Chapter 39 - Hizashi

Lightning crashed overhead, illuminating the mountainous cliffs of Kaminari no Kuni. Three shinobi stood facing each other, drenched by the downpour of rain in the thunderstorm. Two Kumogakure hunter-nin eyed the third shinobi that was dressed in a tattered grey robe. He was blocking their path, barring them from following the trail of the Konoha boy they were ordered to find.

"Turn around and run back to your village. You will not get past me." The man in the tattered robe commanded. His voice was domineering and he looked down his nose at the two chūnins.

"You know we can't do that, and reinforcements will be here soon." One of the hunter-nin spoke, raising his fists up into a fighter's stance. He gripped the chakra blades in his hands and began channeling his chakra into them.

His partner drew a sword and pointed straight at the enemy shinobi. "We'll take you down before they arrive, however. No matter what reason you have for blocking our path, as an enemy of Kumogakure, you won't be spared!"

"Foolish.." The man in the robe stated under his breath as the two hunter-nin each charged him at the same time. The two shinobi circled around to his sides, attacking from different angles.

The man with the chakra blades punched out at the rogue shinobi's head, while his partner attempted to pierce his heart with a thrust. The shinobi in the cloak waited for the last second before acting.

Moving faster than the chūnin hunter-nins' eyes could follow, he struck at the wrist of the hand that was holding the chakra blade aimed at his head. His palm connected, deflecting and redirecting the punch away from him. At the same, he gripped one of the wrists that was thrusting the sword and rotated his body, dodging the thrust and piercing it into the heart of the chakra blade user.

Before the sword user could even mourn the death of his partner, he felt a palm connecting with the bottom of his chin, sending him flying into the air. His eyes opened wide when he saw the enemy shinobi instantly appear in front of him. He hadn't even realized his own sword had been taken, until he felt the blade pierce his own chest.

The body of the hunter-nin fell onto the muddy ground next to his dead partner. The shinobi in the grey robe landed lightly on his feet between the two of them. He made a single hand seal and fire flickered to life on the two bodies, seemingly unaffected by the torrential rain, burning them into ash.

This had been the third group of hunter-nin he had taken out that night. It had only been two days since Neji had escaped custody, but so far he had successfully blocked any hunter-nin from making it past him and into the village at the coast.

'It's only a matter of time until they send someone actually capable.' He thought to himself, turning to stare in the direction of Kumogakure. 'One more day, then I'll make my escape. Neji-chan should be far enough away by then.'

Lightning flashed once more, bathing the man in a bright light. He disappeared from his spot before the lightning strike had even ended, moving on in search of another hunting party. He would wash these mountains in blood before he let them anywhere near his son.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

A stormed into his office in the central tower of Kumogakure. C, Darui, and Killer B, who was fresh out of the hospital with half of his body covered in bandages, stood there waiting.

"What do we know!?" A shouted, slamming a fist into the wall as he entered the room. The wall cracked from the strength of his punch, and the window nearby shattered. No one bat an eye at the destruction; everyone in the room knew of A's temper, and this happened all too often.

"Not much unfortunately." C replied, grimacing a bit as A glared at him. "Karui was obviously helping that Konoha brat plan an escape. He must have turned her against Kumogakure ages ago. The boy had apparently been studying fūinjutsu for several years; it seems that Yugito had been supplying him with research materials and books. At this time.. We have to assume that Yugito might be helping them."

Killer B tightened his hand into a fist. He respected Yugito and looked up to her as both a shinobi and a fellow jinchūriki. He didn't want to believe that she would betray Kumogakure, but it didn't make sense that two genins would be able to overpower her in a confrontation.

"Bullshit! Yugito is one of our best Kunoichi! She'd never betray Kumogakure; she had no reason to!" A yelled, slamming his fist into his desk, shattering it. "Where did they escape to!? Have the hunter-nin found anything yet!?"

C answered his question with a calm voice, doing his best to keep his emotions in check. The losses this time had been great, and he was angry; they all were angry. "We've sent search parties out in all directions, but so far they haven't found them. We did manage to pick up a trail headed south two days ago, but the recent thunderstorms have washed whatever remains of the trail away. We've lost contact with several hunter-nin teams as well, each of which was last known to be searching south in the mountains along the coast."

