Shikamaru's POV
Shikamaru was running as fast as his feet could carry him through dense pink clouds. He was clutching Neji's hand tightly to keep him running too. He could hear the Hyuuga behind him doing his best to keep up with him. He had to get him out of there, and fast. The Main House was biting at their heels.
He had no idea where they were, or how they got there. The only thing he knew was that he had to keep going. He couldn't stop until he was sure Neji was safe. They plunged into the clouds, which were so thick that soon he couldn't see anything. He looked back but Neji had disappeared, and his own body seemed to have disappeared as well. The pink gas that surrounded him started swirling into two separate small funnel clouds moving at dangerously fast speeds. Suddenly, they transformed into two huge turbulent eyes. They stared directly at him, and he just stared back. It felt as if he couldn't look away. They were mesmerizing. Shikamaru heard them calling to him and without hesitation, he let himself be pulled along until he sank into the pink storm.
He opened his eyes and his whole body jerked. Shikamaru stared ahead, a wood ceiling filled his vision. Instantly, he realized he was lying in his bedroom in the forest house, and the terror he had just experienced was just a dream. A dream with a little pinch of reality: the Main House very close to catching them. Him, desperately trying to put as much distance as possible between the other ninja and his clan. Neji's enormous eyes swallowing him and making him lose his mind.
That meant his brain was rumbling about these things even in his sleep. That wasn't new though. He was actually pretty used to having those kind of dreams.
Shikamaru stretched his arm over the bed searching for the person next to him. When he only found empty sheets he turned his head to look for Neji, who should be resting calmly at his side. But to his surprise the boy wasn't there. He looked at the big window. Just a sliver of sunlight was peeking over the horizon. The dawn was apparently just about to burst, which meant it was still very early.
Rubbing his eyes, Shikamaru sat up and looked around, but Neji was nowhere to be seen. Still drowsy he stood up, put on his pants, and headed to the bathroom. The Hyuuga wasn't there either.
He stopped for a moment to think. Was it possible that Neji had left? He was returning to the border that morning, but Shikamaru couldn't believe he would leave without even saying goodbye. He scratched his head. The Huuyga had to be somewhere close by. He made his way to the main room.
In the second he crossed the threshold, the smell of coffee and tea filled his nose. He looked to the kitchen and saw steam coming out of the kettle. So Neji had woken up and prepared a little breakfast, but where was he? Shikamaru opened the front door and looked outside.
In the dim light, he saw the silhouette of Neji sitting on the grass next to a huge black form that he quickly identified as his deer. The Hyuuga was scratching the animal's ear affectionately. Shikamaru walked forward to greet them. Hearing him, Neji turned his head and stared at him over his shoulder with a cup of tea in the hand not occupied spoiling Shikamaru's deer.
"Good morning," the Hyuuga said with a warm smile. All the tension in Shikamaru's body eased away when he saw that the other was okay and in good spirits.
"Good morning," the Nara replied in a hoarse morning voice, stopping next to him. "What are you doing up so early?".
Neji blinked softly and looked around, lazily taking in his surroundings through the treetops, where the birds were already waking up. "I wanted to enjoy my last morning here, before leaving, to the fullest", he replied with a calm, peaceful voice. Then he turned his gaze to Shikamaru again. "I made you some coffee." He paused, "Join me?".
The Nara watched his eyes sparkling in the faint light and smiled. He was happy to know that Neji loved the forest just as much as him.
"Of course", he said. He went back to the house to get a cup of coffee and returned to sit quietly next to the Hyuuga.
They sat there as the sky slowly illuminated, watching the stars disappear. The music of the forest creatures waking with the new day was all the conversation they needed.
Before they knew it, Neji's time to leave had arrived. The two boys stood up, leaving their cups on the grass. Their bodies moved toward each other seemingly of their own accord to embrace. Shikamaru breathed the Hyuuga's scent, letting it invade his lungs. He wanted to pull a little bit of the other into every inch of himself.
Neji clung to him. It felt like he was trying to merge with him. It seemed impossible to let each other go, but they knew they had to. Reluctantly the two boys parted. Before leaving, the Hyuuga placed a hand on Shikamaru's cheek and leaned closer to give him a soft gentle kiss on the lips.
Shikamaru wanted to say that he was going to miss him like hell, but that wouldn't make things any easier. So he said nothing. They pressed their foreheads together and looking deep into each others eyes, smiled tenderly one last time.
