Chapter 28

"Why are we here?" Shae asks looking around the enclosed wooded area, the sun beginning to set

"I know you've been trying to get Chaos to either obey or work with you. I thought we could continue that training" Neji says looking around then sitting down

"Neji I'm tired, I've been training all day with Lee then Asuma who didn't give me a break once and-"

"It will only be for a few minutes and we'll head home" he says crossing his legs and closing his eyes

She sighs sitting down in front of him, closing her eyes, connecting until the pain starts.

"Breathe" Neji says in his soothing way reaching behind him into his packet for a kunai, bringing it in front, slicing his thumb open, bringing it to her lips.

"Chaos" he says softly sliding his thumb into her mouth, her eye's snapping open revealing Chaos fully connecting to Shae without visibly hurting her.

"mmm" she purrs then biting down on his thumb, he winces, staying where he is.

"You called?" she says holding onto his hand and wrist in a death grip, gingerly sucking at his thumb

"What's your price?" Neji asks, breathing steady

"My price?" she asks

"You're not co-operating with Shae in the slightest, you only cause her pain and bring danger… Your price" he says keeping his stoic demeanor

"Every mission that will end bloody… and you" she says looking him over, Neji thinking it over

"Fine" He moves closer, Chaos smirking, moving from her seated position onto her hands and knees, pulling off her shorts and panties, Neji positioning himself behind her

"Hard and rough" Chaos says turning to look at him at the corner of her eye. Neji nods thrusting hard into her, hearing her gasp forcing herself back meeting his hips.

She stops, moving away from him to turn onto her back, eyes closed, Neji moving back between her legs, holding onto her hips returning to his hard fast pace

"Neji…Neji" he hears a small cry, he opens his eyes, Shae's eyes normal Chaos no longer there "Stop it you're hurting me" she begins to cry, feeling no longer in control of his body, his hands moving around her neck squeezing her throat as he continues to thrust into her, Shae trying to struggle for air as tears steam down her face

"Your.. eyes…Chaos" she says in a strangled whisper, the life fading from her eyes as she no longer struggles to free his hands from her throat.

Neji stops moving,finally back in control crawling off of her picking her up into his arms, the guilt and pain he felt at his uncontrollable actions, he hears an ominous laugh, he looks up, a crouching black figure that took on his form.

"I told you I'd kill her somehow"

Neji wakes up his pulse racing, sweating, sitting up he looks around the room, then to his right seeing Shae stirring awake.

"You okay?" she says propping herself up on her elbow, he lays back down holding her close, breathing in the scent of her shampoo, he lifts her head up to him while she rubs her eyes.

"Only a dream" he says running his hand along her neck then looking at his thumb

"Hm?" she opens her eyes, seeing how concerned but relieved he was.

"I'm sorry I woke you" he says giving her a soft kiss, then burying his face in her hair, Shae adjusting her position, her hand and head on his chest, hearing his heart beat still slowing down. Shae looks up at him, his expression as if he had just done something terrible

"Did you want to tell me what it was?" she whispers

"No, it was only a dream" he says pulling the blanket over her shoulders

"Was it about me?" she asks gently, his movement hesitant for a second then wrapping his arm back around her

"It must've been a nightmare…" she watches his expression soften a bit

"It was" Neji remaining awake for the rest of the night

That was the only thing he would say about his nightmare, staying close, but never taking advantage of them being alone in between training sessions, trying constantly to get him to sleep with her, but Neji always having an excuse to leave the room. The day of her exam, she woke up early, went for a jog and came home, not expecting to see Neji waiting outside her apartment, two drinks and a bag in his hand.

"Have you been here long?" she asks pulling out her keys opening the door

"Not long, 10 minutes maybe" he straightens out following her in.