"It's unlikely they were able to take out the teams of hunter-nin by themselves… unless they were getting help from a high-class jōnin level shinobi." Darui pointed out, frowning.

"A jōnin like Yugito, you mean." A spat out. "I want all hunter-nin to consolidate in groups of six man teams. Focus on searching the southern mountain ranges and make sure to check every damn coastal village. They could have boarded a ship. If they did, someone would have seen them, and someone will be able to tell us where that ship went!"

"I'll give the order out immediately for the new team sizes, but I've already taken the liberty to focus our search efforts to the southern mountains. I've also raised the danger ranking of Neji and Karui from C-class to B-class, assigning new jōnin level hunter-nin to track them down. The bingo books will be updated today with their information and prices for their heads." C reported to A.

"As much as I want to crush that brat's head, our top priority is recovering Yugito alive. If she's a captive, then we need to rescue her at all costs. If she's a traitor.. We'll try her with treason and extract the bijū from her." A spoke, calming down a bit as he gathered his wits about him.

"It will be done, Raikage-sama." C bowed his head.

"A jinchūriki and valued jōnin is missing, one of our jōnins is missing an arm, and one of our top genins is dead; not to mention my own brother was almost killed! They are going to pay for this!" A yelled, working himself back into a rage. "As soon as you find out any useful information, I want to be informed! I'll go after them myself if I have to!"

Killer B just looked out the window at the rain pouring down. He remained silent during the meeting, not exactly sure what to say. It wasn't often he didn't have anything to say; he was as angry as his older brother, but he knew that all he could do for now was wait. He'd be fully healed in another day or so, thanks to his regenerative skills that came along with his status as a jinchūriki, and he'd be able to help then.

C left the room immediately in order to update the hunter-nin with their new orders. He was glad that A was back, but worried that his Raikage might do something rash. If they couldn't find the kids responsible for this soon, it was likely that A might take his anger out on someone else. Worse case scenario was that he'd start a war, choosing to blame Konoha for the actions of Neji. If he did that though, he'd be admitting to the world that Neji had been in Kumogakure, which was exactly what they spent the last ten years denying. No matter what happened, if Neji and Karui weren't found soon, Kumogakure's image would be tarnished.

A sat down in his chair behind the remains of his desk. "Everyone out!" He shouted. "I need some time alone to think.."

Darui bowed respectfully and left; B hesitated for a moment, as if he was going to say something, but decided against it and followed Darui out of the room. A just sat in silence, staring out of his office window. He'd turn the entire world upside-down if he had to, but he would find the ones responsible for this and make them pay.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Neji opened his eyes, waking up after falling asleep for the first time since he boarded the ship. He had pushed himself to stay awake and alert for a full day after boarding. It was now their second day at sea, and from his estimate, they should be somewhere between Kaminari no Kuni and Yu no Kuni.

He went to sit up, but felt a weight on his arm and chest, stopping him from moving. He looked down and noticed Karui still fast asleep, curled up on her side with her head on his chest. His own arm was wrapped around her and he wasn't sure exactly when that had happened.

Neji blushed a bit, moving her gently to the side and getting out of bed. They had lived together for many years now, sure, but they had never shared a bed before. Even if it was innocent, he couldn't help but get a bit flustered.

"*Ahem* Karui.." Neji walked back over, gently shaking her shoulder, trying to stir her awake. "It's been over twenty-four hours, it's time to wake up.." He spoke softly.

"..Neji..?" Karui slowly opened her eyes, groggily lifting her head up and looking around. "Where are we..?"

"On a ship, heading to Hi no Kuni. We're about two days' travel from Kaminari no Kuni." Neji said, smiling in satisfaction.

"We made it!?" Karui sat bolt upright. "Hell yes!" She exclaimed while laughing and grinning at the joyous news.

"We're not there yet, we can't afford to let our guard down. Even when we arrive at our destination, you're still a missing-nin and I'm technically a roaming shinobi now. Not to mention, I'm sure A will have a price on both our heads." Neji said solemnly.

"Don't be such a killjoy! We'll just handle whatever comes, one step at a time!" Karui slung her legs over the side of the bed and grimaced a bit at the sudden movement, gripping her side and letting out a grunt.

"Are you ok?" Neji stepped forward, concern on his face.

"I'm fine.. Just a bit sore from the wounds.." Karui said, trying to replace her grimace with a smile.

