Neji arrived at the village without incident. The condition was worse than what had been reported. The sick were out on the streets, dead bodies lay rotten where they passed, attracting rodents and flies and spreading the illness further. Homeless children slept not even meters away from the decay. Food and other resources were extremely low due to merchants avoiding the area, and anyone with money was holed up in their homes to avoid the sickness, cutting off any chance of help the poor had.
Neji and his men immediately took over the house of the daimyo's representative. They took it over in the middle of the night and forced him to hand over his power of the situation, putting him in a situation he couldn't refuse. The daimyo had basically abandoned the village to die, and the representative knew it and had planned to abandon the village as well, taking the last of the money and supplies with him. They kept the representative confined while they sent someone to buy the land for cheap. It would be the daimyo's loss when the town revived.
As the messengers left, they got to work, cutting off roads to the town to keep the disease from spreading. They burned the dead bodies, quarantined the sick, offering food, medicine, and clothing. The orphans were placed elsewhere and carried for. Abled bodied people were told to donate what they could for tax breaks and to farm the land nearby, carefully monitored for sickness.
Being vampires, they were immune to diseases, but the villagers did not know that. The praise the villagers gave for their unknown saviors for risking their health and safety for them, raised their standing, lessening their resistance to the outsiders who came and took over. Kurenai especially worked hard, interacting both day and night with the villagers, discussing ways to find supplies and money. If things went well, they would not object to her running the town despite her being a woman.
Neji had also monitored some of the orphans who proved to have a strong will, who would likely find a home and who would not. Who would likely survive long term, and who would give in and die. He found 3 young boys. A 3, 5, and 6-year-old. They would make promising shadow guard members in the future. There was a 10-year-old as well that piqued his interest, but he feared he was too old to start training now, both mentally and physically. He was also protective of the younger children and the children not selected may need him to survive in the future. And for the first time, there was a girl who had drawn his attention.
The girl was 5 years old. At first, he thought she was a boy by the way she spoke and acted. He watched her take on an adult who tried to take the extra food given to the children, taking a good beating but managed to protect the food and the others. She was loyal, strong-willed, and was rather smart in how she supplied the adult in charge information about the others to help resolve problems. Working with Kurenai, he did not want to dismiss her, but he never took on a female into the guard. The physical demand may be too much for her body and she would be rooming, training, and bathing with men. It was all meant to form camaraderie and giving her any special treatment would cause problems, especially since he usually let problems within the group be settled within the guard unless it was necessary for his intervention. He did trust that his guards would not look at gender, they were trained to treat everyone equally outside the guard, but he could not be sure for the same within.
He knew what Kurenai would say. Give her a chance, but he could not shake his reservations. Was he hesitating because of his traditional views or was it because he truly did not know if bringing her in would be for the best? Maybe making the girl Kurenai's disciple would be better.
Neji flipped through some pages. They had already been here for a month and a half, longer than expected but still within their expectations. The town was on a path to recovery and his presence was no longer needed. He set up the things he had needed to set up for his purposes and the town should be more prosperous when things finally settled. He should be able to return shortly.
"Master, letters from the manor have arrived," a servant announced.
Hatsu got up to receive the letters for him and bring it over to the desk Neji was currently sitting at. Neji accepted them, finally pulling his eyes away from the paperwork for the first time in days. A letter from Sugo about manor affairs, Natsu's report, Kakashi's report, he skipped them all, going to the bottom of the stack, his features softening slightly.
During his time away, he would receive letters from Gaara. He opened it first, reading over its contents a small smile on his lips. The boy's writing had improved a lot over the time he had been away. His sentences were getting longer and more complex with each letter. The letters were always short like he wasn't sure what to talk about which made Neji wonder why he sent them, but the last one did have a question for him. "When are you returning?"
Neji picked up a brush, writing a reply. "Send this reply and tell the unessential personal we will be leaving in the morning."
"Yes, master," Haru received the letter, immediately going to get it delivered. He was looking forward to returning home.
And the next day, he did, gathering his people, he headed back to his home base, the place he had called home for the past 137 years, and when the front gates opened, the boy was there waiting. It seemed he got his message after all.