"The exam is in 2 hours, you should eat now, that way you won't be distracted by hunger during it, it should last into the next day by how Naruto described it, so I also got you food pellets. I'm assuming Ten ten came by to check your weapon yesterday, and-"

"Stop" she says turning to him as he sets the bag and two cups down on the kitchen table

"Stop what?" he says not looking at her

"You keep acting as if I'm going to break, like I'm made of glass. If you don't think I'm ready just say so, ever since your nightmare you're treating me differently and I don't like it" she says feeling frustrated

"I'm only concerned for your safety, chunin have died during exams as you know" he responds in his usual tone

"It's not just that, you won't have sex with me anymore" she says still standing at the entrance between the kitchen and hallway

"I would think what we have is more than just sex" he snaps at her then rubbing the bridge of his nose thinking, Shae rolls her eyes walking away to the bedroom to change into her gear, she feels his arms around her waist

"It's important you're not distracted" he says softly, his head in the crook of her neck

"I know... I was trying to avoid this conversation until after my exam but it just came out, and I'm frustrated cause you won't tell me what's bothering you and it's keeping you from me and I'm trying really hard not to get angry over it" Neji turns her around kissing her softly, his eyes flicker to the alarm clock, gently laying her on the bed, she smiles, helping him with her shorts and panties, he stays crouched in front of her.

Staying on his knees, lowering his face between her legs, licking her slow and gentle, she lays down, closing her eyes, every slow lick of his tongue sending a delicious wave of pleasure through her, Neji keeping his hands on the side of the bed, she reaches his hands bringing them to her breasts, propping herself on her elbows, he looks up at her, bringing one of his hands down, loosening his pants, stroking himself while he eats her out, feeling her breast with his free hand.

"Neji" she breathes feeling her climax building, he kneels upright, gently sliding into her, before rolling both of them completely onto the bed, letting Shae on top giving her full control, he rests his hands on the side of her hips, she rocks back and forth, then in circles, watching Neji tensing up, his hands gently rubbing at her hips, she begins bouncing up and down, Neji grunts in pleasure, he sits up pulling her shirt over her head, then her bra, burying his head in the crook of her neck, and his arms around her, she keeps her arms around him, only able to rock back and forth being tangled in each others arms.

Neji breathing her name into her neck, his breath against her skin causing her to moan, loving the slow build, holding tightly onto him as she climaxes, biting his shoulder, feeling Neji tense up following a soft satisfied grunt, they stay in that position until he moves to look over his bitten shoulder at the clock. He looks back up at her kissing her softly

"We need to go, it's going to take a while to get there" he says gently running his hand along her spine, she nods, moving away from him, stopping then coming back taking her hands at the sides of his face giving him a firm kiss, smiling then letting go. She opes her drawers pulling on new underwear, then her gear, tying her hair into a quick braid, she looks over at Neji, who was sitting at the foot of the bed watching her, then he stands up, bringing his hand to her chin the other around her waist

"Promise me you'll be careful" his look of conflicted emotions and thoughts on his face

'He really is concerned…' How bad was his dream?... she thinks

"I promise"

..

"You're late" She hears looking around, seeing Yamato and Lee next to the tree she pased

"Excuse you, I'm never late" She says looking at her watch

"We were to go over tips' Lee says "Oh Hello Neji"

"Lee,, Yamato" he nods

"Yeah we still have time for some tips, I didn't mean go over everything I meant just some pointers to brush up on" she says to Lee

"You must always be prepared for battle!" Lee says enthusiastically

"I'm sure she means to help out her weakest areas" Yamatos says scratching his head

"Asuma couldn't make it to wish you luck, so he asked me to do it for him" he pats and rubs the top of her head "Good luck, kid" then he stops Shae glaring at him

"For fuck sakes, Asuma" she growls, taking out her braid to straighten it out, the doors to the compound open, the crowd waiting for the exam make their way in

"This feels like the hunger games, or battle royal" she mumbles, seeing Lee's confused expression she shakes her head

"Okay, see you when I get out… " She smiles at them, walking in with the last few people 'May the odds ever be in my favor' she thinks looking back at them, Neji hesitantly waving, she smiles tilting her head giving a wink and salute as the door close.

She gives one last look at the doors before turning to the people in the hallway, she follows them into the main area.

