The Naruto franchise is the property of Masashi Kishimoto.

Chapter 37: Striking Eyes

Sakura frowned as her third candle flickered and died. She fumbled briefly with her matchbox before dragging a matchstick against the striking surface, throwing a miniature shower of phosphorescent sparks dancing through the dark. The head flared white for a moment, then simmered down to a faint blue, just flame enough to rejuvenate the candlelight. As the orange glow illuminated the inside of the cabin again, she returned her attention to the pair of scrolls laid out before her.

The first was her Hakke no Fūin Shiki. She had spent months creating her own rendition of it, and could envision the precise, discrete characters without looking. They were laid out in a neat grid, forming eight vertical blocks of parallel writing. It was the technique that had been used against Neji.

The second was the scroll that Ino had given to the Hyūga prodigy. Ostensibly, it was a fūinjutsu as well, but the style was entirely different. The lines of ink seemed never-ending, each figure flowing from the previous and connecting to the next. Each progressive row of the eight was shorter than the previous, forming an symmetrical, tapered trapezoid.

"As far as I can tell..."

The medic cleared her throat. Her voice sounded strange and unwelcome in silence that had dominated the cabin through much of the night. Neji's eyes fluttered open as he roused from his meditation, their pearlescent sheen encouraging her to continue.

"As far as I can tell," the rose-haired medic sighed, "It's a sort of... filter. The basic premise is that it compresses your chakra forcibly to increase the density and infuses it with mental energy. I assume this is how the Shintenshin no Jutsu works, in a sense."

The white-eyed prodigy nodded slowly.

"Raw chakra is just energy," he said, "So the Yamanakas imprint it with their mental patterns in order to control the bodies of others."

"It also gives them greater control of their chakra network," Sakura continued, "But they don't need the seal to do it. This is just... doping, really, for someone who hasn't gone through a lifetime of training in their jutsu."

"Then what is the problem?" the ANBU captain asked, arching an eyebrow mildly.

"The problem," Sakura snapped, "Is that the filter could be too tight. If it doesn't work, you'll be completely unable to access your own chakra. This isn't like your cursed seal, Neji. It's not just something that disrupts your body on command. This will completely reroute your chakra network through itself. Removing it would kill you. If it doesn't work, that's the end of your shinobi days."

The Hyūga prodigy's regard was cool and unaffected.

"I'm not going to let you do this. This is crazy!"

"Insanity seems to be a trend in my actions as of late."

Sakura slammed her fist down on the desk, causing the only light source in the room to jump, scattering deep shadows over the walls momentarily. The white-eyed captain remained unmoving.

"This isn't a joking matter, Neji!"

Unblinkingly, he replied, "I did not suggest that it was."

He stood, making his way over to the glaring medic to glance over the scrolls himself. The Hyūga captain ran a slender fingertip over the characters, tracing them as though to impress their memory in both his mind and body. He turned back to the rose-haired medic.

"Even with the filter shut, the extra chakra from Kaimon and Kyūmon should force a wide enough opening to allow me to use that energy in its concentrated form."

Sakura's eyes blazed like twin emerald fires. Irrational anger ignited somewhere deep in her chest, involuntarily clenching her hands into tight fists.

"That would kill you, and you know it. It would destroy you from the inside out."

Neji's unreadable stare was her only response.

Masks within masks, she thought angrily.

"So that's it, then," she bit out, "You're willing to throw away your life just to kill that bastard."

"No," Neji said levelly, "I'm willing to throw my life away for you."

Sakura struck him.

The prodigy stumbled back, caught entirely off-guard by the slap that now burned on his cheek. He blinked several times, turning a questioning look on the rose-haired medic.

"Don't you ever," snarled Sakura, advancing on him, "Ever. Suggest that your death in any way, shape or form would make me happy."

Neji wiped the corner of his lip, where a rivulet of blood had begun to trickle down.

"There may not be another way," he said quietly.

Sakura grabbed him by the collar and yanked him down to eye level. Even backlit by the dim flame of the candle, her eyes shone brighter than anything he'd ever seen.

"There's always another way," she hissed, "I'm sick of losing people to their idiotic, self-imposed ideas of fate and destiny."

The white-eyed Hyūga said nothing, but could not tear his gaze away from hers.

"Don't you get it?" she growled, her voice laced thick with frustration, "You don't have to do this alone."

Neji's eyes widened imperceptibly.

The rose-haired medic shook her head, defiance hardening her emerald eyes.

"I'll make sure they do," she stated in a voice that brooked no doubt.

"Three days," the medic said quietly, "Give me three days, and I'll come up with a better way."

The ANBU captain nodded.

"You're not doing this alone. I won't let you."

"Ah," Neji conceded. His eyes softened as he felt the familiar tugging on his heartstrings whenever he looked into the eyes of the volatile medic who, in the span of less than a month, had turned his world upside-down. He allowed himself a small smile as her words echoed in his mind.

"You're not doing this alone. I won't let you."

Sakura drew him close into a fierce kiss, one he returned with all his heart.

~o TBC o~

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