Neji frowned. He hadn't thought about her wounds since they boarded the ship. He had been too tired and worried about possible treachery from the captain. Thinking about it now, however..

"Karui, we're going to have to change your bandages and make sure the wounds are clean." Neji told her, moving towards the bag they had brought and fishing out a medkit from within. "Take your clothes off, I'll have to help you."

"Ah.. Ok.." Karui nodded slightly, turning a bit red. 'It's ok, he did it once before. It's out of necessity, no need to overthink it…' She thought, pulling the robes over her head, and wincing a bit as her movements tugged at the bandages that were sticking to her wounds.

She hesitated a moment, looking at Neji who was patiently waiting. "Turn around.." She mumbled out.

"Huh? Why?" Neji blinked. 'Didn't I bandage you the first time?'

"Turn around!" She commanded again, a bit louder, throwing her robe in his face.

Neji just sighed and turned to face the other way as she undressed. He didn't know what it mattered, he had already seen it all before, but if it made her feel more comfortable then so be it.

"Alright.. You can turn around.." Karui said, speaking bashfully.

Neji turned around to see her wrapped in a blanket, staring intently at the floor. Neji just sighed again, a bit exasperated. 'You're going to make this weird, aren't you..?'

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Outside of the gates of Konohagakure, the forest stretched for as far as the eyes could see. The massive wall that surrounded the city was constantly patrolled by Konoha shinobi and perfectly encircled the massive territory of the village.

Fū looked in awe as she stood at the edge of the forest, staring at the wall in front of her. "This is Konohagakure!? It's so big! It absolutely dwarfs Takigakure!" She said excitedly, stretching her arms out wide as if to emphasize her statement.

Even her two teammates that were tired of listening to hear constantly talk on the journey here were speechless. They knew that as the hidden village of one of the five great countries, Konohagakure would be large, but this was beyond their imagining. They just nodded dumbly at her words, looking at the wall in front of them that stretched far into the horizon, with wide eyes.

"We're finally here.." Shibuki sighed. He was glad the journey was over, and they got to Konohagakure safely, but he was anxious about the upcoming meetings and discussions he'd have to go through over the next few days, or potentially even weeks. "Let's head to the gates. Everyone, have your permits ready for the guards, and don't do or say anything that could cause trouble or embarrass Takigakure." He commanded, leading the way.

The group nodded, fishing their permits out of their bags, and following behind Shibuki. The guards were thorough in their examination of the permits, in order to make sure none of them were fake and the shinobi entering were who they said they were.

"You're free to enter. Shibuki-san, please report your arrival to the Hokage at the academy once you have gotten settled at your lodgings. A place of residence has been provided for your group for the duration of your stay here, and a guard will act as your guide to make sure you arrive safely and don't get lost on the way." A guard said, handing Shibuki back his permit.

"I understand." Shibuki said politely. He knew that the need for a guard was mainly to make sure that Shibuki and his fellow shinobi didn't go anywhere they weren't supposed to. Shibuki was also sure that they'd be under surveillance during their time here.

"Yes! Let's go already!" Fū said, practically bouncing in excitement.

A pretty young woman, with long brown hair, walked towards the group. She had a smile and seemed to be looking at Fū as she approached. "I'll lead the way to your abode. Please follow me." She said, speaking in a friendly tone.

"We'll be in your care then." Shibuki responded, following after her. He had noticed the looks the kunoichi had given Fū, and for a moment he had thought that this might be a trap in order to try to snatch the jinchūriki. He pushed the thoughts aside though, and decided to go along with their guide, trusting that Konohagakure wouldn't go back on their word to discuss the matter with him peacefully.

As they traveled, the Konoha kunoichi slowed her pace a bit until she was walking next to Shibuki and Fū. She turned her head to look at the girl and grinned. "You must be Fū-chan right? I've heard quite a bit about you from Hinata. My name is Uchiha Izumi, it's nice to meet you."

"Izumi-san!?" Fū said, looking happily surprised. "Hinata told me so much about you! I can't believe you were the one assigned to guide us! Where is Hinata now? How is she doing?"

'Yes, I'm sure it was a complete coincidence that Hinata's friend happened to be the one assigned to guide us. Shikaku is shrewd. There's no way this wasn't planned out in order to increase rapport with Fū.' Shibuki thought cynically, smiling wryly to himself.