Rather than let the servants come to greet him, he signaled them to stay away to allow the boy to be more comfortable. The boy glanced at the others who immediately went to work unloading their horses. Then with his head held high, he walked straight up to Neji, saying, "Welcome home."
"I'm home," Neji responded, looking at the boy with a soft gaze. "Have you been well?"
The boy nodded. Strangely, the boy had his eyes averted and he had a small blush. "It's been a while."
"And you still talk informally to me." He petted the boy's head. "Come and help me."
"I'm not your servant," the boy said, but he followed behind him, holding out his hands when Neji pulled the gear off his horse. He almost smiled when he tossed a bag to the boy, normally heavy for an ordinary human, with one hand, and the boy struggled to carry it. Natsu, who had come with Gaara, picked up the even heavier bag off the horse, already falling in line with being his second hand. Haru quickly followed behind his twin joining Natsu.
Still, the boy had more meat on him and had gained some muscle he had lost during his rough transport. Though if he stayed weak it wouldn't matter. However, it was good to see the boy was not taking advantage of his kindness and just lazing about. He was assertive in his own quiet way.
Neji led his horses to the stables, the boy following closely behind him, struggling with the bag, but refusing to let it show on his face though his arms shook. Teasing him like this wasn't bad either.
"I see your studies are going well," Neji commented, waiting for the boy to ask for his help.
"Naruto is a good teacher," he replied with difficulty, shifting the bag in his arms.
Neji had to hide a frown at the intimate way he addressed Uzumaki. "Apparently, Uzumaki-san still hasn't taught you how to address people properly."
The boy didn't reply. His sentence must have been too complex for the boy's skill level. Well, it wasn't meant for the boy to hear. As quickly as the boy was learning, he still did not seem to speak formally. He had talked to Uzumaki about it, but he kept insisting that he was teaching the hierarchy of the language. He had no choice but to believe him as Uzumaki did not seem to be lying, and he was always intimidated by Neji's presence. So why wasn't Gaara using it?
They reached the stables, and Neji took his time stabling his horse. His horse was a gorgeous black stallion. It was strong, brave, and loyal. It was a good war horse that unfortunately hadn't seen many battles and probably never would.
"Have you eaten?" The boy asked.
Neji petted his horse, taking a moment to silently thank it, before responding, "I'm not hungry," he replied, having fed on blood before coming all the way back to the manor. "But I will take a walk in the gardens before work."
Gaara put the bag down, breathing heavily, then picking up the bag again. He was working so hard, much to Neji's amusement. "Do you want to join me?"
The boy nodded.
Neji chuckled softly. The boy had wanted to say so much in his letters, yet now that he was here, he was being tight-lipped. With one arm, he picked up the bag from Gaara, throwing it over his shoulder as if it were a bag of feathers. "Servants should ask for help if they need it."
That got the boy riled up, daring to glare at Neji though his face was still flushed. Did he work the boy too hard to be so red? "I'm not a servant," he declared. "You're mine."
Neji raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?" He approached the boy, fixating his piercing gaze at the boy. "I did not know that."
"You're nice. You also help me," he whispered. He muttered something else in his native tongue, but there was something in his eyes, a disappointment and uncertainty that he did not like seeing. "Neji… whose house is this?"
Whose house? Did the boy not know he was the master? That everyone here was working for or under him. Granted, he did help take care of the boy, probably garnering the boy's confusion, but he thought it was obvious. It would explain why he spoke with a superior tone though, thinking he was above Neji.
He thought of answering truthfully, opening his mouth to do so, but something distracted him. Seeing a scrap of paper caught on the horse's tail. Distracted, he pushed the boy aside to retrieve it, his expression darkening.
"I have to go," he said, his voice lacking warmth or familiarity, looking at the small piece of parchment. "Return to your room."
Neji didn't wait to hear confirmation from the boy. He barely remembered to hand off the bag of goods to a servant as he beelined to his office where Kakashi was waiting. He crushed the piece of paper in his hand. "Is this a joke?" he asked Kakashi, throwing the paper in front of the guard. "You allowed someone to leave such a message in my house!" he bellowed.
Kakashi kowtowed. He had been on the receiving end of Neji's anger in the past. There were few things that truly angered Neji, but Kakashi had been on the end of most of it, being with Neji the longest out of the guard and had been given to Neji on his sire's orders. As a result, Kakashi never feared Neji's anger, even in moments like these. He calmly took the words, letting them slide off his back as if he had not heard them.