"When you're in the field you have to tell the difference between friend and foe. Being Chunin, you know how important having a strong team is, you've all been assignment a number, 1-3, top floor. 4-6, fifth floor, 7-9 third floor, make your way to your assigned number and we'll begin" Shikamaru's voice ringing through the intercom

Shae takes the number from her small pouch, seeing a two, she walks towards the stairs, at the top is a vacant floor, only pillars of cement and a windowless. After a few minutes, the intercom comes on

"Each floor will release one group of three when the buzzer sounds, further instructions to be announced" she hears shikamaru's voice, then the static cutting out

'Jesus Shikamaru, 'I want to play a game' much?' she thinks looking around the room seeing a man with gray eyes and black medium hair man and a woman white hair, blue eyes standing off by themselves, she walks over to the man first.

"Hey, my name is-"

"I know who you are" He says looking her over, his demeanor hard and stoic

"Ookay so what's your name?" she asks trying not to be sarcastic

"I'll be in your group, as long as you don't help any other person in this exam" he says staring her dead in the eye

"I still need to know your name" she says in a flat tone

"Ren" he says looking around

"Alright, see that wasn't so hard" she smiles, then walks towards the woman, she feels hands around her waist

"Not her, she barely past the chunin exams last year, she'll be dead weight" he says in a low voice next to her ear, she turns to look at him

"I think if I asked her what her abilities are, we could find a way she would be of equal strength and make a good team. Also, you put your hands on me again, I'll cut them off" she growls meeting his stare, he lets her go straightening out

"Had I reached for you in any other way, you would've taken it as an act of aggression" he says

'Yeah, whatever" she mumbles walking over to her.

"You want to be in a group?" she says before Shae has the chance to open her mouth

"Yeah, I was just going to ask" she says smiling

"Ren doesn't like me much, how does he feel about me being in your group?" she asks leaning against the cement cylinder

"If he doesn't want to be in our group he can fuck off, plenty of other people" she smiles

"I can fuck off?" she hears behind her, she inwardly cringes, then turns to him

"Yes, if you're gonna be an asshole instead of help or see how we can complement each others skill" She says not backing down

"Kara" he says with the slightest nod to the women

"Ren" she responds looking at the ground

"mm, ookay" Shae says looking from Ren to Kara

'This is gonna be fun..'

.

"How long was this exam suppose to last?" Lee asks standing up from just finishing his push ups

"From what I heard two days, won't see her until tomorrow sometime" Yamato answers, Neji using his byakugan, seeing no one in the arena, he scans each floor.

"I'm going to have to ask you three to leave, nothing personal" They turn seeing Iruka

"Leave?" Lee asks

"I know there's no way any of you can reach her, however. It's a safety precaution" Iruka says stopping in front of them

"A safety precaution?" Yamato says standing up

"Yeah, they're all a pretty powerful bunch,this time around, it's just in case. You don't have to leave completely, but you do need to head back a few 100 yards" he says, eyes wandering over to Neji, who had looked to have stopped listening and was scanning the floors

"That means you too Neji" he says finally getting his attention, he nods, they all follow him

"Did you help with the exam sensei?" Lee asks

"You don't need to keep calling me sensei Lee, and no, everything has been top secret, there's only a handful of people that know"

They hear rumbling, the muffling of an explosion and a high pitched scream, Yamato holds onto Neji's wrist unsure what he would do.

"That's not her" he says ib a low voice

"I know" Neji says calmly, and keeps walking pushing away his thoughts, seeing the last rays of light through the trees

..

'Fuck… where did they go' she looks around the darkened room for any movement

'Chaos… do you feel them?'

'Kara to the left, Ren to your far right… ' Chaos replies lazily

'I'm sorry is this boring you?' she snaps

'No they are'

'what does-' She hears stone grinding behind her, she dives forward, rolling onto her feet jumping behind another pillar closer to Ren, she looks seeing throwing stars embedded into the ground where she just was, she remains quiet, keeping her breath steady, low consistent.

Her muscles beginning to ache from crouching and holding a defensive position for hours, making their way to the middle to retrieve the scroll in order to get further directions for the last half of the exam. Whenever one person stood still too long a trap would be set off randomly, the first one was less than friendly, a flash bomb blinding them for a few minutes while they tried to take cover from incoming kunai.

