Content notes: This chapter contains references to drug abuse and suicide attempts (not by the main characters).

Syndicate

By Tanya Lilac

Chapter Twenty Seven – Fade Out

05:53 January 18. Hitomi's apartment, Sendai.

Predawn light filtered into the room through grey gauze curtains. Tenten woke slowly, and was immediately conscious of the arm wrapped around her naked waist. Her eyes snapped open and she looked down to find Hyuuga Neji at his most vulnerable, sleeping soundly, his hair mussed and pooling behind his neck on the pillow. She blinked several times, and turned to look up at the blue ceiling. There was no difficulty in recalling what had happened yesterday. She exhaled and looked down again.

Neji's hair was so long, much longer than hers. She stroked his hair, smoothing wayward strands back from his face. Neji never let her touch his prized locks; it was strictly off limits, but Tenten had to admit that she enjoyed this particular privilege while he was asleep. She loved watching him brush his hair and tie it back while they were working or reading, and the way he swept it back from his cheeks. But there was so much about him that she no longer knew; habits and words he had picked up from other people. Was his favourite food still nishin soba? Did he still think pumpkin was the fruit from hell? Did he have a favourite sake or was he more into wine? Was his favourite café still that place in Omotesando? And more importantly, who did he want to be?

Neji stirred in his sleep and pulled her closer.

They would have time to figure this out. He had told her so many beautiful things. But actions always speak louder than words.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty," Tenten smiled, turning onto her side, drawing more of his warmth as she hooked her leg over his as her arm snuck in to curve behind his back. "I know you're awake."

"Good morning," Neji said without opening his eyes, nuzzling her neck in contentment. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes," Tenten said honestly. She realised it had been the first time in recent weeks that she had not had a dream related to memories of the past. She no longer felt disoriented when she opened her eyes, wondering where she had slept and what month it was now, or if she had to roll out of bed and scramble into a fire fight. Tenten finally felt like she was awake and in the present.

"Good," Neji said, opening his eyes. Tenten watched his pupils dilate and adjust to the dim light of the room. His eyes had never really seemed out of place, not to her. Whenever he wore contacts, she found herself unable to meet his gaze. But this came as easily to her as breathing.

"I have to admit, I was kind of hoping you were really sleeping," she said, as she shifted further down the bed so they were eye to eye.

"I think you were enjoying the hair a little too much," Neji smirked. She reached for him again and he caught her hands, intertwining their fingers. His skin was pale – always paler than hers.

"You know," she mused softly. "Phoenixes and dragons have always been paired together. They represent the feminine and masculine ideals in Chinese culture. Harmony in relationships, yin and yang."

"Sun and moon?"

She hummed in agreement. "But we're the opposite." It was something she'd been thinking about for a while – as teenagers, he used to be fixated on fate, and she had always mirrored that interest in things beyond their knowledge through fortune telling and divination. But the idea of reversals – things not in their right place or aspect – always needed to be corrected.

"Well, you know what they say about opposites," he said winningly, dispelling her thoughts.

Tenten couldn't help but smile as he eased her back onto the pillows, his mouth slanting against hers, their fingers still intertwined over her head as his hair dipped over his shoulder to brush her collarbones. Neji slowly eased off so they could breathe, planting soft kisses on her skin as he trailed down her neck. She pulled him back up to her mouth, combing her fingers through his silken hair until she pulled away, his breath feathering against her cheeks. Tenten smiled as he contented himself with simply rubbing his nose against hers. Unable to resist another kiss, she caught his lips once more.

She sighed as she felt his body stir in response to hers, and gently rocked against him, grinning as he knew exactly what she wanted and surrendered, letting her push him onto his back. They broke apart and she pushed the blanket off her shoulders, the cool morning light illuminating his skin.

Tenten swore, running her fingers over his chest, where she had left her mark on him. Several, in fact. And she could see by the look in his eyes that she, too, bore marks of his worship.

"Is it wrong that I think these make you look hotter than normal?" Tenten breathed.

"I can't say I'm surprised," Neji sighed as she began to caress him, hands running in circles over his chest as she leaned down and mouthed at his neck. This was not the desperate passion that had overtaken them last night. It was languid, steady, but insistent.

Tenten cast him a wicked look as she slid down the bed, and he kicked the blanket off, revealing her in all of her glory, hair falling in waves across her chest, obscuring the marks that spoke his name. Of course he was still in love with her. How could he not be? He loved her for every reason she had resented him, in the end. She had been there through everything – his highest and lowest moments. She was his first and perhaps only love. How many people could say that they had met theirs? All of these thoughts escaped his grasp as they were interrupted by a sharp knock at the door.

