A/N: Do not own Naruto.
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Heart Broken: Chapter 14
Unclean
Lady Tsunade looked Neji up and down sternly.
"Not too much strenuous training for at least a week," she said, "I'll speak to Gai-san about that. Otherwise, you're free to go."
"Thank you," said Neji, bowing shallowly. He couldn't wait to leave and join Tenten at the practice fields.
The medical-nin looked around the room with a wry smile on her face.
"Any idea what your uncle plans to do with all this stuff?" she said.
"Uh," Neji couldn't think of an answer. He was rarely privy to his uncle's plans. "I don't -."
"That's alright," said Tsunade, patting him on the shoulder kindly, "maybe he'll forget and leave it here."
"Hmm," Neji left it at that. Usually, she shouted or barked orders. Her sudden calm kindness was a little unsettling.
"Maybe you'll suggest that when he comes to get you?" She raised an eyebrow and smiled at him.
"I guess," he said, confused, "I'll ask, but – wait! Did you say he's coming to get me?"
What was going on? Any other trip to the hospital, and there had been quite a few since becoming a ninja, would end with a walk home. Was there something she hadn't told him?
"He said he would come by," said Tsunada, surveying the room with a shy smile.
Was she blushing? Neji's brows lifted and his jaw dropped. The blush and smile certainly weren't for him, which meant they were for –.
Oh, my Kami!
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Hiashi followed Hanabi down the private hospital corridor with Hinata at his side, hurrying in as dignified a way as was possible. He really didn't want to give Hanabi too much of a head-start, but short of lifting the skirts of his robes and sprinting, he was not going to beat her to Neji's room.
"Neji!" Hanabi, shouted, slamming the door open.
Hiashi walked faster.
"Neji! You are not going to believe this!"
He could hear her high excited voice very clearly. He inwardly groaned, ignoring the worried look Hinata gave him.
"Neji! Father went on a date last night!"
Really, was it quite necessary for the girl to scream? Hadn't she learned anything at those very expensive etiquette lessons?
"He got in a fight! He has a black eye!"
Had they added to the corridor? Because it seemed like it was taking much longer to get to the hospital room.
"And guess who the date was with! You'll never guess who -."
Hiashi lifted his skirts and sprinted.
" - he was with!"
Almost there.
"Lady Tsunade-sama!" said Hanabi, triumphantly.
Hiashi barreled into the room, skidding to an ungraceful stop.
Hanabi was standing next Neji by the bed. Neji was neatly folding pajamas.
Hiashi forced himself to stand and straightened his robes.
"Hanabi," he said, gravely and a little breathlessly, "that's enough."
Hinata followed him into the room and went over to help Neji stack things on the folded clothing.
"H-Hanabi," she said, softly, "st-stop."
Hanabi frowned. She tossed her head defiantly.
"That's not all!" she hissed, loudly.
Oh, no.
"He didn't come home until this morning!"
Neji and Hinata stopped what they were doing and turned.
Hiashi stood stock-still, pinned by the stare of three sets of pale Hyuuga eyes.
He was fortunate that the etiquette lessons had paid off for Neji and Hinata, at least. They did not feel compelled to join Hanabi in her pithily expressed opinion.
"Eeewwww!"
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"Found it!" said Sakura, triumphantly, waving the lab report in the air. It had taken awhile, but she had finally tracked down what was bothering her about Neji's case. She tucked the report in a folder and added it to her pile of medical records.
I need to get this to Tsunade-sensai!
She hurried towards the hospital entrance.
"Sakura!"
What now? She needed to show this to Tsunade immediately.
"Not now!" she shouted impatiently over her shoulder.
"Sakura! It's Kiba!" shouted Shikamaru.
She stopped and turned, running to help him and Shino with the barely conscious dog-nin.
"What happened?" she asked, leading the way to one of the triage beds. She signaled to an ER med-nin to come over. "Get some vitals and a chemistry, stat!" She pushed Shikamaru unceremoniously out of the way and started to examine Kiba quickly.
No broken bones, no visible signs of trauma. His skin was pale, almost gray, and he was covered in a cold sweat.
"I need another medic over here!" she shouted, "Wait outside," she said, brusquely to the two anxious shinobi, pulling the privacy curtain around the bed and pushing them out of its fragile protection. "I need to get to work and you two are in the way!"