The lights are turned on, with a siren going off, the only entrance opening back up, she looks around startled, she looks to her team, who were also looking around the area, Shae looks up seeing Shikamaru from a small window yelling and pointing to the exit. She yells for Ren and Kara to run, as they make their way to the exit, a smoke bomb sets off, and an opening on the near by wall opening up, throwing stars, Shae using her weapon deflects them, feeling arms around her she's rolled to the right, seeing long white hair, Kara.

Kara hides both of them behind a pillar, Ren reaches both of them, visibility breathing heavy, he yells at them but the siren drowns out his voice. Instead he grabs both of their wrists running in a zig zag pattern to the exit, Shae looks over her shoulder, several openings appearing in the wall and pillars, her eyes widen at the sight thinking she can't deflect them all. Kara stops seeing Shae's expression, tearing her wrist from Rens grip, weaving hands signs she touches the floor summoning a dirt wall, then continues running.

Ren not bothering to look back as he runs, keeping a death grip on Shae's wrist, she looks back at Kara who was keeping up despite blocking random attacks from the hidden compartments, the surrounding wall at the exit, beginning to opening up, not having enough time he turns covering Shae, specks and drops of blood cover the front of Shae's vest, Ren wipes his mouth, his eyes darting right, he pushes Shae into Kara's arms, Ren deflecting the kunai, as Kara throws Shae to the exit, she rolls into the hallway, looking up only to see Kara being pierced in the leg, holding Ren up, Rens hair covering his face, Kara runs the rest of the way, dodging the flying weapons, as blood runs down her leg.

Shae stands up, as soon as they're in the hall, she pulls the throwing stars from kara's legs, using her ability to heal her as fast as possible, Ren who wasn't moving, Shae not focusing on concentrating her power lets it flow through her as she holds onto Ren, Kara pulling out the weapons from his back and side fully healed but his breathing labored, she signals Kara to help her, Kara helps him onto her back as they run down the hallway, the forest coming into view, shae feeling an ache in her side, keeps moving.

Reaching the outside are medics, they check Ren and Kara over, Shae stands up straight, feeling lightheaded, she turns seeing Neji as he picks her up.

"It hurts to breathe" she whispers

"Don't move, there's a kunai in your upper left side" Neji says as he runs as fast as he can to the hospital, a 20 minute run at his fastest speed.

"I was as careful as I c-could've been" she whispers feeling cold, she looks down seeing blood beginning to stain the front of her shirt

" Please.. You can't do this …. Stay with me.. Stay with me" she hears losing consciousness

….

Shae opens her eyes to open sky, she looks down seeing grass mixed with sand, she sits down, picking up the sand in her hands, watching it flow out of them. She lays down looking at the crystal blue sky, smiling.

"What are you going?" she hears, she turns over seeing Gaara

"Just looking at the sky.. I never seen it so blue before" she says laying back down

"You can't stay here" she hears another voice, she turns over again seeing Neji

"Why not?"

"It's not time" Neji says, she furrows her brow sitting up

"Neji.. I'm tired. I need a break" she says standing up, dusting herself off

"not yet"

….

"Where's Sakura?!" Neji says nearly yelling at the orderly

"In surgery-I-I'll get her" the orderly says recognizing Shae in his arms

"Come with me" another says darting down the hallway to the ICU, opening the doors, the room already prepared, he sets her gently on a the bed, she walks over to a small blue button and pushes it. Two minutes later Sakura, and 4 other nurses walk in.

"How much blood did she lose?" Sakura says walking to a metal cabinet opening it up, taking out a bag of blood, walking over to the IV drip that one of the nurses inserted into her arm.

"I can't say, it had taken 20 minutes to get here" he says watching them cutting off her clothes then covering her with a gown.

"Is this poisoned?" Sakura asks pointing to the weapon in her side

"No, she was taking the jonin exam" he says, Sakura nods not bothering to look at him, filling a syringe taking it to the skin surrounding the weapon, injecting small amount around it, one of the nurses rolls over a bulky machine, unraveling a hose then walks over to another cabinet pulling out a packaged tube, ripping it open walking back over to Shae.

