He was airborne from his own momentum, attacking his enemy from above. Although he was blocking Lee's every move with his forearms over his head, the Kusagakure leader was literally being driven into the grass bit by bit from the force of the strikes. His sandaled feet were starting to sink into the ground.
The Kusanin's eyes narrowed to slits. "Do you think," he hissed, "that a Konoha genin," he spat the word with contempt, "can get the best of the most feared shinobi in the land of Kusagakure?!"
Lee's voice blended with that of the older shinobi as he screeched, "Leaf hurricane!" His booted leg came down in an arc, aiming straight for his opponent's head. A blow like that could end the fight on the spot.
But Neji's eyes saw the trickery unfold that Lee couldn't. The Kusa leader brought his arm up, looking as though he were going to block the kick as he had done so many times before. But from his flowing sleeve slid a long stone vambrace, fitted smoothly around his arm from elbow to fingertips. He swung it in an uppercut with all his strength behind the move. Foot met weapon, and Neji heard the krak of both stone and bone breaking. Suddenly Lee was flying toward them limply, his horrible cry of pain ripping the air. Neji shot upward to catch Lee and landed again next to Tenten.
The Kusa shinobi's face was ugly: he was not about to stop at wounding his prey. Predatorily, he rushed forward to finish the job. Then Tenten went into action. Taking the large scroll from her back, she unrolled it to reveal a plethora of shinobi weaponry. She took up a dozen kunai knives, placing them in the spaces between her fingers. "You will not attack the wounded!" she bellowed. She launched the knives, which flew in strange trajectories, curving and spiraling around the Kusanin without ever striking him. With quick moves honed from countless years of experience, Tenten repeated the same move again, and again. Soon kunai filled the air like snow. The leader of Kusagakure stopped his charge, scrutinizing the knives that danced around him. He was suspecting a trick—and for good reason. Still armed with his byakugan, Neji could clearly see the strings trailing from the end of each kunai. As the knives flew, they drew the string with them. And then—Neji was impressed in spite of himself—the strings hardened in midair. They created an invisible barrier. The Kusanin leader reached out with suspicion, as though searching for a genjutsu. When his hand came into contact with one of the strings, he pulled back from the unseen obstacle with a yell of pain. The strings must be sharp, Neji surmised. It truly was a jutsu of great complexity, for a genin-level ninja. And it had the effect that Tenten wanted. Their enemy was, for the moment, unable to reach them.
Lee moaned as Neji laid him as carefully as he could next to Guy-sensei. His face was pale but for the dark circles under his round eyes.
Lee started to speak, but looked as if the effort would cause him to vomit.
"Don't move!" Tenten urged him. Her voice was shaking as well as her hands. She leaned over her cellmate. "You hurt your leg. You have to stay still!"
"G-g-g…" Lee tried to say. He blanched still further, swallowed, and finally whispered, "Guy…sensei. How is…Guy-sensei?" Tenten's eyes softened. Lee truly had the biggest heart of all of them. Even through his pain, his focus was not on himself, but on his teacher.
"I'm taking care of him, too. He's—"
"Tenten. Lee. Neji." They were shocked to hear their sensei's voice emanating from the prone figure next to them.
"—talking?" finished Tenten weakly. "Sensei, you shouldn't be talking!" she begged him.
"Listen," Guy commanded them. Wounded though he was, he held up a finger and continued to speak to them. "There's not much time. I need you to do something for me. Can you do that?"
"Of course we will, Sensei!" Tenten said, distraught.
"The three of you have to promise me," croaked Guy.
"We will, we promise." Tenten's voice still sounded as though she were pleading with him not to strain himself.
"Yes, we will do whatever you say," Lee echoed faintly. He sounded honored that his teacher was putting such faith in them. Neji's eyes narrowed. He alone, of Guy's students, knew the ease of making promises that were difficult to keep.
"…Whatever it takes," he said only. Guy nodded in satisfaction.
"Good. Then this is what I need you to do." He struggled into a sitting position, ignoring Tenten's protests. "Go back to Konoha. I'll hold this guy off."
"Sensei, what are you talking about?" cried poor Tenten. Guy was still visibly bleeding. "You're in no condition to fight!"
Guy-sensei put one hand on his knee, the other on the ground, and pushed himself slowly, shakily upward. It was a huge effort. His breath was held with the pain it obviously caused. The three of them could only watch, helpless to stop him. At last, Guy was standing on his feet. "I have your word," he reminded them, breathing hard. "You promised me."
As his words sank in, Tenten and Lee shared a look of stunned realization. They had indeed trapped themselves with their vow. And to break one's word was forbidden in the world of shinobi.
"No," moaned Tenten. "You can't ask us to do that…"
"Good thing I'm not asking you," growled Guy. "I'm telling you. Leave now, while he's still trapped in that barrier. Once you get back to the village, you can send reinforcements back."
"But you won't last that long in your condition!" Tenten shouted. She was close to tears now.
"I don't want any of you involved in a battle with the leader of the Grass Village," Guy told them quietly. "It's far beyond your abilities as genin."
