The sounds reverberating throughout the forest were hot enough to singe Temari's ears. She was no stranger to bad language, indeed, she used it often and well. But apparently, Anko was a master of this particular art form.

The blond watched in awe, her own fury at the loss of Hajime held in check. "Ugh …Anko?" She'd been repeating the spiky-haired jounin's name for the past ten minutes.

The older kunoichi finished with her diatribe and threw back her head and howled. Howled. Temari grinned widely, she wanted to be just like her when she got older.

Finally, Anko fell silent as she caught her breath and watched the horizon with furious eyes. "He fucking got away." It was almost a whisper compared to her earlier outburst.

"There is the border into the buffer lands which contain the Village Hidden in the Rain. After the collapse of the Akatsuki, you're not legally able to pursue into their territory without written authorization." Temari reminded her companion needlessly. In fact, she thought she might have to ready herself to fight the other woman in order to keep Anko from crossing the border anyway.

The spiky-haired jounin sighed, kicked the ground and reluctantly turned away. "Fifteen minute head start. That's all he had." She looked at the rising of the sun over the horizon. They'd chased him all night.

Temari shrugged helplessly. "He knew what he was doing when he crossed that border, he knew you'd be legally unable to follow." She paused a moment before adding. "I can follow him."

"Not alone." Anko said with snarling determination. "I won't allow it."

The blond smiled sagely. "We're equal here. Both jounin. Leaf can't cross this border, but Suna can."

"Don't be so sure, owlet." Anko sighed and rolled her shoulders. "Suna and Leaf are allies, they may not take kindly to you on their property either. The civil war tore them apart. And Pein's passing has left a huge power void that they're still struggling with."

Temari shook her head, she'd considered this as well. "I won't try and take him, only follow. Then I can get send information along as I go. Simple."

Anko looked intrigued, and considered it a moment before shaking her head sadly. "Sorry little owl. No can worry Cupcake like that."

The blond girl stiffened, her feelings a bit hurt by the insinuation. "Gaara isn't here. And I'm quite capable."

"No he's not here, more the pity." Anko said, looking around a moment, then grinning almost ferally. "But you are capable, and you'll do. Besides, I may need you to help out in a moment."

Confused, Temari looked around and didn't see anything. Then she noticed a slight shifting in the wind pattern. A void where none should exist, as if someone, or several someones were watching them. "I make six." She said lightly, loosening the strap on her giant fan.

Anko nodded. "I was thinking five, but you're most likely right. Rain shinobi?"

"If they're on this side of the border, it's something the politicians will be interested in knowing about." Temari replied as she felt her muscles relax in preparation for moving in any direction necessary.

The spiky-haired kunoichi felt the kunai fly at her, and shifted minutely to one side to let the blade land in the ground less than an inch from her foot.

"Girls, girls, girls." An obnoxious voice called from the tree tops. "All alone without any suitors?"

Another voice piped up from off to their left. "Put your money on the ground and back away, if it's enough, we'll let you pass …unmolested. If not …" He laughed unctuously, "Well, we'll just have to take the price out of your flesh. And if the ride is good enough, we might even let you live."

Anko sighed despondently. "Shit. They're actually brigands. Hardly worth the effort."

Temari chuckled and pulled her fan out from behind her back. "Think of it as a way to put you back in a good mood, if they fight hard enough maybe we'll even let them keep parts of their anatomy."

The spiky-haired kunoichi pulled out several kunai and blew out a deep breath. "Fine. But if I chip one of my weapons on their bones, there's gonna be hell to pay." With a shout of glee, she attacked.

o.O.o.O.o.O

Tsunade looked over the report carefully. "You're sure about these findings?"

Morino Ibiki nodded with absolute confidence. "We questioned three members of the branch family, but found no conspiracy."

Shizune looked worried as she read over the results. "Why only these three? The branch family is rather large."

The ANBU torture division leader nodded. "Two, because they had coded messages or other suspicious materials in their rooms. One turned out to be a petty embezzler, we've turned over our findings to Lord Hyuuga. The other message was turned out to be completely innocent. An academy student practicing with classmates on coded messages."

The Hokage's gaze narrowed. "I don't recall giving permission to torture a student."

Ibiki chuckled. "We didn't. The student hasn't learned to fend off hypnosis yet. She's feisty though, and I've earmarked her for possible future ANBU training."