"I ask that you calm your anger, Hyuuga-sama. I have sent you a report that there has been evidence of someone watching your movements in the reports."
"But you never mentioned them coming within our walls."
Kakashi replied evenly, "I thought it would be best to discuss this in person rather than chance a message being intercepted. Was that the wrong decision, Hyuuga-sama?"
From anyone else, it may have sounded condescending, but Kakashi said in a way that made Neji stop and think things through properly. Kakashi was correct. If they were being watched to the point someone was coming and going from the manor, a message could be intercepted and alert the infiltrator that they knew of him. Normally, he'd have called for a debriefing during his return, instead, he went with the boy to the stables and had even planned to entertain him for a short while, thus why the message had been delivered the way it had to gain his attention.
Rather than apologize for his outburst of anger, he sat down, letting his mind rack over the information. "What were the signs that were discovered and where had the infiltrator been frequenting?"
"Sugo-san found tampering with the storage room lock, and dust that had been disturbed. He suspects that the storage room log had been tampered with as when they did an inventory count, something was missing though the storage log said everything was present. Since Sugo-san is always present when things from the storage room is removed, he remembered the previous count and was certain that the book was incorrect."
Similar to the account book incident. If the books were changed after they were checked, he nor Kurenai would have noticed because they had been confirmed. But that would imply money was stolen after it was counted and had entered the manor. Depending on when the books were changed, it could have taken years of infiltration they never noticed or done all at once. Both were unlikely. The former would require someone to constantly be coming and going from the mansion, replacing each book every month and taking the money accordingly. The later would require the books to be missing for a period of time so that they could be copied and manipulated and then move the massive amount of money from under their nose at once. Still, the situation sounded too similar to be dismissed as mere coincidence.
"There could be an insider," Kakashi said, darkening Neji's features. "It would explain how the infiltrator is getting in and out."
"Yes," he said darkly. "I was also thinking that as well."
Kakashi sat up, looking uncharacteristically conflicted, wondering if he should speak or not. Neji did not press, knowing Kakashi would tell him in the end. Kakashi did not keep secrets, no matter how much Neji would not want to hear the truth. "Hyuuga-sama," he said, giving a brief pause to allow Neji to mentally prepare himself for whatever news was to follow. "Namikaze-sama has sent word from the capital. He says that the mysterious lover of the shogunate is no longer among the living. She was reportedly killed a month ago. Namikaze-sama tried to look into it but said there was nothing special about her background or death that he could find. She did, however, look like the portrait that was sent to him and likely the person you were looking for."
Another lead dead. Not only dead but one of the people he sought revenge against. The only real possible lead and it was snatched away from him before he could get it. All the money, time, and effort he had spent to find this one clue, was gone. He couldn't even be the one to kill her. Another thing denied to him. Why must he always be denied?
"Do you also think I should give up, Kakashi-san?" Neji asked. His question was devoid of feeling. He couldn't even bring his eyes to focus on Kakashi even when the man replied.
"This servant has watched the master search for 300 years even before the master even commanded this one. Besides that person's reported early death as a human, we have found no evidence that he even became a vampire. In this humble servant's opinion, I believe the master is chasing ghosts and whispers fueled by the rightful revenge that was denied him."
Kakashi was a direct person, who remained unbiased in his observations. It was one of the reasons why Neji accepted his sire's decision to send Kakashi as his personal guard 300 years ago. As long as they had known each other, even through Neji's darkest and most volatile moments, Kakashi never swayed in his behavior, remaining a quiet observer and faithfully followed his duties while still following his previous master's teachings. Kakashi was meant not only to guard Neji, but always be truthful whenever asked without hesitation or mercy, and unlike his advisors, he was not skilled with words and was direct and clear about his position and thoughts if he had to present them. He did not play to Neji's moods or the repercussions his words might bring.
If it was not for that quality, Neji would never have brought someone to his side back then even if it was his sire's last will.
"If there is a snake, I want it caught. Do not alert him until it is too late for them to escape. I want to oversee the interrogation and perform the execution myself."
"As you wish, Hyuuga-sama."