Tenten rolled her eyes and got off the bed to grab the blanket to cover herself, as Hitomi swept into the room, over-dressed as ever, ignoring Neji's attempt to hide behind a pillow.

"And there are things in this world that I never need to see again," she sighed. "My once-betrothed, completely naked is one of them."

"No one asked for your opinion, Hitomi," Neji said, with perfect composure. "To what do we owe this pleasure?"

Hitomi's eyes narrowed at his choice of words. "We have work."

"What's wrong?" Neji asked. He sat up as Tenten pulled the blanket around her chest. Hitomi's mood was far beyond the dry humour she usually employed. "What happened?"

"It's Fumiko. She's was admitted to her family's private hospital last night."

"What? Why?"

Hitomi crossed her arms and stared them both down. "She tried to kill herself."

07:20 January 18. Hitomi's apartment, Sendai.

Tenten quickly showered and dressed, although she had to admit to taking a few moments to inspect the evidence Neji had left on her from the previous night. With one final sigh, she pulled on a charcoal long sleeved shirt and left the bathroom. Neji was in the kitchen, fixing breakfast and Hitomi was nowhere to be seen.

"Did she drop by just to yell at us?" Tenten asked, making her way to the kitchen bench. The coffee machine was running and Neji was already sliding an omelette onto a plate. Tenten glanced over at the toaster – and as if on cue, the lever sprang upwards, the toast golden and ready. He had impeccable timing, as always.

"She's on the balcony having a few cigarettes," Neji said, coming around to sit on her side of the bench after sliding the toast and omelette across. Tenten cut the omelette in half and they shared their meal in comfortable silence.

"About the data –"

"So, the data –"

Tenten grinned.

"I just checked – everything is clean and there are no corrupted files, or viruses. I started running the initial search last night for anything referencing 'Lucia' or 'Anima', but so far no results," Neji said, pausing to take a sip of his coffee. "There are a number of restricted files, so we can run the password crack or send it to Anko's team, they live and breathe this."

"When did you have time for that?" Tenten asked.

"You sleep far more soundly than you'd think," Neji said simply, and Tenten felt a sudden chill, recalling all the times she had woken up to an empty bed. Neji swore under his breath, realising what he'd just said, and Tenten just have him a tired smile.

"Neji, it's fine," she sighed. "I'll have another look at the data this morning. How are our supplies looking for tonight? I know how technologically challenged you are, so I'll leave the safety checks and inventory to you. I want to see all of the equipment match the plans we came up with last night."

"Good plan," Neji said, the tension draining from his shoulders. "I mildly resent that comment."

"But you know it's true," Tenten laughed. "I'll call Anko if we need her help. I want to you to check in on your cousin, see if Isaka's admission was really Lucia-related. If that's the case, I think Hitomi will become compromised."

"If she hasn't already." Neji sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I don't get it. Prime suspect is Isaka Kengo. Hitomi is suspicious of your best friend Yori – who is practically Fumiko's fiancé. Why get her involved? I get why Shinji was drugged, if it was Isaka – it's very clear that Kengo is incredibly jealous of Shinji. It could have been anything from a warning sign to just … sheer stupidity on their part to drug him."

"You think the case is falling apart," Tenten said quietly. "Daichi checks out every time – Isaka doesn't. I think we should keep going – this could be exactly the kind of move Isaka could pull to deflect attention from himself."

Neji was about to object, but since when had he been any better? Many years ago, he would have forsaken Hinata and Hanabi – the whole Head family, for that matter, for vengeance.

"Kengo is smart – and a control freak. But," Tenten said quietly, "No one can keep that up forever. He's going to slip and when he does, I'm going to be there to mop the floor with that cheesy grin and make sure he never forgets my face."

13:43 January 18. Hitomi's apartment, Sendai.

The day passed slowly. The initial searches in the unrestricted folders had not come up with anything useful and Tenten had manually checked every single file she could access on the drive. As she'd feared, the encryption on the drive was too strong for their computer to crack. With a sigh, she picked up her agency phone and dialled Anko's number.

"What." It wasn't even a question – it was a greeting that was supposed to close doors.

"Happy new year to you too, Dango," Tenten said, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, it's you. It's closer to February. What do you want?"

"It's more of a case of, what do you want?"

"There are a great many things in this world that I would like, one of them being to lick-"

"We're not going back there," Tenten snapped. "I'm not a blushing intern anymore."

"I miss those days," Anko sighed. "Teaching you girls was quite a surprise – we haven't worked together in quite a while."

Tenten's silence was pointed.

"Come on, Dragon," Anko purred. "You can't leave me hanging. You know you were always my favourite."

"Fine, we get one infiltration mission together," Tenten sighed, leaning back in the chair and swivelling around. "And I bet you say this to all the girls."