"Oh?" Tsunade leaned forward with interest. "Why?"

The scarred torture master grinned. "Kid didn't faint at being brought before ANBU, and the code those kids were practicing with? Took my team over an hour to crack it. At her age, that level of skill is admirable."

"Good." Shizune made a notation on one of her myriad of lists. "But I don't recall there being a third person brought in for questioning."

For the first time, Ibiki paused and considered his words. "The third person had nothing in his room that could be considered incriminating." He said as he held out a sealed envelope to the Hokage.

Tsunade eyed her ANBU torture master, tapping the envelope absently with one long fingernail. "Before I read this. Am I going to be angry?"

Ibiki nodded slowly. "Most likely."

"Did you overstep yourself?" The blond Hokage said, her eyes narrowing dangerously.

Ibiki merely nodded again. "Most likely."

Shizune looked confused as she watched the byplay between the two, neither backing down. Finally, she watched as Tsunade broke the seal on the envelope and pulled out some papers. The Hokage's face clouded ominously and Shizune held her breath.

"Hyuuga Neji?" Tsunade's voice sounded harsh as she looked back up to stare daggers at Ibiki. "Why the hell did you pull him in if there was no evidence?"

The ANBU torture leader sighed. "He's the first jounin from the branch family in several years. The last being Hyuuga Hajime. While there was no evidence of their being friendly, or even close, it was something to consider. Another is that of all the branch family members, Neji has the most to gain at the death of either Hanabi or her sister."

Tsunade let out a long breathy sigh as she listened. "And Neji is the first branch family member ever to gain the Byakugan. With the girls out of the way, he might actually be considered by some as a potential heir. Was that your thinking?"

Ibiki nodded. "One more matter. During Neji's first chuunin exams, he actually did try to kill Hinata from the accounts that I've read."

Shizune couldn't believe it of the young jounin. "But he was cleared of putting the snake in the bedcovers!"

Tsunade shook her head. "But if he was in league with Hajime, it would have been easy enough to be seen around town and form an alibi."

The ANBU shinobi merely nodded.

"Tell me." The Hokage leaned back and eyed Ibiki carefully. "Did Neji fall under hypnosis?"

Ibiki shook his head 'no'.

"So. Did you torture him?" She asked coldly. "Without my direct permission?"

If it were possible for such a hard man as Ibiki, he almost looked sheepish. "Only a little."

"Shizune?" Tsunade asked after a long terse moment of silence. "What's the punishment for what Ibiki has just admitted to?"

The Hokage's assistant was wide eyed as she watched the two of them staring at each other. "Turning him over to …well, to ANBU."

"Well, Ibiki." Tsunade stated with chilly indifference. "I can't very well turn you over to yourself or even to your subordinates. And truth to be told, I still need you."

The man shifted uncomfortably before her hard stare.

"I trust that since you're telling me all this, then you didn't find anything when you …examined Neji?" Tsunade continued, growing angrier by the moment.

Ibiki shrugged. "With the small levels I submitted him to, he told us nothing. He really is a strong jounin and I expect that to get to the core of his being we'd end up destroying him."

Shizune spoke up, appalled. "Are you actually requesting permission to continue torturing him?"

The ANBU shinobi shook his head. "On the contrary. We let him go. I feel, and it's in my report, that a ninja as strong willed as Neji has turned out to be would have already succeeded in the deaths of his cousins if that was his true wish."

"I will consider your transgressions and inform you of your punishment tomorrow." Tsunade said with a sneer. "Get out."

Ibiki gave a quick bow and left even quicker.

Shizune sighed, shaking her head in disbelief. "How could he have done something so stupid?"

Tsunade tossed the papers on her desk and rubbed her temples. "Ibiki's a good man. And he saved me from ordering the task done."

"What?" Shizune felt sick all of a sudden.

The Hokage looked at her assistant sadly. "Neji is …was, one of my top suspects right from the start. But pulling him in for questioning would have been a political disaster. Not only does Hiashi feel Neji to be innocent, but I hear vague rumblings that he's grooming the boy for a high political marriage. Into nobility, no less."

Shizune shut her eyes, feeling a headache coming on. "So Ibiki questioned him on his own, leaving you able to deny everything. He risked much."