"Hinata's doing fine!" Izumi giggled at the girl's excited inquiry. "Right now she's probably at the training grounds. If you want, I can lead you there to see her after you all get settled. I'm sure she'll be delighted to see you!"

"Yes! That would be great, thank you!" Fū cheered, skipping along happily next to Izumi.

"Erm.. Maybe it would be best if you didn't interrupt Hinata's training. The exams will begin in two days, and they're probably focused on increasing their strength as much as possible right now." Shibuki interjected, dampening Fū's excitement a bit.

"Ah.. I didn't think about that.." Izumi said thoughtfully, tapping a finger on her cheek. "You're probably right Shibuki-san. Sorry Fū, it looks like we'll have to wait. Although~, I could show you around the village if you want? We can get to know each other! I know all the best shops and places to eat! What do you say?" She turned to look at the girl and smiled.

"Sure! That sounds like a lot of fun, I'll be in your care then!"

"Great! My shift is over after we arrive at your residence anyways, so I have the whole afternoon off."

Shibuki just sighed at the two girls' enthusiasm. He still wasn't sure if this kunoichi, Izumi, was actually interested in being friends with Fū, or if she was following orders to try to get close to her. He wasn't actually sure which scenario he'd prefer, either.

The group continued on their journey, taking about an hour to arrive at the village proper with the leisurely pace they were moving at. As soon as they arrived at the outskirts of the bustling village, Fū let out another gasp of awe. 'Now this is a village! Look at all the buildings and people!'

The group from Takigakure looked around with wide eyes as Izumi led the way through the market streets, taking care not to lose sight of their guide's back. The sheer amount of people located in this single part of the village was more than they could have ever imagined. They really felt like country bumpkins as they walked through the crowds, looking at the different shops and buildings that lined the streets.

Fū just skipped along, taking everything in, not wanting to miss a single thing. At some point Shibuki had grabbed hold of her hand to pull her along, so she wouldn't be lost in the crowd. Fū was doing a great job of not paying attention to where the group was headed, just letting herself get led by the hand.

Eventually they arrived at their destination; a large manor with a private courtyard was allotted to every participating country of the chūnin exams. Even Shibuki was surprised by the efforts Konoha was going to in order to leave a good impression with the other countries. It was both a show of wealth, and hospitality. He was thankful for not having to live in an inn for the duration of his stay though. Depending on the proctors that were assigned to create the trials, the exam could last anywhere from a couple of weeks, to over a moth.

Izumi waited in the courtyard for Fū as she got unpacked and settled her things. It took a while before Fū left the manor, since Shibuki had taken the time to speak with her about things she could and couldn't do while she was here.

"Ready?" Izumi asked, smiling at the girl that walked out of the building alongside Shibuki. He was leaving as well in order to visit the Hokage and report their arrival. It would be rude of him to keep the Hokage waiting.

"Ready!" Fū nodded, running over to Izumi's side. "Where are we going first!?"

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Neji walked out to the main deck with a freshly cleaned and bandaged Karui following close behind. He left the coffin back in the room so as not to scare any of the crew or other passengers. He was already a shinobi not wearing a headband, he didn't need the added attention a two and a half meter tall coffin strapped to his back would bring him.

They stood by one of the rails on the side of the ship and gazed out across the ocean. They could see a large island on the eastern horizon, and admired the view of the beautiful blue water.

It was the first time either of them had actually seen the ocean, let alone been on a ship, and they were drinking in the scenery.

"It's amazing.." Karui said in awe, watching as the ship cut through the water. "I never really thought about how.. vast it would be."

"Mn. It's incredible." Neji agreed, breathing in deeply and taking in the salty air. "We need to figure out what our next plans are though."

Karui sighed, brought back to reality. "You're a killjoy, have I ever told you that?"

"Literally about an hour ago." Neji chuckled.

"That's because it's true!" Karui said, elbowing him lightly in the side. "I don't know the layout of Hi no Kuni, and you were too young to ever leave the village, so I doubt you do either. We'll have to find someone to give us directions if we want to get to Konohagakure."

"That might be easier said than done." Neji said solemnly. "A roaming shinobi and a missing-nin aren't going to garner any sympathy. I had to give all our money to the captain in order to leave from Kaminari no Kuni as fast as possible as well. If we can't pay anyone for information, we'll have to either interrogate someone or find our own way. I doubt anyone will be lining up to help us."