"You all have very different strengths," Anko said mildly. "Haruno's the goody two shoes, Yamanaka's the wild child. Hinata was the blushing maiden but you … You're my favourite every woman. You know the kind, the girl who reminds everyone of their first crush at high school. Or the kouhai who never confessed. Everyone's type, with just enough of a wild streak to get-"

"Now for my terms," Tenten said firmly. She didn't care if Anko was her superior, and a talented agent of many years – like a cat, if she was given too much leeway, she would meander and get away with much more than she should. "I need help with some encrypted files."

There was a long pause.

"I'm in Sendai. I'll send you a box of zunda mochi."

Silence.

"And a zunda roll cake."

"That's my girl," Anko said gleefully. "So tell me about the guy."

"The target works in a pharmaceutical company. Only son, joined his dad's line of work. Control freak and has a thing for women who can depend on him completely to make all of their decisions."

"Oh come on, Tenten," Anko drawled, and Tenten could hear the smirk in her voice. "I keep track of everyone's missions in case they roll around with these kinds of requests. I already have a file on Isaka Kengo. I mean the guy you slept with."

Tenten arched an eyebrow. "Oh come on, Anko," she mimicked, her voice turning to honey. "It's sweet that you're jealous, but I didn't sleep with anyone. Besides, even if I did, I don't kiss and tell. I'll send you the data now. I need this as soon as possible. But I appreciate," she added with a heavy sigh, "that it'll take time to decrypt and then actually find the evidence we need."

"How close are we?"

"Only you can tell me that," Tenten sighed. "Our raid is kicking off tonight. We'll need both points of evidence – proof of the drug itself, and that Isaka knew what was going on, off the books. A concrete motive that links him to Lucia. His financials are solid, so it's not money."

"Then it's a girl," Anko said lazily. "If he's not sleeping with men exclusively, it's a girl."

"That's not quite concrete enough," Tenten sighed.

"You know I'm right," Anko said. "Stay safe out there, Dragon. I have just the mission for Tsukiko."

"Licking champagne off your collarbones is not going to happen again."

"All in good time, my sweet."

Tenten hung up and sighed, shaking her head to herself. She uploaded the files onto Konoha's remote server and deleted the call history from her phone. Neji hadn't called since lunch time – he and Hitomi were still at the hospital, but it seemed like Fumiko was in a stable state. The concerning thing was, doctors had told them – with slight 'prodding' on Hitomi's side – that Fumiko couldn't remember anything she had been doing for the past forty eight hours.

Hitomi was livid, convinced that last night had been for nothing.

Tenten heard the elevator chime through the apartment through the open door and turned around in her chair, hand reaching for the blade she kept tucked in a holster under her shirt. A ritual she engaged in before every field mission was reacquainting herself with her weapons and holsters. She was clearly getting too tense before her mission if she was reaching for her knife in a quiet apartment.

She locked the computer and silently left the room, closing the door behind her. She peered down the hallway from behind a cabinet to find a tuft of blue hair sticking out of the genkai – Daichi was hopping around, taking off his boots. Tenten let go of the hilt of her knife and straightened.

"Dai?"

"Hey, Tenten, what are you doing here?"

Tenten blinked at him. "It's so weird when you call me that," she said, rubbing the back of her neck. "I thought you'd be at the hospital."

"I came to pick up something for Fumiko and Hitomi."

"Did you want some tea?" Tenten asked, following him as he walked down the hallway to one of the spare bedrooms. He opened the door to reveal a room decorated like a French cottage, with a huge feather bed with an ornate wooden bed head, plush cushions and an iron-wrought chandelier hanging from the centre of the room. She wouldn't be surprised if the bathroom was similarly decorated. Daichi flashed her the smile she knew so well.

"I'm fine, Miya-chan. Mother packed some food to give to the both of them." He seemed to know exactly where he was headed and opened the wardrobe, complete with antique, engraved oak doors, and picked out a few things – a grey linen dress, some leggings, and a long cardigan – and folded them neatly before slipping it into a tote.

Tenten smiled. "'Mother'?" she echoed as they continued walking to Hitomi's room. It was completely spotless, and Tenten was not surprised to find the Hyuuga had an oversized walk-in wardrobe. Interestingly, there were no mirrors on the wall – only out in the bedroom where there was natural light.

"Did you ever call your guardian, 'father'?"

"I don't even call him 'uncle'," Tenten laughed. "He's more of a teacher than anything else. I'm like a … ward, you could say. I wasn't alone, though – someone else was taken under his wing at the same time."

"You sound so … business-like," Daichi sighed. "Like it was a transaction."

"Not all families are bound by blood," Tenten said simply. "You should know this more than anyone."