She signaled to the other medic to give her the equipment to start an IV line.
"Check his chakra levels," she barked.
"72%," said the med-nin.
This was starting to look too much like Neji's case.
"Shikamaru! Shino!" she shouted, knowing they were just outside the curtain.
"Yo," said Shikamaru, tensely, twitching the curtain a little to let her see him.
"Go get Lady Tsunade!"
The two ninjas left without a sound.
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Akamaru lay very still under the hospital bed.
This was bad, very bad.
Master's smell was sick.
Bad sick.
Like that place.
Bad place.
He watched the legs move quickly around the bed, his eyes anxious.
Watching his back.
Always, always, Master.
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"Good work, Sakura," said the Fifth Hokage, "How's the Inuzuka?"
"He's stable," said Sakura, "His chakra levels are very low and he's been going in and out of consciousness, but I think he'll recover soon. I put him in Neji's room," she glanced hesitantly over at the Hyuuga clan leader, who was standing with Neji near the Hokage's huge desk. "It seemed right," she added, a little apologetically.
Hiashi bowed politely.
"Continue," said Tsunade.
"When Neji first came into the ER, I got blood samples, chakra levels and vital signs from everyone he came in contact with in the week before he got sick. It didn't seem significant at first, until I got back his tests," Sakura's voice started to get excited, "I noticed that Tenten's blood tests showed a similar anomaly to Neji's. Her chakra levels were also a little lower than the others, not enough to be of concern at the time. Just puzzling. I was on my way to show you when Kiba came in."
"Should I leave," said Hiashi.
"No," said Tsunade, crisply, "you are a jounin of the village and may be needed. Inuzuka Kiba was attacked with the same virus as your nephew and Tenten. From what Shikamaru and Shino have said, there is at least a tokoju level rogue-nin living in this village hurting our citizens. I may need you. Izumo! Kotetsu!"
The door crashed open and the two chuunin stumbled in.
"Hai, Godaime-sama," said Izumo.
"Go get Hatake Kakashi and Tenten and tell them to -," she stopped when she saw Kakashi lounging against the door of the office, "Get Tenten-san and tell her to get over here right away."
The two saluted and sped out the door, closing it with a slam.
"Good," said Tsunade. She looked over at the two young shinobi standing in front of her.
"Tell me again why you went to the house and what happened there," she signaled to the copy-ninja, "Kakashi, get over here and listen."
"Yo," said the silver-haired former ANBU, strolling forward to join Shikamaru and Shino.
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Tenten looked around her at the faces in the room. Lady Tsunada and Sakura, looking concerned, Hyuuga-sama with his usual cold expression, Shikamaru looking bored, Kakashi and Shino looking – well, it was hard to tell their expressions since their faces were covered. The only person she really wanted to see was Neji, and he was turned half-way away from her with his face down and shadowed.
"I," she said, hesitantly, "I don't understand."
She looked over at Neji again, licking her lips nervously.
"Shikamaru, Shino, and Kiba investigated your foster home based on some suspicions Neji had about your foster father," said the Fifth Hokage.
"You," the air in the office seemed to grow thick and dark around her, "you told them about m-me?" she whispered. He didn't look at her.
She felt sick. They knew? They all knew how despicable she was? How filthy her life was?
She almost fell to her knees with the crushing sense of betrayal and self-loathing.
"Tenten," said Sakura, coming forward and putting her arm around her shivering form, "you've been infected with the same virus as Neji and Kiba."
"Virus?" whispered Tenten, "Infected?"
"Yes," continued Sakura, "It seems to be some kind of jutsu, like Shino's kikai only on the viral level. You have been sick with this for quite a while. Probably some kind of genjutsu that has been controlling you. You gave it to Neji, and he got sick."
Tenten's heart stuttered.
Unclean.
"I infected him?" she said, horrified, "I made him sick?"
She looked desperately over at Neji, pleading in her eyes. He shifted, but would not look at her.
"Neji," she whispered. He finally looked up at her, his face unreadable. She choked on her despair. She pushed Sakura away. "I made him sick."
Unclean.
"Tenten," said Tsunade, roughly, "this is not your fault. Whoever this man is, he has some high-level skills. He's infected you and Neji, and now, Kiba. You did not do this."
Unclean.