"Thanks, Neji you can't be here" Sakura says glancing over at him, then to the door Neji not having noticed Anbu had shown up, they walk over to him standing behind him

He walks towards the door, listening to the heart monitor she was hooked up too, each beep becoming further apart as his finger tips brush against the door, she flat lines, he turns around the anbu holding onto him

"Let go!" he snarls at them, hitting their chakra network, Sakura placing pads for the defibrillator on Shae's chest.

"Get him out!" she yells, the defibrillator going off seeing Shae's body convulse the heart monitor still flat lining..

"SHAE!"

..

"oh my baby I missed you" she says smiling walking over to Hatsukoi, who was reaching for a small daisy in the ground, Shae picks her up sitting back down. holding her close.

"You're learning to crawl, my you're getting so big" she says kissing her on the head, she coos holding onto the flower

She looks over at Gaara and Neji.

"Why you still standing there, come sit down" she says

"You're not understanding why we can't" Gaara says softly crouching in front of her

"Because you're Kazekage and you have duties to attend too?" she says smiling lifting Hatsukoi up and back down while she kicks her legs out in excitement.

"That's not why, you need to come back.. I need you" she hears Neji whisper to her, Shae turns to her left seeing him with a sad expression on his face, she looks back at Hatsukoi

"Neji's being silly, I'm right here" she coos to her tickling her stomach, she hears hears a loud voice in the distance, she looks around

"Did you hear that?"she asks not seeing Gaara or Neji anywhere, she looks down Hatsukoi gone

"I want you to know I didn't do this" she hears an ominous voice, she turns standing up seeing Chaos

"Do what?" she asks looking around

"I tried killing you several times, most back fired or only cause you injury, but I didn't cause it this time… As much as I hate to admit it I've enjoyed our time together. It was more interesting than all the years I've known" Chaos says

"It was, wasn't it?" She smiles feeling a warm breeze around her, she clears her throat feeling a tickle, she holds her side feeling a small ache.

"Hm… Not yet I see" Chaos says a smirk across it's face, Shae coughs wipes her mouth seeing blood, and dropping to her knees, the pain in her chest overwhelming

….

"With the massive blood loss, and her lung collapsing, She's as stable as she can be" Sakura says to Neji, he nods then stands up walking to the doors

"I don't think you want to see her like that" Sakura says moving in front of him "And I doubt she would want you to see her so…" she clears the lump in her throat. Half listening to Sakura, he walks passed her, pushing the door open, keeping his eyes lowered as he walks up to the bed, the low hum and beep of the machines around her. He slowly looks up, a tube running from one of the machines into Shae's mouth, the IV in her arm, the color still drained from her face, he steps closer kneeling down holding her hand to his face.

"Neji?" he hears Ten tens voice

"What is it?" he responds, turning his head slightly

"You've been here for hours, you should eat something, or sleep, I'll watch her" she says softly, pulling up a chair next to him, he stands up, stretching, looking around finding another chair, and returns to where he was. She sighs, digging in her purse, handing Neji a sandwich, he shakes his head

"I'm not hungry" still holding onto Shae's hand, he sees a bottle of water in line of his sight, he takes it.

"Shikamaru said their new system malfunctioned, they tested it and everything but it still-" he hears a muffled sob then Ten ten clearing her throat "She saved her team mates, one of them had lost a lot of blood protecting her, and the other other got her out of there, if she had taken out any of the weapons in her leg.. They protected each other"

He nods acknowledging what she's said.

.

"Lord Kazekage.." Gaara hears, him and the council turning to the door, the young nin interrupting their meeting.

"We've received word from the Leaf village concerning the healer..Shae" he says still standing in the doorway, Gaara nods, the nin entering the room walking over to Gaara handing him the scroll, Gaara opening it speed reading through it all.