Daichi stopped rifling around in Hitomi's wardrobe and turned to face her. "I've been wondering this for a while now … and I know my … friends can be a bit difficult," he said slowly. "But is there a reason why we haven't spoken in a long time?"

Tenten blinked at him again. "I can't really tell you the answer to that," she said, leaving the wardrobe to sit on the chaise in the bedroom. "Life works in mysterious ways … and I feel like … the past-"

"Never leaves you," Daichi finished for her as he walked into the bedroom.

Tenten smiled. "Yeah. Something like that. I haven't been myself lately. And I didn't want you to see me like that." Not only that, but she was not looking to start any more pointless arguments with people like Okuchi or Watanabe.

Silence fell, and it was only then that Tenten realised how white Daichi's knuckles were as he gripped the handle of the tote.

"You're talking about Lucia, aren't you? What she did to you?"

"… I don't get it," Tenten mumbled. "I thought you took the same thing."

"I was a willing participant. I knew what I was getting into. You, Miya-chan – all they wanted …" Daichi sighed. "I shouldn't say anymore."

Tenten frowned. "You can't just leave it at that," she said. "What was it?"

"Look around you! Look at their lives!" Daichi said, so loudly it made her start. "There is no meaning to any of this. They play at having jobs but really, they never earned anything in their whole lives. Not one of them."

"Hitomi-"

"Especially the Hyuuga," Daichi growled, his eyes flashing. "They are all the same. You don't belong in this world, Tenten."

"It's Miya-"

"Your name has always been Tenten, to me," Daichi said calmly, but his voice sent chills down her spine. She was suddenly conscious of the fact that they were alone in the apartment together, and her fingers were itching for the hilt of her knife.

"How's Isaka-san going?" Tenten asked, diverting the topic.

Daichi's jaw tightened. "She said she can't remember anything that happened over the past two days."

"Were you with her at all?"

"We were together the whole weekend," he said, running a hand through his hair. "I never even noticed there was anything odd about her. She was fine yesterday until … she wasn't." He sighed and began walking back to the front door. Tenten hurried after him.

"What happened to her?"

"She was addicted to antidepressants when she was in high school. She's a little younger than the others," he trailed off. "You heard about what happened to Hiro, right?" Tenten nodded. "And Kyousuke? Her addiction was not difficult to understand. We were at a dinner party last night," he continued. "And some idiot brought up his family. You should have been there – it made me sick to listen to them joke about how their family was destroyed by the same thing that very nearly destroyed her.

"I took her home, and I stayed over to keep an eye on her. Fumiko said she was fine, but … I woke up in the middle of the night. She was lying on the kitchen floor with a half empty bottle of painkillers on the table. I was so … fucking out of my mind," he said harshly, stopping in the middle of the apartment. "They pumped her stomach and all I could do was wait, and call her brother, and call Hitomi. And when she woke up, she couldn't remember anything. She thought it was Friday. She doesn't remember what she was doing, or why."

"Dai … I'm so sorry," Tenten said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure she'll be fine."

"Yeah. Thanks, Miya-chan." He pulled her into a gruff, one armed hug, surprising her.

The elevator chimed once more, and Tenten exhaled as he let go, an instant too slowly. She turned around to find Shinji looking uncomfortable. He had probably expected the apartment to be empty.

"Ah, Okuchi," Daichi said. "Are you heading to the hospital? I've already picked up a jacket for Tomi-chan, and a change of clothes for Fumiko as well."

"What are you doing here?" Shinji asked, and Tenten realised he was talking to her when his eyes impassively slid off Daichi's face to hers. "Are you living here now?"

"Not quite," Tenten said slowly, straightening her shirt. "And you? Why are you here?"

"I'm … I was looking for you," he said, shoving his hands into his coat pockets. No one had moved since he first walked in. She swallowed. She had been to arms dealers who were more relaxed than this.

"Me?" Tenten blinked. "Is it work related? I told Fukuda-san last week that I wouldn't be coming in today – I thought you knew," she said, aware that Daichi was following their conversation intently. Shinji was still probably feeling the aftereffects of the Lucia concoction he'd inadvertently taken the other night. Could he possibly -

"You know, just because I'm not in today, doesn't mean … forget it," he mumbled, avoiding her gaze. "Yori, do you need a ride to the hospital?"

"Yeah, if you have space. Miya-chan, do you want to come?" There was a pregnant pause as both Tenten and Shinji stared at him. "Hyuuga is there after all …"

"Thank you for the offer, but I'll let Isaka-san have her peace," she said softly, and tried not to notice the tight nod of approval Shinji gave her. "I hope she feels more like herself soon."