"Go with Sakura, now," ordered the blonde medical-ninja, "She wants to run tests, see if she can break this jutsu."
Tenten felt Sakura put her arm around her again, pulling her towards the door.
"Come on, Tenten," said Sakura, briskly, "this won't take long. And then, we'll kick that monster's ass!"
Tenten struggled a little, looking over at Neji.
Nothing on his face but a slight frown.
Unclean.
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Neji clenched his fists. He felt heart-sick. Tenten had looked to him for reassurance and he hadn't given it to her. It didn't matter that the Hokage had asked him to stay out of the conversation.
He had betrayed her twice over.
First by telling Shino, Kiba and Shikamaru that he thought she was being abused.
He didn't feel bad about that. She was his team-mate and his soul-mate. He would do anything to protect her.
Even hurt her.
It was this second betrayal, that filled him with shame.
Why hadn't he smiled at her, at least?
He didn't know.
"I need to -," he started toward the door.
"Stay right there," ordered the Hokage, sharply.
Years of training stopped him in his tracks.
"Sakura will take care of the girl," said Tsunade, "we need to come up with a plan. You will have a chance to make things right with her."
He glared at the woman in frustration.
She was right.
The most important thing right now was to eliminate her enemy.
"What do you want me to do?" he growled.
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Tenten slipped into the hospital room.
Kiba lay on the bed Neji had lately vacated. He was hooked up to a monitor and IV line.
His eyes were closed and he looked much smaller than usual, younger and vulnerable.
He looked terrible.
"Kiba," whispered Tenten, creeping up to the bed and picking up his listless hand. "I'm so sorry, Kiba."
Her tears fell onto the crisp bedding unheeded.
She didn't startle when she heard Akamaru whine a little, or when she felt his warm tongue lick her ankle.
Instead, she dropped down to the floor and put her arms around the ninja-dog, burying her face in his thick ruff of white fur.
"Akamaru, I'm sorry," she sobbed, "I'm so sorry."
Akamaru whined again, leaning heavily onto the girl.
"Hey," croaked Kiba, from the bed, "you tryin' to make time with my dog?"
"Kiba!" she bounced up and gave him a quick hug.
"That's better," said Kiba, weakly teasing, "although I don't think Neji would like you giving me some of your sugar."
"Kiba, I'm so -," Tenten's tears started up again.
"Man, Tenten," said Kiba, "that is some serious shit going on at your house. That guy is one bad fucker. Why didn't you tell us?"
"I – I couldn't," she whispered, "he would hurt – someone else."
"Yeah," he said, "I saw your foster mother."
Tenten froze in shock.
"You saw her?" she gasped.
"Yeah," said Kiba. He gestured toward a glass of water by the bed, "man, I am so thirsty, do you mind?"
She picked up the glass and guided the straw into his mouth. He sucked on the straw deeply, then fell back on the pillows with a sigh.
"Better," he said, "anyway, your Mom, she's really sick. I think she's dying."
"No!" cried Tenten, "he promised if I behaved, he wouldn't hurt her anymore."
"Tenten," said Kiba, "it looked like she cut her hand. Did he do that?"
Tenten nodded dumbly, ashamed.
"I – I couldn't stop him," she whispered, "I tried to stop him, but he knocked me out. When I woke up, her fingers were lying next to me. He said he would cut off more every time I defied him. He s-said," she stopped and choked, "he said, 'first her fingers, then her toes.' I haven't fought him since them."
"Kami," whispered Kiba, brushing the hair back from her face, "you don't need to carry this all by yourself anymore, Tenten. We're gonna get this guy and -."
"No!" said Tenten, pushing away from the bed, "No! Look what he did to you and you just went to the house! He'll kill you! He'll kill Neji!"
"Tenten," said Kiba, alarmed, "wait!"
"I have to stop him," she said, running out the door.
"Shit," said Kiba, hunting desperately for the call button.
Akamaru mouthed it to him.
"Thanks, buddy," said the dog-nin, "better go get the Hokage!"
Akamaru barked and nosed his way out of the door.
"Neji's never gonna forgive me," muttered Kiba, pulling out the IV line.
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A/N: Hope you like this latest installment. Please review? It really is great to get your feedback. Speaking of which, I'm not able to answer some of you because your reply function is turned off. So, take this as your reply: I love hearing from you, thank you so much for your comments. MF 8]