Eventually Neji turned to leave. Shikamaru watched him until he got lost among the trees. He had no idea how long he stood there staring at the point where the Hyuuga had disappeared, wishing he could stay forever.
Now came seven more months of being separated from Neji, and that meant two things. The first, he was going to miss him like crazy. The second, he had to resume his investigation quickly to make good use of that time. Now that the necklace issue was finished and Neji had left, he needed to focus on the main plan again. Not losing a second, he turned his brain on. "Alright", he said, joining his hands as he got ready for what lay ahead. "Let's get back to work".
To make any significant advance, first he had to learn more about the Curse Seal. At this point the one thing he knew was that the oldest and most prestigious member of the Hyuuga clan was the only person that could place it. At the moment it still was Neji's grandfather, but as soon as he passed away, that task would pass to Hiashi. He had heard that from the man himself, so he had no reason to doubt it. That wasn't enough though, he needed more. And he only could get that information from someone inside the clan.
At first he had considered talking to Hinata. Maybe he could get something out of her with sneaky and well thought out questions. Or maybe he could just confess everything to her and hope she would be willing to help him. She was a very kind and compassionate girl after all, and it was obvious that she cared a lot about her cousin.
But the problem was that she was too close to Hiashi. He was her father, they lived together, and Hinata didn't seem the sort to be good at lying. The man apparently had no problems looking into the Main House's shady business, but what Shikamaru had planned went much deeper than that. Figuring out their plans was just part of the Nara's strategy.
If Hiashi found out he was involving his dear daughter in something as crazy as what he had in mind, the little trust he had built with the man would be destroyed. He had to find someone from the Hyuga clan that was not directly related to Neji to get more information.
But how was he going to do that? The truth was, he didn't know any other Hyuugas. Why would any of them trust him enough to spill the secrets of the Main House he longed so much to know? First he thought any Branch House member would be happy to help him because his plan could actually be good for all of them. Then he realized they would probably fear retaliation from the Main House. Those people could kill them in an instant with the Curse Seal. If he was in their shoes, he would probably choose not to take the risk.
So he needed to find someone from inside the Hyuuga clan who wasn't in the Branch House, but felt empathy towards them, and it couldn't be Hiashi. He wasn't sure if that person existed, because all the Main House members he had seen, besides Hinata and Neji's uncle, were heartless bastards. But he had to try.
Like he had done many times before, Shikamaru spent the next weeks wandering through Konoha's streets, following Hyuugas around. But he didn't find anyone who matched what he was looking for. He was starting to lose hope, when finally he saw something.
He was wandering in front of the Academy, when he saw two people in the park. The oldest of them was a young girl, a few years younger than him, with thick dark hair and huge lavender eyes. The other one was a child, a boy about eight or nine years old, with the same eyes and the same hair, but with one obvious difference: his forehead was covered with a thick headband.
Shikamaru recognized the Hyuuga features in both of them the instant he saw their faces. He had already studied so many of them (always from a safe distance), that there was no way he could be wrong. He knew she was a Main House member because her forehead was bare, and he was sure the little boy was a Branch House member because his was covered. But there was something strange going on between them.
The child was swinging in a hammock, laughing and having fun, while the girl pushed him again and again, apparently enjoying it too. Neither of them seemed to be faking. They were actually close, and obviously cared about each other.
Seeing that kind of interaction between Hyuuga branches was really unusual. Other than Neji's family, he had never seen a Main Hyuuga showing even a drop of kindness to a Branch Hyuuga. He had witnessed many times how the Main House treated them, always threatening them and flaunting their supposed superiority. This was not like that. Intrigued, Shikamaru spent a couple of hours hanging around the park pretending to be just napping, but really paying close attention to the pair.
He stayed until they stopped playing. The girl took the little boy's hand and they walked away together in the direction of the Hyuuga domains. The child left with a huge smile. Shikamaru was definitely surprised.
After that, he came back at the same spot every afternoon for roughly two weeks, waiting for the pair to appear again. And they did, on three more occasions. Shikamaru studied them closely. The girl was definitely too young to be the boy's mother, so he guessed she was his sister. Or maybe they were cousins, like Neji and Hinata. Whatever the case, it looked like she truly cared about the child, and the boy evidently loved her company very much. They always went directly to the swings and then spent a couple of hours just playing around.
He was watching the girl push the kid like every day, when suddenly she stopped, putting her hands in her hips. Shikamaru frowned, seeing her let out an exasperated breath. She looked mad. A second later the girl turned around with fierce eyes, and glared directly at him.