Daichi finished putting on his shoes and went to press the call button for the elevator, Tenten still standing up on the floorboards of the living room in her slippers. The hotel mogul cast one last look at her before they got into the elevator. Shinji knew where to find her, if he ever needed to finish that conversation with her.

15:45 January 18. Isaka Medical Centre, Aoba, Sendai.

Neji had always hated hospitals. The lingering odour of sickness and death seeped into his pores and permeated his clothes. It was common in humans – hospitals were associated with illness and injury, not health and healing. He sighed, watching Hitomi pace the corridor. Isaka was having another test.

The images from the x-ray had shown nothing. The MRI was clean. Her blood work – aside from traces of the painkillers – had come back clean. A little low on iron, perhaps, but nothing to worry about. Kengo had left a while back to go smoke a pack of cigarettes on the roof. He hadn't looked twice at Hitomi. Perhaps his mind was too full of insults for hospital staff.

He sighed, and stood, stretching his legs. Perhaps a walk around the courtyard would help. He followed the signs that led him out of the maze, past people waiting solemnly for news and for help. This particular ward was quiet – owning a hospital had perks. The curtains were drawn against the afternoon sun, and only the quick stride of a nurse on patrol echoed down the linoleum corridor. She passed him, checking his visitor's pass with the eyes of a hawk, and was gone. Then, in the silence that followed, he heard a whimper.

Neji was already walking silently, but maintained his pace. Upon hearing a door open, a few meters ahead on his right, Neji ducked into an open doorway and watched as Isaka Kengo backed out of the room. A moment later, he was pulled back in for what Neji could only assume was a passionate kiss. As they broke apart, he heard Kengo mutter, "I don't care. Let them see."

"Isaka-san …"

"I leave my sister in your care, doctor." There was another pause – another kiss – and Neji refrained from sighing. He waited for Kengo to leave, and then another excruciating five minutes, taking time to visualise and plan what he was about to do. He could wait for the doctor to leave and inspect the office – but for what? Files?

The sound of footsteps began to filter down the hallway and Neji recognised the gait – it was Hitomi. She stopped outside the doorway and stared at him, pressed up against the wall.

"What?"

"Do you need my help or what?"

"How did you know?"

"There were feelings of intense desire and intense guilt in the doctor treating Fumiko. What kind of person feels turned on when being verbally abused by someone? I felt that pang again so I decided to come this way to check it out." Hitomi sighed. "Also, Daichi hasn't let me out of his sight since he arrived."

Her mood had improved now that she'd found something to do.

"What changed his mind?"

"Inoue."

"What?!"

"I asked her to come here, for the mission's sake," Hitomi said simply. "So, cousin, are we going to see what makes this man tick, or what?"

"You need to be careful – he might …"

"He's not immune – I can feel him," Hitomi said seriously, lifting her fingers and placing them on the centre of his forehead. "Right here."

Neji followed behind her as she walked up to the door and knocked quietly.

"Doctor, if I might have a word," she said softly, and a few moments later, the door opened to reveal a well-groomed man in his mid-thirties, his eyes wide behind a pair of fashionable, thick framed glasses. His hair was dishevelled and the scent of air freshener could not mask what had transpired in this room. Faster than a snake, Hitomi reached out and grabbed his wrist. "This will only take a few moments, doctor," she said, pushing him back into his office. Neji followed them in and swiftly locked the door behind him.

"Sit down," Hitomi said pleasantly, taking off her jewellery. She passed her bag to Neji, who merely rolled his eyes before shouldering it. The man sat down dumbly. "Take off your glasses, and don't look too closely at our faces."

The doctor complied and leaned back in the chair. The plaque on his desk read Yamamoto Ren. "Well?" he asked pleasantly, squinting at them. "What can I do for you today?"

"Well, doctor, I need to ask you about my friend," Hitomi said. "Isaka Fumiko. What haven't you told us?" She sat down in the chair opposite him and placed her hand in his. "Do not lie to me, or omit information again. If I have to ask you for more information a third time, I will not be so kind."

"Maybe you're asking him the wrong questions," Neji said.

They both turned to look at him.

"Your questions are too broad, there are many ways to avoid the question. For example, what is your relationship with Isaka Kengo?"

"He was my kouhai in high school. I sold a lot of his prescriptions when he worked in the sales branch of his father's company."

"And what did he give you in return?"

"More drugs, high profile contacts, crazy parties – everything I wanted," Yamamoto said, as if he was listing breakfast cereals.

"Including his body?"

"Correct."

Hitomi arched an eyebrow and turned to Neji. "Was that really necessary? Why make him state the obvious?"

"Are you jealous?"

"I know more about Kengo than you ever will, even with you poking around in his credit card statements," Hitomi said darkly. "This is not a game to me."

Neji continued, ignoring her. "What are you doing with his sister's file?"