Kakashi disappeared, leaving Neji to his despairing thoughts. The idea of giving up left a hollow feeling in his chest. His quest for vengeance had kept him alive no matter how humiliating it was, no matter how low he sank. And though his hatred remained strong, indifference to the world around him settled in, it gave his long life a purpose. If he gave up, what was there for him? He did not long for fame. He kept his name and face hidden for a reason. As for money, he just needed enough for wine, a small amount of food, and a roof. He had more than enough wealth if he sold his assets to live for a long time if he lived simply. What else in this world was there for him to live for without revenge. He had nothing of real substance.
He did his work absentmindedly, his mind unable to focus. All his thoughts revolved around that one question. If not for revenge, why was he even alive?
He lost track of time and place. He couldn't remember when he finished his work or how he ended up wandering the gardens. Fall would be settling in soon, and the garden would lay dormant. The petals were already wilting. Flowers lived such short and fragile lives. His first life had been similar. Was this suffering he felt these past centuries punishment for defying his fate? Should he have just let himself wilt and die as was expected of him? Had he thought himself too high above his actual station, an illegitimate of a whore and a nobleman.
He reached out, catching a fallen leaf in the palm of his hand. Should he just fall?
Oblivious to the world and lost in his thoughts he did not hear the soft footsteps following behind him. Even if it was an assassin coming to kill him, he would not care. It was only by chance, when he stopped to stare at the fish in the pond, that he caught sight of Gaara following at a distance.
He looked back at him, with a dead-eyed stare then kept walking as if he saw nothing, not commanding him to leave or encouraging to follow either.
This repeated for several days. Neji could not bring himself to talk to anyone other than automated responses and did not deal with anyone unless he had to. Otherwise, he ordered everyone to leave him be and to stay away, walking the courtyards and mountain late at night.
Each night, Gaara would be there, following. Normally, Neji would not have found the presence of another permissible if he had given the order as he had, but he did not correct Gaara's behavior. He did not correct, but would not actively acknowledge the boy either. Little by little, the boy followed closer and closer, the distance narrowing each day until Gaara was walking at his side.
The boy never spoke, did not disturb his silence as Neji tried to find some meaning for his existence. Though Neji could not and would not see him, he felt his presence. The boy had to have been tired, Neji thought distantly one night. The boy's lessons started at dawn and his walks were long after the moon peaked in the sky. Why did he come here to accompany him? Why go out of his way when Neji had not commanded him or asked him? What purpose did he have when doing so would not get him anything? Did he expect a reward or better treatment if he did this?
The boy looked back at him with his brown eyes now that Neji's eyes were focused on him for the first time since these nightly walks started.
"Why?" he asked, stopping one night. "Why are you doing this?"
The boy stopped walking as well, meeting Neji's eyes. "You looked lonely," was all he said, and the boy continued his walk.
Lonely? Him?
Neji continued to walk after the boy, the silence between them resuming for the rest of the walk. He had been lonely his whole life. Besides a brief period of time, he had learned to live with it until he could no longer feel it. It did not bother him. So why would this boy follow him for such a simple reason? He did not understand.
At the suggestion of Uchiha, who pointed out that Neji had given him the wrong document for the third time within a span of a single incense, Neji went to the hot spring to "rejuvenate" himself. Neji did not indulge in hot springs too often, but Uchiha said a change of pace may help him focus. After giving him the wrong document for a fourth time, he decided to take the advice.
He stripped out of his clothes, placing them neatly on a rock with robotic motions, and waded into the water, tying up his hair.
He stood in the water for a while, zoning out once more.
Familiar footsteps came from behind him. Gently pulling him back to the present. Even here, the boy could easily find him. Neji slowly turned his eyes onto the boy who stopped in his tracks. He was flushed again, staring at him with an unreadable expression. Why was his face always red? Neji wondered. The boy eventually averted his eyes, sitting down on a rock with his back towards him.
"Are you not tired?" he asked the boy.
The boy nodded. He had to be lying. How many nights had he had only a few hours of sleep to accompany him like this?
He finally sat down in the water watching the trees sway with an absent mind. He still hadn't found a new purpose in his life. Was he going to continue living like this? Continuing as a hollowed-out shell of a person? There were worse ways to waste away he supposed.
