Does Anyone Know
By Ammie Hawk
Summary: As you may or may not be aware, a little over a week ago, the Jonin Neji Hyuga was sent out on an information gathering mission. In light of evidence that was received this morning, it is my duty, and with great regret, that I inform you that the Jonin Neji Hyuga has been killed in action. Mpreg. Post-Shippuden. Slight AU Narutoverse.
AN: Okay, so I know, I started another story, but I'm currently on a big Naruto kick and it's not going away. (I actually have two more started, but this is the one that's going well at the moment) This is the product of my deluded imagination, thank you all for joining.
Prologue
Neji Hyuga stumbled through the trees of the forest he now found himself in, his hand clutched to his side, where he had been stabbed by a stray kunai. His long chocolate hair clung to his face and shoulders, as his pale eyes tried to focus on his surroundings.
He had been on a relatively routine observe and report mission of a group of rogue shinobi. From the report he'd been given for the mission, the group was said to be almost as ruthless as the former Akatsuki, and this was cause for concern in the currently peaceful world. None of the five great nations wanted anything like the war of two years ago to happen again.
He had found the group easily enough. Their base was located in the southern forests on the border of the Land of Fire and the Land of Rivers. It was relatively well hidden amongst the top of the trees, but if one knew what they were looking for, as the Jonin did, they could find it.
He found a cave a few kilometers away and set up camp, sure that he was far enough away that they wouldn't notice his presence. There he began his watch. After a week, he decided to head back to the village with the information he'd gathered. He could confirm that the group was ruthless, he'd seen them waylay a merchant caravan and completely annihilate it, but they had all been civilians, not a shinobi among them. But they had nothing on the former Akatsuki. They lacked the leadership and organization of the former terrorist group. A well trained squad of shinobi should be able to round them up easily enough. So with that information, he began to break camp.
As he took to the trees, to begin his return journey, he was hit by a sudden wave of vertigo. He stopped, leaning heavily against the trunk of the tree. After a moment, he felt he could continue. He shook his head, not sure what had come over him, and jumped to the next tree. When his foot landed on the next branch, he was hit by another wave of dizziness and he momentarily lost control of his chakra. It didn't last long, but it was enough for him to lose his footing and fall heavily to the ground.
The resulting crash was enough to draw the attention of the group of rogues. He was almost immediately surrounded by four of their number. He had activated his Byakugan and took his stance. He managed to fight them off, though it took more out of him than he expected. He only managed to kill two of them, and incapacitate one more, before he saw his chance to make a break for it. The final rogue pursued him for several miles, until he was finally able to lose him by slipping into the nearby river and swimming quite a ways under the relatively deep water, though not before his pursuer landed a kunai in his side.
Once he couldn't see the other with his Kekkei Genkai, he made his way to the surface and allowed the current to take him further downstream. He finally pulled himself from the water and continued on foot. This brought him to where he was now.
His eyes caught a faint glimmer of chakra, before his Byakugan flickered off. He'd used up too much chakra already. He hesitated for a moment, before heading toward it. He knew he shouldn't trust it, but he needed help. And right now, he'd take practically anyone as long as they weren't with that group of rogues, besides, there was something comforting in the feel of this chakra.
As he passed through the barrier, for that could only be what it was, he saw a rather well built house, with a large garden stretching out along one side. His vision started to fade as he stumbled closer to the dwelling. He wanted to call out, needed to actually, but he was just too weak. As he finally succumbed to the welcoming arms of unconsciousness, he saw a long haired figure leaning over him with concern clouding their gentle brown eyes.
888
"How is he?"
"It's still too soon to tell, he's lost a lot of blood. Do you have any idea who he might be?"
"He is a Hyuga from the Leaf Village, that is all I know at the moment. He had this on him."
A pale hand extended, revealing a sealed scroll.
"What will you do with it?"
"Can you say for certain that you can heal him within the week?"
"It can go either way at this point. It is impossible to tell."
"Then I will do as I promised. This scroll, along with his forehead protector, will be sent back to Lady Tsunade. She will know what his mission was, and what to do with this information."
With that being said, the pale, tapered fingers flew through a series of hand signs. A moment later, a crow appeared and took the aforementioned items, before taking off through the open window.
888
Shikamaru Nara made his way lazily across the Village Hidden in the Leaves. His destination was the Hyuga compound, where his wayward boyfriend of two years had disappeared a little over a week ago. He hadn't seen the long haired Jonin in all that time, as he had packed his belongings from the apartment they shared and had relocated to his family's compound, and the following day had taken an insane mission away from the village. He wasn't sure why Neji had done all this, they hadn't been fighting, in fact, things had been great between them.