"Covering his tracks," Yamamoto said, glancing at Hitomi. "Her results were … unorthodox. Her blood work came back with traces of … what I assume to be a kind of psychotropic drug, but naturally, I amended it."

"Tell us something we don't know," Hitomi pressed. "Why else was he here, other than payment?"

The doctor flinched. "That's unkind-"

"I don't fucking care."

"Cousin," Neji said.

Hitomi took a deep breath, and nodded at the doctor. "Continue."

"He's asking for an early release," Yamamoto said. "I'm of the opinion that we should keep her under observation. The memory block is such a curious thing. We told her what date it was and she was only very mildly surprised. On one side, she feels like it should be one day – on the other, her body seems to know that the opposite is true. It's like she expected this. Doesn't feel distressed, doesn't remember feeling distressed. There's just nothing there. The scans show that there's no damage. The memory is probably there in her brain, there's just … something that's blocked it. Perhaps a trauma she can't get close to, and doesn't want to think about."

"Has Kengo ever mentioned his work to you?" Hitomi asked. "Or the projects he has been working on?"

"No," the doctor said, rubbing his chin. "But he talks about you a lot."

"How do you know?" Hitomi demanded.

"It couldn't be anyone else – you're like light, he says. Elusive, powerful, beautiful. We have had many discussions about you. He told me you would be here," the doctor added mildly. "That you would tell me to tell you everything, and make me forget. But I don't mind – he was right about everything again."

Neji swore. The bastard was already ahead of them.

"What will you do?"

"Well, Kengo has asked me – so I cannot refuse. I will sign the release forms, and Isaka-san will go home this afternoon." The doctor gently lifted Hitomi's hand to his mouth and pressed his lips against the back of her palm. Hitomi watched him with impassive eyes as he murmured, "It has been the greatest honour to cross paths with you, Lucia."

16:12 January 18. Isaka Medical Centre, Aoba, Sendai.

Tenten reclined in the pale winter sunlight, already starting to fade. She was already past the point of regret, especially since Hitomi hadn't actually called in her favour, she had insisted it was for the sake of the mission. When she'd arrived at the hospital about half an hour ago, Neji and Hitomi were nowhere to be seen, but somehow Daichi had been the first person to see her. In that instant, she had realised exactly why Hitomi had called her there.

They had ended up sitting on a bench in the courtyard in the cold, with freshly dispensed coffee in their paper cups, watching patients talk with their families or their doctors. Visiting hours were almost over but something told her that Fumiko would either remain attended to throughout the night, or released early on her brother's orders.

"Do you remember the time … I broke my arm and had to go to hospital?" Daichi said suddenly.

Tenten stopped to think about it for a moment. "Yeah … wait, was that when you fell –"

"Off the top of the monkey bars, yeah," Daichi finished for her. "I bawled like a baby. But you never cried at all. You were always stronger than I was."

Isaka Fumiko's words came back to her in an instant. 'Or perhaps you needed him to feel strong – like you were able to protect someone.'

"Do you feel like … Isaka-san is the same? That … maybe you can't protect her?"

Daichi sipped his coffee and pulled a face. "This is far too sweet." He sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. "You're more direct than I remember," he chuckled. "Every day with Fumiko is a blessing."

"But?"

"… Her family … this city …"

"Don't tell me you're getting doubts about being with her?" Tenten said, eyebrows arching.

"Why are you surprised?"

She sighed. "You love her, and you want to be with her – can't it be that simple? Your lives … are far easier than most. Both of your parents have practically given their blessing; you're both incredibly lucky to have met under these circumstances – most people don't even care about each other in 'real' marriages."

"I know … but … things don't have to go wrong for a relationship to end."

Tenten couldn't help but laugh. "Come on, Dai – don't look for reasons to mess things up." She stood up, and tossed her empty cup in the bin. She'd ordered black tea with milk. "If Isaka-san is the best thing that's ever happened to you, don't let her go so easily. Especially if she feels the same way about you." She sighed when Daichi offered nothing to continue the conversation. "I know this is a bit … late, but I don't know if I ever said thank you, for your help back then, with Saito, on New Year's Eve."

"… I tried to call you," Daichi said, blinking up at her.

"I know," Tenten said gently. "Don't apologise on his behalf; I don't want to hear it. It just means a lot that you both came in when you did." She stopped, spotting a familiar face emerge from the doorway on the opposite end of the courtyard.

Daichi registered the change in her demeanour immediately. "Hyuuga?"

Tenten nodded, and as they both realised her gaze was lingering on him, and his lips curved in a smirk.

"Things got pretty serious between you two, pretty quickly," Daichi remarked, and Tenten swallowed a sharp retort.