"Neji," the boy spoke up quietly. He paused, trying to figure out his words. There was frustration that he could not say what was truly on his mind, lacking the ability, forcing him to abandon what he wanted to say and instead say. "Can I help?"
"There is nothing you can do," Neji replied listlessly,
"I can… massage your head. . . helps . . . headaches." The uncertain words left the boy. It sounded rehearsed and the words unfamiliar to the boy. Had someone told him to say that?
Headaches were the only ailment he suffered from since becoming a vampire. Usually caused by mounting stress or things he didn't want to deal with. In recent times, it had become frequent, especially with the boy's arrival.
Not really himself, he gave a nod, accepting the boy's offer. The boy's eyes were anxious as he moved closer, sitting behind Neji, carefully taking out his hair. The boy's hands were shaking a little as his fingers combed through Neji's logs to straighten it a bit before moving to massage his scalp, pushing against the appropriate pressure points, and easing his hazed filled mind.
For a boy, his fingers were quite strong but gentle as they gradually eased away Neji's apathy. Neji closed his eyes, placing more of the weight into the boy's hands, leaning into the pressure.
"Neji," the boy spoke suddenly, drawing Neji back from the lull of peace the massage had brought to him. Not fully, but enough to listen to the boy's words. "Are we friends?"
Neji opened his eyes, seeing the boy's troubled face, though he tried to hide it with a stoic mask. He noticed the boy always tried to hide his expressions, but his eyes kept giving him away. "Why?"
The boy's hands stopped, and Neji found himself disappointed until the boy resumed the massage. "In my country, when men are close friends, they touch hands."
Touch hands? "Do you mean hold hands?" Neji asked.
The boy nodded. "Here… do they not?'
Neji recalled the time the boy tried to hold his hand. If he recalled correctly, he pulled his hand away, causing the boy to be disappointed at the time. Was that why he was asking? Had he been waiting to ask for nearly two months?
"Holding hands is for lovers. And only in the privacy of their home." Neji responded.
"Lovers?" the boy asked. His tone obviously meant he did not know what the word meant.
Rather than answer the boy's question, he asked, "Do you miss your friends?"
"Neji… is my first… and only friend." The boy replied. He looked sad, but he also looked like he was hiding something.
This boy was doing everything he could to survive here. He was giving up his language, culture, and even freedom being in this country, not once complaining or demanding anything in return. The only thing he had wanted, was to hold his hand. Such a strange culture to want to do something so intimate with a friend, but Neji's refusal had put such a sad face on the boy.
Lifting his hand out of the water, he grabbed onto one of the boy's hands, entwining their fingers as his head rested in the boy's other hand. He looked up at Gaara's face, above his. "Like this?" he asked.
The boy's face turned red once more until he looked away. "Yes," the boy said. He was starting to like the color on the boy's cheeks. He was easily flustered whenever he was grateful for things. If anyone should be flustered, it was Neji for doing something like this with another man, but the boy already confirmed that he thought of Neji as a friend and nothing more. If a small gesture like this was all he asked for in return, Neji could pretend the gesture had no intimate meaning behind it.
"I-I will leave," the boy's voice cracked, and he let Neji's hand go and dropped the hand that still had his fingers entangled in Neji's hair. He stood quickly. "Enjoy bath," his words rushed out.
Hurriedly, the boy left, leaving a confused Neji behind. The boy's thinking was a mystery. Well, all foreigners were. Just the boy managed not to annoy him with his odd and awkward actions and speech.
Looking down at his hand, he could still feel the boy's hands in his. The boy's hands were rough and large but melded perfectly with his when they were entwined. A friend. Neji was his first. Was that a mistake in translation too or had the boy meant it? In Japan, he could see it. He was the only one the boy could rely on. His safety and comfort relied solely on Neji. But why not his own country?
If he died or dropped off the map, there would be no one there to protect him. The boy would surely be found and killed without his protection. No one would care for a powerless foreigner who was all alone in this land. The boy did not deserve such a fate when he was brought here against his will.
Neji stood and hoisted himself out of the spring. At the very least, he could hold himself together long enough to either get the boy home or until the boy passes away. What was another half a century or less to follow through on this one last thing? It wasn't much of a purpose, but it was something to hold onto until he could find something else to live for.