As he walked, his mind drifted back over his relationship with the Hyuga prodigy. They had gotten together two years ago now, shortly after the war. He had been injured during the battle, after his father had been killed, and once everything was over, he had been patched up and sent home. His mother, in her grief, was in no shape to take care of her convalescing son, so Lady Tsunade had assigned him a caretaker, which, for reasons known only to her, had been Neji Hyuga.
They hadn't gotten along well at first, the both of them being exceedingly stubborn. But the more time they had spent together, the more he came to appreciate the older shinobi's company. It had taken awhile, but he had finally made his feelings known, and shortly thereafter they had started dating. It had taken him six months after that to convince the brunet to move in with him. And they'd lived together for a little over a year now.
They had their ups and downs, just like any couple, but they always worked through everything well enough. In fact, he had planned to ask Neji to marry him, before all this happened. He had just bought the ring and everything. He still planned on it, actually, he just had to figure out what he'd supposedly done wrong, and make it up to the other.
He was brought from his musings as he finally reached the Hyuga compound. He nodded to the gate guard and stated his business. The guard had him wait while he went inside to check for the prodigy.
A few minutes later, the guard returned, only it wasn't with his boyfriend, but with his cousin, Hinata. Her pale eyes narrowed as soon as she saw him. Without a word, she grabbed his arm and dragged him along the long fence, until they were far enough away from listening ears.
"What are you doing here, Nara?" this was not the timid girl he once knew.
"What do you mean, what am I doing here?" he frowned. "I came to see if Neji stopped here before reporting in. He should have been back from his mission by now. And I think I have a right to worry about my boyfriend."
"I thought his moving out would've been enough of a clue that you're not anymore," she crossed her arms over her chest. "Neji wants nothing to do with you."
"Look," he rubbed the back of his neck, this was so troublesome, "I'm not sure why Neji left, but I think that's between me and him, not you."
"Maybe you should ask Temari what's wrong," she countered.
"Temari?" his frown deepened. "What would Temari have…?" his face cleared as he remembered the last time he had seen the blonde Sand kunoichi, just before Neji had left. "Who told Neji?"
"No one had to tell him," she sneered. "He saw everything."
"Damn it," he sighed heavily. "Look, Hinata, I don't owe you any explanation, and you're not going to get one. The only one I owe anything to is Neji. So if you see him, let him know I need to talk to him."
Without waiting for a response, he turned on his heel and walked away. He made his way to his favorite spot for cloud gazing. He really needed some space to think. Why was this turning out to be so troublesome? He had thought that being with Neji would keep those bothersome women off his back, but obviously, he was wrong.
Before he reached his destination, he heard a familiar loud cry of a bird. His brown eyes drifted upward to the hawk circling overhead. He gave a long suffering sigh as he changed direction. Why did the Hokage have to call him now? Sometimes, he really hated the fact that he had accepted his father's old position of Jonin Commander.
He was surprised when he finally arrived at the Hokage's office to see that he wasn't the only one summoned. He wasn't surprised that Naruto was present, as he had just started his training to take over as Hokage in a few years, when Lady Tsunade finally retired; but Hinata's presence, as well as Might Gai, Rock Lee, and Tenten's were a bit confusing. It was an odd assortment for a meeting, to be sure.
"Now that we're all here," the busty blonde behind the desk interrupted his thoughts, "I have something to tell all of you. As you may or may not be aware, a little over a week ago, the Jonin Neji Hyuga was sent out on an information gathering mission. In light of evidence that was received this morning, it is my duty, and with great regret, that I inform you that the Jonin Neji Hyuga has been killed in action."
Shikamaru couldn't believe what he was hearing. This couldn't be happening. Not now, not after everything. But the loud sobs coming from the remainder of what was once Team Gai were making it hard to ignore.
"Hinata Hyuga," Tsunade's somber voice continued, "as the representative of his family and clan, it is my responsibility to relinquish this into your possession.
She held out her hand, on which was Neji's forehead protector. He had to fight the urge to snatch it away from the Hyuga heir. By rights, that should go to him, someone who loved the brunet, not the clan that cursed him and treated him like a second class citizen. But unfortunately, he had no legal rights. They weren't even engaged, much less married.
"A memorial service will be held for him later this week," the Hokage sighed. "And his name will be added to the Memorial Stone. He will be missed. He was a great shinobi and an even better man. That is all. You are dismissed."
Ammie: Does anyone want to kill me yet? I know, it's a horribly sad prologue, but trust me, it gets better. Anyway, let me know what you think. (And virtual cookies to anyone who correctly guesses who's house Neji stumbled upon. And no, if I already told you, you don't get to guess.)