"Maybe," Neji spoke up. He got to his feet. "But we can't know until we try. That's why I'm staying."
Guy blinked, and Lee and Tenten turned to their comrade, confused and yet hoping against hope. If Neji were staying behind…then their sensei just might have a fighting chance. "Neji, are you going against your promise?" Guy-sensei said, his tone foreboding. "I won't have my student—"
"I didn't promise to do what you said." Neji was perfectly aware how insolent his statement sounded. Still he looked straight into his sensei's eyes. "I promised to do whatever it took—to defeat our enemy and to protect my team."
Guy's eyes narrowed as he realized that what Neji said was true. He couldn't pin his third student with a promise. So he attempted a different method. "Return to the village with your teammates," he snapped. "That's an order from your team leader."
"I refuse." Neji held his head high, even in disobedience. It was enormously freeing—even self-validating—to finally know what it felt like to disregard a command. For he knew he could no more obey Guy in this instance, than he could erase the Hyuga mark burned into his forehead. These were his friends, his comrades with whom he had shared countless trials and triumphs. And as infuriating and embarrassing as Guy-sensei could be, he outshone all the other jonin in the village in humor, honesty, and heart. Neji was well aware of his obligations to both the mission and to the Shinobi Code. But Konoha had essentially abandoned them this time. And Neji was not about to abandon the teacher who had done something for Neji that no other adult ever had.
He had gained Neji's trust.
"I'm ordering you!" Guy sounded more dangerous than ever, but Neji considered it no more than bluster now. His certainty that he would face future punishment for his actions, was met by his complete disregard of the prospect. "Do you hear me, Hyuga Neji?" Guy was saying. "Insubordination will not be tolerated on Guy's team!"
"If you die here, what do you think will happen to Team Guy?" Neji asked him quietly. For the first time since Neji had met the man, Might Guy was at a loss for words. "Now…" Neji tensed his body, squeezed his hands into fists, and prepared for battle. "Our enemy is almost free. Tenten, take Lee and go now, before he gets here." Tenten bent down and lifted Lee by putting his arm over her shoulders. She stood up, supporting his weight completely and being careful to keep his injured foot off the ground. She had to stand on tiptoe to do so, since Lee was so tall.
"Neji." Her eyes, like a doe's, met his, the Hyuga sea of lavender. "I know you can do it." Her faith in him was without reserve. And Lee nodded in agreement.
"Protect Guy-sensei," he murmured, his eyes out of focus. Neji nodded at them. He would not let them down. He refused to.
Now action was taking place on all sides. Tenten took off, bounding through the grass like a deer. Neji whirled to face their enemy. Guy, despite his critical wounds, stepped in front of Neji as though to shield him. But Neji wasn't fooled into believing that he would be defended. The time for him to be protected was past.
He was the protector now.
As their enemy finally broke free, he steeled himself, took a deep breath, summoned all his chakra. "Sensei, get down!" he shouted.
"What?" Guy was astonished to hear the command, it was such a role reversal. But Neji hadn't spoken merely for the enjoyment of ordering his teacher around. The situation called for instantaneous reaction—and Guy was being far too slow about it.
"I said, get down!" Neji bellowed. He plowed into Guy-sensei from behind, throwing both of them forward. Neji twisted in midair so that he hit the ground first, breaking Guy's fall. Tenten's threads whirled over their heads, borne by the savage wind created out of nowhere by the Kusa leader. Neji waited until the maelstrom abated, then squirmed gingerly out from under his sensei. He took up his clan's ancient stance: hands held out, one in front of him, one in back, a fighting style that allowed 360˚ defense. It went hand-in-hand with the Hyuga's ocular jutsu, which enabled them to anticipate attacks from any direction.
"Again Konoha insults my intelligence," the leader of Kusagakure observed darkly. "First one of their finest jonin falls before me, and now they present me with nothing more than a genin."
"You do yourself a disservice if you underestimate the shinobi of Konoha," Neji replied.
"Do I?" The lead Kusanin's face was scornful as he let loose with his previous attack. "You will die with your words, Konoha shinobi! Blades of death!"
But Neji felt no fear as the deadly projectiles rushed at him. "Rotation!" he shouted. Whirling like a tornado, he encased himself in an impenetrable sphere of chakra, against which the blades collided uselessly and ricocheted off. To Neji's satisfaction, some of them even shot back at their caster, forcing the Kusanin to block himself from his own attack numerous times. Finally, the storm of knifelike blades abated, and Neji slowed and stopped.
"No one will die today."
It was Hyuga Neji's second promise of the day, and he was utterly committed to keeping it.
He ran forward, muttering as he raced, "Byakugan." His opponent flashed forward to meet him. But his enemy's speed couldn't take Neji by surprise—not while his Hyuga vision was engaged. Breathing fast and concentrating as hard as he could, he began trading blows at blinding speed with the most talented shinobi in the Land of Kusagakure. The limits of his skill were pushed to new heights. He wasn't sure he would be victorious this time. But then, he didn't need to.
He only had to hold the Grass ninja off long enough to buy time.