Day 34 Part 1

All of their headsets were tuned in and ready, their equipment was just what they would need, and their energy made up for anything they may be lacking. Like a full plan and a full blueprint of the area. But missions could be done on the fly and they could be just as successful as those prepared months ahead.

Tenten used one of her multiple knives to break through the glass of one of the windows. There weren't many unbarred windows, and many of them that were had people inside.

It wasn't the most glamorous room, but it had to do.

She broke the window and stepped inside, doing her best to avoid the toilet that was beneath their self-made entrance. She hadn't protested the idea of using the washroom as their point of infiltration, but that didn't mean she liked it. At least it was private.

Her three teammates followed after her, fitting just barely into the small washroom. She pressed her ear up against the door, and Shino sent out two of his bugs beneath the door, and they spent a couple minutes in silence. Once both Tenten and the insects deemed the coast clear, they opened the door and stepped into the hallway.

They were met with blindingly white walls. It was very hospital-like, all white and clean and empty...

Tenten kinda wished it were more like a dungeon than a hospital. The atmosphere didn't suit their mission in the least.

Without having had the proper amount of time to map out the building, their geography of the area was incredibly flawed, and thus, they didn't know where in the building their missing friend could be found.

Although not the tactic commonly used, the team decided to split up to look for him. At least with their headsets they'd be in constant communication with one another and would know if something bad were to arise.

"Alright, Team. Let's do this."

Gai and Lee went to the left, and split up at the next intersection, and Shino and Tenten went to the right, also going their separate ways once they could.

They were going to find Neji.

If it was the last thing they did.

OoOoO

"Why am I here?"

He hadn't seen Takeo in several days, and he hadn't thought that the next time he'd be seeing him would be over some tea. They were in the man's room, sitting across from each other at the, usually cluttered but now wiped clean, table. There was a teapot and they each held their own cups. Neither had taken a sip.

"You're smart. Figure it out."

"Well, you plan to drug me, obviously." He said, holding up the cup he'd known from the very beginning contained a heavy dose of some kind of drug or poison. "But why?"

"There are things going on around here, and having you out of the picture would be so much easier for me. No whining, or bitching... Far simpler."

"Takeo, we've always been nothing but honest with each other. If I'm going to willingly drug myself, I have to know why."

"No, you don't. You've been trouble since the start, you owe me this."

"I owe you? You think I owe you? I've given you everything that I have, and now you want my consciousness too?" For a conversation that once would have pissed him off in seconds, he was completely calm. He knew how it would all end anyways.

"I'll admit, I am impressed with what you've given me, but I think there's still one thing you owe me. After all, the only reason you've been here this long is because of me. Right now, you could be serving someone hand and foot, or getting tortued in some psycopath's basement for the fun of it. You got lucky."

"Do you know why Ryo brought me here?"

"Nah. Never bothered to ask, and I don't really care. You were a good gift, lasted longer than any other. I don't question how life works."

"Hm. What's this going to do to me?" He was looking down at the tea, looking for answers that weren't going to be given to him.

"You'll just be asleep for a little while."

"Well, then. Cheers." Neji tipped the glass forward lightly in a cheers movement, then, as he'd known from the very beginning, he chugged its bitter contents.

For a moment all he did was force back a few gags, because that tea had been really awful. Slowly, dizzyness took him and he began to sway. His eyes closed on their own, and then the world faded away.

OoOoO

"Nothing yet." Gai whispered into the headset.

"Me too." Lee added.

"I have yet to find anything as well." Shino added in.

The three men were frustrated by the lack of anything, but they had only begun and their hopes were still high. They waited several moments for a response from their female teammate, but got none.

"Tenten? Are you there?" Gai asked.

"I'm here. I thought you guys were having some sort of pity party and I didn't want to intrude... Shh, I think I..." Tenten stopped the connection because the sound of footsteps was approaching.

She tried to enter one of the rooms around her, but she only then realized that being in the part of the asylum where all the doors were locked, with only a keycard that could open them, was a bad idea. She began to retreat. They'd all decided that they would avoid confrontation until they couldn't any longer. No need to alert the enemy.

There would be no point for the lion to wake the sleeping deer...

Or were they the curious mouse wondering what the new contraption with the piece of cheese on it was?

She certainly felt trapped as a wall of vines emerged from the ground behind her, stopping her retreat.

Still, although caught off guard, she was able to pull out a weapon from her pouch in the blink of an eye and took a swing at the vines. It withstood her attack. She had sharper weapons, but she knew that she'd already been found out and that getting rid of her opponent would be better than attempting to outrun them.

Tenten was confident in her abilities, and was self-assured enough to know that she was a good shinobi and deserved her title of chunnin. But when she caught sight of her one opponent, short, chubby, with a bored expression on his face, she knew in her heart that she was going to lose. If her team had been complete, she knew they could have taken him. Alone, on the other hand?

She wanted to believe that she could win, but she wasn't the kind of person to think that she was unbeatable. Everyone could be defeated, that was one of the laws of life. The order of things...

Of course, she did fight. Even causing the littlest amount of damage could help later on.

She wasn't able to attack much, having to dodge the vines that were following her around, but one of her perfectly aimed shuriken grazed the man's left shoulder.

Flipping away from the vines, she asked the man, "Where is my teammate?"

"I don't know what you're talking about little girl."

A flicker of anger flashed through her eyes, and the man caught it. When emotions become even a little loose... Tenten did a minor miscalculation on her step and vines wound around her ankles, and climbed up until she was wrapped up completely.

"Why do children think it's fun to trespass on private property?"

"Last I checked, asylums were public property."

"Not this one."

"There were no 'Keep Out' signs on the doors."

The man glared, "In here, no bad behaviour goes unpunished, little girl. Ever heard of something called the room of seclusion?"

Before she knew it, she was thrown into a dark room and the door was closed and locked behind her.

"Oh no..."

AN: It didn't take me forever this time! I had finished earlier, but had to head out. Ehm, this is only part one so... Next part shall be up sometime eventually.

I'd like to thank Angelheart17, darkstardragon432, EatEmUp, LaMindy, AUehara, BeautifulDesertFoxglove, Metoochocolate, Any-Clan, DebbieKun3, and flipflop386 for reviewing! Gosh, that's a mouthful!

Anyways, thank you all for being so kind, and letting me know that you want me to get better! You truly have no idea how much that makes me smile. No idea at all. So thank you, and I hope all of you, my dear readers, are good or will be good!

Thank you for reading,
-MewMew