"Can't you just get help by showing your part of the Hyūga clan? Surely they would want to take you back to the village. If we go with them peacefully, they might not give us too much trouble." Karui suggested hopefully.

"They might not give me any trouble, but there's no telling what they would do with you. They would most likely confiscate all our belongings as well, and I can't risk them taking the coffin. It would be best if we could sneak into the village and back to my ojisan, but that will be challenging. I don't know my way around the village either, so just finding the Hyūga compound would be difficult, let alone actually entering the village undetected."

Neji sighed, thinking about different ways he could possibly get in contact with his family. He had been informed of his father's status as missing-nin several years ago by Yugito. She had laughed when she spoke about it, which just added another reason for Neji to resent her. Someday he hoped to find his father, but he had to first save himself. If his father learned of Neji's escape, he might come back home on his own as well.

"Well, we'll figure something out. We didn't come this far just to fail." Karui said, taking hold of Neji's hand and squeezing it. Neji wasn't sure if she was trying to comfort him or herself, but he appreciated it nonetheless. He squeezed her hand back; she was right, they'd figure it out, somehow.

"In the meantime, let's just enjoy this voyage. We have five more days until we reach Hi no Kuni, and I don't want to spend the entire time fretting about it. I know we'll have to sort our plans out at some point before we arrive, but not now. Right now, I just want to relax. It's been a really stressful past few days." She said, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"Alright." Neji replied. "We can afford to relax a bit I think. You deserve it."

"We deserve it." Karui said, pinching his side. "Neither of us could have pulled that off alone. From here on out, no matter what happens, we're a team."

"Mn." Neji nodded, feeling a warmth spread inside of him that he hadn't felt in quite some time. "We're a team."

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Hizashi watched as the fire burned away another group of dead hunter-nin. They had started swarming over the mountains in even larger numbers, and he was beginning to get boxed in. 'It's time to leave. I should have bought them enough time, and the storm should have washed away any tracks they left behind. Without Kumogakure knowing which town they escaped from, it will be hard for them to track them down any time soon.' He thought, jumping towards a nearby cliff.

He scanned the area with his byakugan, searching for any more shinobi that might be near his location. He was beginning to get a bit fatigued. He had only been fighting chūnins so far, but after killing over two dozen hunter-nin without rest, even he would feel a bit drained.

He took off running in a western direction; it was his goal to travel overland, through Shimo no Kuni before heading south to Hi no Kuni. He wasn't concerned with killing anymore Kumo-nin and instead focused all his efforts on avoiding the patrols.

After traveling for about an hour, he furrowed his brows, focusing his vision on an area about nine hundred meters to his north. A group of hunter-nin were headed in his direction at a fast pace, and he couldn't help but think that his position had been found out somehow.

'A team of six; two of them are most likely jōnin. I can't afford to fight them right now; I need to escape from here.' Hizashi frowned, increasing his speed as he ran. He changed direction slightly to see if they would follow him, and sure enough, they changed the direction they were running in as well.

'They definitely have me locked down somehow. It must be a sensor-nin.. But which one is he?' Hizashi grit his teeth. 'If I can take him out, I should be able to escape the others. It's risky, but it might be my only chance. I can't afford to run into another group as I'm trying to escape this one.'

Hizashi focused his byakugan on the team again. He looked at each shinobi, studying their chakra signatures as he changed his direction once more. 'Found him!' Hizashi smiled darkly. As soon as he changed directions, a small flare of chakra escaped from one on the hunter-nin. He was the one that was homing in on his location.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." Hizashi muttered, forming the hand seal. Three clones appeared, two taking off in a different direction, while he and the last clone circled back and moved towards the group of enemy shinobi. This was a gamble, but he was willing to take it. It wasn't the first time he had been in such a difficult spot since he left Konohagakure, and he was determined that it wouldn't be the last.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

A/N: So I went to bed feeling like I forgot something, and woke up at 4am in a panic cause I realized I hadn't added my a/n to this chapter yet. I'm going to be out of town for two days, I'll be back Tuesday 20/4/21, so there won't be a chapter posted Sunday or Monday. I apologize to all of you that look forward to my daily updates, but sometimes life gets in the way y'know?

Thank you guys for the support!