"I guess … we both hate doing things by halves," she said softly. Daichi gave her a wry smile and nodded to himself, falling silent as Neji reached their bench.

"Yori," Neji said, nodding in his direction and turned to Tenten. "Miyako."

"Hi," Tenten smiled up at him. "Heading back?"

"Yeah. Do you want me to drop you off at the hotel?"

Tenten remembered she was supposed to go to work tomorrow, for her cover's sake, or disappear – it really just depended on how tonight ended up. She had packed most of her things a long time ago – everything she needed was at Hitomi's apartment. She nodded and waved goodbye to Daichi. Perhaps they'd meet again – in another lifetime.

Neji surprised her by taking her hand and tucking it in his pocket, warming her fingers in his palm. "You forgot to bring your gloves," he said quietly.

"Guess I don't need them anymore," she smiled, leaning against his shoulder.

Neji dropped her off at the lobby and left to make sure their equipment was in order – tranquilisers, tech, harnesses and safety equipment. Tenten packed the last of Miyako's clothes and called a courier service to have them picked up and delivered to a warehouse in Yamanashi.

She went up to the training studio to work through some of her tension. After an hour, she went to the baths. Once she had settled in the water, her mind drifted to Tokyo.

If Neji stayed on as an agent, that would mean … being reassigned to another team, potentially being a cell leader. The situation could change depending on the outcome of this mission. They had both been part of Hitomi's press opportunity at Christmas, after all, and he had been named and recognised by many of the people there – people who would definitely object to their children being arrested or implicated in a large scale drug operation.

Tenten gasped as a large drop of condensation landed on the centre of her forehead. She had been in the bath for too long.

22:23 Harainuma, Miyagino, Sendai.

Neji parked the van and exhaled, and looked over at his partner.

"You ready?"

"Never thought you'd ask," she smiled.

They strapped on their harnesses and picked up their packs from the back of the van, doing one last check of their equipment and loading tranquiliser darts into their guns, but Tenten doubted she'd have to use them.

"I've plotted a path for us to follow tonight, based on the updated schematics from the micro-bots. Not much has changed," Tenten said, as they tested their radios, video cameras and internal display on their night vision glasses. "But there is an area that is more heavily secured than the rest – it may be a good area to check."

"Good plan," Neji replied, and they began to make their way into the warehouse premises, climbing over the fence with ease. One of the micro-bots had been tasked with handling the electronic security devices – by disabling the alarm and keeping cameras out of the way once Tenten had sent them their desired path through the warehouse premises. Combined with a tracking device to account for any variations to the plan, the program would turn cameras 'blind' or display loops of footage of clear corridors to ensure their presence remained undetected.

"Alright, Phoenix, you take the gate. I'll head to the storerooms first." They split up wordlessly – the rest of their plan had been revised and reviewed countless times over the last week.

The security guards had just changed shift. Neji stared at his watch as he waited for the last guard to leave. Once the replacements had eased into their chairs and started discussing baseball, Neji slipped a few sleeping gas discs under the door. They contained a sleeping powder that disintegrated once exposed to air. He waited for another thirty seconds until the voices slowly faded out. Neji peered into the room, and sure enough, the three guards were sleeping in their chairs. One of them had spilled tea all over the visitor's forms but it wasn't like they were going to need them soon.

"Guards are out," Neji whispered, jogging over towards the warehouse. "What's your status?"

Tenten had broken into the offices to connect to the rest of the server, using login details that had been written down on a post-it note and stuck on the bottom of the first desk drawer. This employee was definitely new. "No hits on 'Lucia'. No Anima shipment has come in on the system … but close matches could include 'Amina'. I'll send you the warehouse details."

Tenten shut down the computer and wiped down the terminal with the wipes on the desk – until she looked up and realised there was a page of notes stuck on the wall of the cubicle.

"The newbie's cheat sheet," she grinned to herself.

"What are you looking at?" Neji asked.

"Symbols used to identify certain drugs in the warehouse for easy location. 'Amina' is on the list – and guess what the symbol is?"

"A snowflake?"

"Bingo. I'll meet you down there. ETA six minutes. Initiating radio silence." Tenten sent him the shelf number, which pulsed as their destination on the map display. She left the office and shut the door noiselessly behind her. The spy clipped an abseiling rig on the guard rail right outside the office door and hopped over balcony railing, sliding down the rope, slowing her descent so she could land silently on the warehouse floor.

She jogged towards the location marked on the map, which took some time in the massive warehouse. Neji was already there, taking a photo of the symbol on the box to send to Hitomi.

"Hey," he said, finishing the text. "Run into anyone along the way?"