"He's a good man. And a good shinobi." Tsunade frowned. "And he knows that I'll have to really punish him, not just candy coat it."

Shizune leaned against the side of the Hokage's desk. "How are the Hyuugas going to react?"

Tsunade shrugged. "I'm sure we'll find out soon enough."

o.O.o.O.o.O

"That's not fair!" Temari pouted as Anko dragged the last living member of the bandit gang and tossed him down at her feet. "You could have left me more of them."

The spiky-haired kunoichi gave a diffident shrug along. "Wind is a distance technique. I prefer things a bit …closer." She said as she bent down to stare at the cowering bandit on the ground, a bloody kunai still in her grasp. The man screamed like a child and tried to crab-walk backwards, only to hit Temari's legs.

The blond looked down in disgust. "Now he's gotten my sandals dirty." She said and kicked him so that he rolled off her feet.

"L…l….let me go!" The man wailed and begged, throwing himself on their mercy.

Anko sighed. "This fight wasn't even worth the effort."

The blond pouted. "At least you got to fight."

"Hey, now!" Anko shook her head. "I let you blow them down out of the trees. That one over there fell on his head. I think he's dead. You got one so quit whining."

The man was now crying, making Anko roll her eyes in disgust. "Please le…let me go! We weren't even after you, really! We was following that old man, but he turned out spry and got by us."

"Old man?" Temari mused, looking around. "Where'd he go, this figment of your imagination?"

"Nooo …no, really! He met up with this younger guy right over beyond that creekbed." The man indicated a spot just across the border into the buffer territories. "Them took off together. We got here and saw you two and thought ….." He trailed off miserably.

"See now owlet, he and his group actually thought. And here we were thinking that ideas were rare to them."

"Huh?" The man whimpered piteously.

Temari sighed. "She called you stupid. Stupid." Then she glanced up at Anko. "Anyway, why owlet? I thought I was gosling."

Anko merely shrugged. "That was yesterday, things change fast. Get over it."

The man at their feet made a break for it, thinking the two women had to be nuts. Both kunoichis sighed.

"He's all yours." Anko bowed out in order to clean her weapons.

Temari gave a wicked chuckle and took off after the fleeing man.

o.O.o.O.o.O

Yugao was sitting with Lord Hiashi discussing Hanabi's recovery progress when the message arrived.

The Hyuuga clan leader accepted the message and ran one hand through his hair to pull it back behind his ear.

Yugao frowned. She'd never seen Hiashi this …this discombobulated before. The ANBU had searched his home yesterday, questioned his family. Suspected him, and cleared him. But the almighty Hyuuga pride had finally been dented.

The man's highest advisor, a trusted friend and a his son, a Hyuuga jounin, had turned traitor to both the clan and the village. Yugao watched as Hiashi turned the note over and over in his hands.

"Aren't you going to open it?" She asked in her quiet, but straight forward method.

Hiashi nodded. "Yes. But I don't know how much more I can take. Is this message to tell me my daughter and her husband are safe? Or is there more bad news?"

"This isn't like you." Yugao said, watching him.

The Hyuuga clan leader snorted lightly. "How do you know?"

The kunoichi shrugged. "I don't. But I know your daughter quite well as her instructor. And I've made a few personal observations on the immediate family. Some because of my role guiding Hanabi's genin team, and some from these more recent events."

"And what are these observations?" Hiashi asked with morbid curiousity.

Yugao shrugged. "That the mighty Hyuuga's are human after all."

Hiashi nodded with a small quirk that might have passed for a smile. "Indeed." With that he broke open the sealed message and read it through. "Human? The Hyuugas may indeed be human, and we bleed real blood. ANBU on the other hand, their humanity is still in question."

Miffed, Yugao sat up straight. As former ANBU she didn't take kindly to such disparaging remarks.

Hiashi looked up at her with flat, dead eyes. "They had Morino Ibiki 'question' Neji without proper orders, or my consent."

The blue haired woman shook her head, her eyes widening slightly. "But the Hokage?"

"Apparently, Ibiki took it upon himself." Hiashi growled. "And they found nothing. NOTHING!" He suddenly roared and balled up the message he'd been reading. "I could have told them that! Neji is no more a traitor to this family than I am! I'll have some heads on a platter for this."

"And I thank you for that, uncle."

Startled, both Yugao and Hiashi turned to stare at the open doorway to see a very stiff Neji standing there.