"What is it?" Kankuro asks

"She was taking her Jonin exam, and during the exam something went wrong and she's in the ICU, massive blood loss and a collapsed lung, her heart stopped. they revived her, she's stable but still in critical condition" the nin relays what was told to him, Kankuro's eyes darting to Gaara, he stands up walking towards the door

"Lord Kaze-"

"This meetings over, I must go to the leaf village" he says ignoring them

"She's one woman, many had died during-"

"We have an agreement between our villages to protect her, we haven't made any arrangements of when she dies, or if one or both villages will be blameless in her time of death. As I recall, that 'one woman' has saved many lives in the short amount of time she's been here" he says keeping his voice controlled then walks out the door, Kankuro following

"Gaara, I know how you feel but there are procedures for the Kazekage leaving the village" Kankuro says in a low voice

"I'm aware, as is Naruto he is having everything set up for my arrival as we speak"

"Nothing I say is going to change your mind…" Kankuro sighs "I'll go with you"

"10 minutes?" he asks pausing at the stairs, Gaara nods as they part ways

..

Shae opens her eyes, drowsy she tries to swallow being stopped by a foreign feeling, she brings her hands to her mouth only to have another pair of hands holding onto hers

"It's okay, it's a breathing tube. I'll see if I can have Sakura remove it" she sees Neji's face, she looks his features over, circles under his eyes, exhausted, she lowers her head giving a small nod

"I'll get her" she hears a familiar voice then foot steps fading, she reaches for Neji their hands intertwining, a small relieved smile on his face

"Alright, alright. I know what I'm doing Ten ten" she hears Sakura's voice of annoyance, hearing the snap of gloves

"I'm going to remove the tube slowly, it's going to be.. unpleasant" she says with a unsure shrug, glancing at Neji, he stands up from the bed, Sakura removing tape from Shae's skin then the pull from her throat she winces from the odd feeling, she tries not to gag as the last bit comes out, Shae wiping her mouth.

"How do you feel?" Sakura asks

"Like shit" she smiles

"I'm still tired and it hurts to breathe"

"That's normal, we have to monitor your lungs for a few days, and you need to rest until you're fully healed no walking long distances, nothing strenuous bed rest only" she glances over at the last part, Shae shakes her head

"I can't stay here until I'm recovered, I have to get my baby" she says Sakura furrowing her brow tilting her head to the side confused

"Hatsukoi" Neji says sitting down in his chair, Sakura's eye widen then smiles

"I'm sure we can find someone to get her" she nods

"As she's getting older she's becoming more fussy with who holds her" she says in a weak voice

"Okay, tell us who she's comfortable with"

"Temari, Ten ten, Hinata, Neji, Asuma" Shae glances at Neji who was rubbing his eyes then mouths "Gaara" to Sakura she nods understanding

"That's about it, oh and Yukata and Matsuri but they're in the sand village so…" she says looking over at Neji who still looked exhausted

"You should sleep" She smiles at him

"I'm fine-" Shae holding his hand short circuits his chakra, knocking him out, Ten ten catches him

"I'll take him home… He's really not going be happy you did that" she says standing up adjusting him on her back

"I almost died, I think he can forgive me this one time" she laughs then winces at the pain in her side

"I'm glad you're alright. I'll come back after you know this" ten ten says shrugging her shoulders, she nods.

"He looks so drained and exhausted.." Shae whispers

"Yeah, he's the one that brought you here, and stayed until you woke up"

"How long? Shae says watching Ten ten and Neji disappear down the hallway

"Three days" Sakura says gently

"When your heart stopped… he was in the room" she says turning her head her voice quivering, she turns her head to Sakura "He completely lost it, it had taken four anbu members to restrain and take him out of the room.. He screamed your name then at Choas" Shae hearing her feels tears wanting to form "He calmed down when we got your heart going again…. Shiakamaru and Naruto are going to come by later discuss the Jonin exam" Shae nods

"I'll let you sleep, any problems the button for help is right here" she clips a cord with a handle and red button at the end to her gown

"Thanks Sakura, guess I'm back down to zero for number of days gone without a work hazard" she smiles, watching her walk towards the door, Sakura laughs turns to her closing the door

A/N: Can you imagine if I killed her off like that? Show of hands how many people would be pissed? lol :P Till next time which should be soon