Tenten glared, taking a few moments to catch her breath. "If you're implying that I was slow," she paused, and took out her knife. "I suggest you back away slowly." She cut open the plastic and pulled a box out of the pallet. It weighed about half a kilo, and was packaged as 'Amina'. "They've really thought this through," she murmured. She cut open the box and pulled out a slim carton. It looked like any other prescription medicine in a nondescript white box, with foil packaging. On one side, the foil label was printed with Amina, with dosage information and the signature snowflake.

"Hitomi said she's never seen it before," Neji said, and took more photos of the packaging of the cartons to send back to Konoha.

"I love it when everything falls into place," Tenten smiled and looked up at Neji as she unzipped her vest and tucked the sheet of pills into her jacket. She popped a few pills out of another packet and concealed them in the necklace Neji had given her.

Neji looked over. "You're wearing my necklace?"

"You mean my necklace," she grinned as she zipped up her vest. Neji helped her reassemble the box and tuck it back into the plastic packaging. Any missing boxes would probably be put down to clerical error, or internal staff – unless large scale theft occurred, no one would want to inform the higher ups or authorities about missing a single box of pills.

"That's exactly what I said."

The voice was familiar, at ease.

Tenten and Neji reacted without thinking, moving soundlessly towards the exit, away from the voice.

"No, no, Hitomi never suspected a thing."

Tenten's heart was pounding in her ears. It was Kengo. Neji grabbed her arm, and tapped her wrist three times with his index finger. They stopped trying to eavesdrop and split up, vanishing into silence and shadows.

"I'm just inspecting the goods," Kengo continued easily, stopping at the box where they had been standing just a minute earlier. "But I don't know, I smell something."

"Maybe it's a rat."

Tenten froze, throwing herself to the ground, finding cover amongst the shelves as she tore off her night vision glasses and left them on the floor. The voice had come over Neji's communication line. And she knew who it was.

"And you know, I find it interesting that you said that Hitomi knew nothing because … well, I think she had a big part in this. Don't worry, I won't stand in your way, you can do whatever you want with her."

The warehouse lights came on, but Tenten had already prepared for the light, circling around behind the shelf to wait for Neji's attacker to find her glasses on the floor. She had prepared herself for it, but there was still a pang in her chest when she saw the shock of bright blue hair. She fired her tranquilisers at him from behind, but they had no effect – his coat was too thick, and there was no exposed skin to aim for. He turned, and saw her run from the corner of his eye. Knowing that she had dropped her radio receiver, he shouted, his voice echoing through the warehouse.

"I have your partner, Tenten!"

Fuck. They shouldn't have split up. They were two civilians. How could they have brought down Neji?

A shot echoed through the silence. "I have your partner, and he's now bleeding, a lot. The next shot is going to go through his pretty eyes, but it may miss his tiny brain, who knows? What do you think, Kengo?"

"You know he's got this amazing hickey on his neck. I don't know, maybe we could aim for something more valuable first, and then try and see if we can get his brain."

They were dragging his body through the warehouse. She could hear it in the step, slide, step, slide of Kengo's walk. It grated against her ears. They had been completely out matched. But she couldn't leave him behind.

"Checkmate." Tenten heard the gun cock and she knew there was no way out. "Drop the gun and put your hands up, Ten-chan. Don't make this harder than it needs to be."

She dropped the tranquilisers and put her hands up. She turned around, slowly, and met Daichi's eyes. This was her last chance.

"Come on, Tenten," Daichi huffed, lowering the pistol – it definitely was not Neji's gun. "Did you really think I would shoot you?" his mouth twisted into a smirk and she realised she was looking at a complete stranger. "Did you also think that I had no idea what you were doing here?"

She heard Kengo come up behind her to tie her hands behind her back. "Okay, let's get moving now. The shipment won't take care of itself. Also make sure you cop a good feel later – she's probably holding on to Lucia, I didn't find any on that fucking bastard." He shoved her forward and they walked towards Daichi. She walked as slowly as she could, but Kengo's grip on her wrist tightened. "You're going to have to move a bit faster than that, princess."

They passed Daichi, and he gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, Tenten, I'll take good care of you. We just have one more loose end for you to help us with." Kengo wrapped his arms around her and held her as she squirmed and kicked, but Daichi winded her with a single punch to the stomach and she collapsed as Kengo dropped her unceremoniously.

"That's my girl," Daichi purred, and pulled her hair off her neck as she retched and her vision began to fade. She felt the telltale pinch and hiss of a jet injector on her neck. "I hope you'll understand," he whispered, stroking her hair as she lost grip on her consciousness. "It's just business."

A/N: It's hard to think of what notes I want to add to this chapter, other than the next chapter brings us back to the end of chapter 24 ... and there are only five chapters left! Thank you for staying with me, and hopefully staying indoors!