"But instead of heads on a platter, how about something for pain instead?" Neji said, trying not to move any more muscles than absolutely necessary.

Yugao eyed him carefully. "Seems Ibiki didn't go too hard on you."

Neji looked at the object of his every fantasy, and felt …empty. Here she was chatting with his only too eligible uncle while he'd been at the tender mercies of the ANBU torture division. If Hiashi married Yugao, he thought he'd just go turn himself over to Ibiki and let the man finish off what was left of him.

Hiashi gave Yugao a shocked look. "How can you say that? Look at him! He can barely stand, much less move!"

Yugao nodded and stood up, stretching. "Because he CAN stand, that's how I know Ibiki didn't unleash his worst. Now. Do you have any medicines? Oh, and a couch or maybe a futon that could be set up in here?"

The Hyuuga clan leader, to his credit, shut up and nodded. He eyed Neji with a grimace. The blue-haired woman was right. They were going to have to treat him downstairs. There was no way Neji was going to be able to navigate the stairs in his current condition. Hiashi watched as his nephew's balance wavered, and he caught himself by putting his hand on the door frame.

"I hate ANBU right now." Neji informed Yugao, his face closed to her.

She nodded sympathetically. "I know."

o.O.o.O.o.O

"Yo! Herring-breath! Get over here, I found something."

Anko quirked an eyebrow and smirked as she raced over to where Temari was standing with her prisoner. "Herring-breath?"

"See, you had pickled herring yesterday morning and …"

The spiky-haired kunoichi crossed her arms and stared at Temari until the blond stopped talking. "Anko. My name is Anko."

Temari scowled. "So how come you get to use nicknames on everyone else?"

Anko smirked and shrugged. "Because I'm special, hambone."

The blond sighed. "Hambone? I thought I was owlet."

"That was before you decided to play my game." Anko informed her archly, but with a gleam of humor in her eyes. "Now, what did you find?"

The pony-tailed kunoichi growled and handed over a large sack. "Bastard tried to bribe me to let him go."

"Anything good?"

"ANKO?!"

The spiky-haired jounin shrugged, totally unabashed. "Just asking."

Temari dropped the sack and pulled out a set of messenger bags. "Seems these fellows have been preying on travelers. Even bonded messengers. And these packets have the Hyuuga seals on them."

Suddenly interested, Anko shoved the cowering fool to the ground and pinned him there with several well thrown kunai through his clothing. Then she calmly and coldly stepped on his groin. She looked down at him as he groaned and struggled in vain. "I press down and grind your junk into dust unless you tell me what I want to know."

The man wept and tried to grab at her ankle, but couldn't pull loose from the kunai staking him to the ground. "We killed a messenger who fought back just the other day. Don't know where he was going. Had a wad of cash, but nothing flashy. Papers. Nothing in his bag but papers."

Anko's eyebrow rose as she pouted and looked over at Temari. "He caved way too easily. I wanted to hurt him more."

Temari shrugged. "These look like personal letters from Lord Hyuuga to someone in the Country of Earth. I don't recognize the village name." She skimmed the top letter quickly, the gasped. "Look these even mention Hinata and Kankuro!"

Anko grabbed the letter in question and read it quickly. The man at her feet tried to squirm away, so she pressed down a bit harder on his groain, making him cry harder. "Says here that Kankuro stood up to Hiashi, but instead of being upset the man was pleased. Seems Hiashi likes what he sees in your brother."

"There's a section on Hanabi as well. Seems he's worried about her progress in training. Oh wait, it's because of that snake bite Kankuro told me about." Temari said, scanning the rest of the papers. "But I can't read this last letter at all."

Anko looked over the blond's shoulder. "It's coded."

Temari frowned. "Brush strokes are different too. Smaller, cramped writing. Not like Hiashi's."

The spiky-haired kunoichi eased up her foot, making the man pant with relief. "Did you stick someone else's letter in with this bunch?"

The man shook his head in denial. "They was all together like that. Just in different envelopes."

"Going to the same place?" Anko queried, and started to press down on her foot again.

The man screamed and shook his head. "No! Let me go. I don't know nothing about them papers. I can't even read!"

Temari sighed. "He's probably telling the truth. Oh, here's the envelope for this letter. Brush strokes are the same as the coded words, but the address is the same as Lord Hyuuga's letters."

Anko reached down and freed the man by pulling up her kunai. She then hauled him to his feet. "Taking him back is going to slow us down."

"He confessed to murder." Temari pointed out.

Anko shook her head, looking sad. "Playing by the rules sucks, owlet."

Temari kept her mouth shut, just glad she'd gone back to being owlet, it was better than hambone.

The spiky-haired kunoichi calmly put away her weapons as the man babbled his thanks. She had the last one in her hand when she made a sudden lunge and knocked the man out. "At least he's pretty small. We'll take turns carrying him."

The blond sighed. "I wish he stunk less."

Anko nodded, but her mind was racing. "Come on. We don't have time to play lazy. We need to get these messages back to Lord Hyuuga."

Temari nodded. "You're thinking the coded letter is suspicious?"

"If it's not. I'll sleep with this fellow here." She said as she hauled him up over her back with a grunt, tying his hands so he wouldn't slip off. "Before he takes a bath."

Temari laughed, horrified at the mere thought. "That's pretty damned sure."

"You betcha." Anko stated, and took off for the Leaf village at a slightly slower pace due to the man she carried.

o.O.o.O.o.O

Neji protested, but in the end he lost. His clothes were cut off of him as he lay face down on the futon the servants had fetched. A thin sheet preserved what modesty he had left, which wasn't much after his session with the ANBU jerks.

Yugao eyed his back carefully, taking stock in each and every wound and bruise. If she noticed his fine muscular physique, she didn't say anything. But there was a certain appreciative look in her eyes as she knelt beside him.

"This may sting." She told him gently.

Neji tensed, but nodded. Then groaned from the ache that small motion caused. "It'll fade into all the other pain."

Hiashi had called for the servants, but then hadn't returned. So Yugao had taken charge. The servants fulfilled her every request with great speed and dignity. They wore worried looks as they looked at Neji.

"The servants here like you." She told him as she opened a jar with a pungent scent.

He grunted, but didn't comment.

"Your uncle likes you." Yugao added, as she slipped her fingers into the soothing salve and started to spread it over the most vicious looking bruises.

Neji closed his eyes despairingly. "You like my uncle?" The words were almost torn from his mouth.

"Yah." Yugao told him. Breaking his heart in the process, before she added, "He's a strong leader and a good man."

The young Hyuuga frowned. Her tone of voice didn't indicate that she was enamored of him. Perhaps, he was reading more into their relationship than was really there. "Do you find him attractive?" He asked, holding his breath as her fingers smoothed on the cooling salve.

The ointment may have been meant to be helpful. But her touch on his bare skin was driving him mad. His body was too wracked with pain to really react, but his breathing did speed up and he swore that wherever she touched, it tingled.

Yugao chuckled lightly as she eyed the prime specimen nearly bare before her. "Hyuuga men are blessed. I think I've mentioned that before."

Neji wanted to scream. Would the woman not answer a simple question? He turned his head to glare at her and caught her eyes watching him with a soft smile. His heart skipped a beat before she noticed his regard and returned to tending his tender flesh.

"Good." Hiashi said as he swept into the room. "Good, you've already started. I sent for a healer though, and Shizune has been kind enough to respond herself."

Yugao stepped back from her spot, making room for the skilled medic to tend Neji. She frowned slightly as she watched the older kunoichi go to work. Somehow Yugao felt off balance. Almost bereft. She wiped the frown from her face with practiced ease. She'd gotten good at hiding her feelings, first in ANBU, then later after Hayate's death.

With a plain expression, that gave nothing away, Yugao examined her feelings. Her eyes narrowed on Shizune's back. Did she resent the woman? But why?

It's not like medicine was her strong suit, like it was Shizune's. And it's not like the Hokage's assistant had been disrespectful, quite the contrary. Yugao watched as Shizune healed Neji's wounds. She looked up to watch Hiashi watching Neji as well.

Yugao looked down at Neji's face. His eyes were on her. The blue-haired kunoichi's expression didn't change, but she did hold her breath. Those pale eyes stared at her and didn't waver. And suddenly, she felt a bit better and had no idea why.

o.O.o.O.o.O

Another chapter! No lemons in this one, sorry. Citrus is to be savored, but not used to drown you with it!

Well? REVIEWS please!