Shikamaru froze and looked away immediately. She had probably realized he was watching them. He had figured this would probably happen and was prepared for it. He tried to act natural, stretching against the tree where he had been pretending to be asleep. But he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. He looked slightly in the girls direction, and saw she was approaching quickly with heavy steps and a hostile expression. The little boy was still sitting in the swing. Confused, he watched the girl walk away.
The Nara tried to ignore the approaching young woman, but her eyes were piercing him. When she finally reached him, she stopped and glared at him clenching her fists at her side.
"What's your problem?", she asked aggressively. Apparently she had a very strong character for being so young. She was frowning deeply at him. "Are a pervert or what?".
Shikamaru blinked a couple of times, shocked by the accusation. "Excuse me?", he replied.
The girl crossed her arms in front of her chest and pursed her lips. "Do you think I don't see you watching us?", she asked. "I have a Byakugan, you know. What do you want?".
Shikamaru straightened and lifted his hands to calm her down. "Nothing", he answered. "I'm sorry. It wasn't my intention to stare".
The girl's frown deepened even more. "Please. I saw you stalking us the last two times we came to this park. And unsurprisingly, here you are again today. Always watching us". Shikamaru realized why she thought that was weird and felt a little embarrassed. "What do you want with us?".
He stood up so he could be face to face with her. The girl took a step back and looked over her shoulder to check on the little boy, who was just waiting for her in the swing, balancing his feet back and forward. Then she turned around to Shikamaru again.
"Look", the Nara started. "I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable. I'm sorry if I did. It just that it surprised me to see a Main House member being so nice to a Branch House member.
Straight to the point. Shikamaru didn't know if the girl would take this as an offense, but now that she had confronted him he had to take advantage of the opportunity. The girl looked at him as if he had just insulted her.
"Why do you think he is a Branch House member?", she asked furiously. "What do you know about Hyuugas?".
Shikamaru lowered his hands and tried to talk in more relaxed voice. He had to sound as harmless as possible. "I know he's forehead is always covered, and Main House members never do that".
The girl huffed, annoyed by his answer. "So what if he is? Why would you care about that?", she questioned again. "That doesn't concern you".
Shikamaru lowered his head a little to look inoffensive. "It doesn't", he agreed. "But I couldn't help it. I've seen how the Main House treats them, and it's awful". At hearing those words, the girl's frown softened for a brief moment. He knew Hyuugas never talked about the atrocities that took place inside the clan, and she probably never expected to hear that. He kept talking. "I just thought your case was different. I have a friend who's a Branch House member, and I know a few of the things that happen in the clan".
It was risky, but he had to try. If he was making the mistake of misjudging this girl, she could say something to the Main House and his entire plan would go to hell. And Neji… He didn't even want to think about what would happen to the boy if they discovered he was involved with him. But he had no other place to get this information from, and he needed it to keep going with his investigation. Besides, he had a hunch about this girl. He felt the love between her and the little boy was real. That wasn't much to go on, but he decided to take the risk anyway.
"You have a friend in the Branch House?", she asked, now a little curious. "Who?".
Shikamaru shrugged. "No offense, but I'd rather not tell you that. You're a Main House member, and if I tell you I might get him into trouble. I don't want them going after him".
The girl took a deep breath, swelling her chest with pride. "I would never do that. I would never help any of those mean, horrible men".
Shikamaru smiled a little at her. "So you hate them too, hm?".
She seemed to regret having said those words, as if she had spoken too much. She crossed her arms over her chest again. "Why would you care about that?". Despite her strong personality, she still had the maturity of a little girl.
Shikamaru put his hands in his pockets, trying to look calm. "I'm just worried about my friend", he said honestly. "I know someday, no matter what he does, he'll be killed by the Curse Seal, and that really scares me. I don't want that to happen".
The girl stared at him with round eyes that suddenly filled with sadness. Apparently he had touched on a sensitive subject for her. She looked over her shoulder at the little boy, who was watching the butterflies fluttering around him with a happy smile. "You are worried about him too, aren't you?", Shikamaru asked softly.
The girl clenched her fists at the sides of her body. She kept watching the little boy with a painful expression. After a few seconds, she lowered her head.
"Yes, I'm worried about him", she said, and then she lifted his head to look straight into Shikamaru's eyes. "And I know that if the Main House finds out I'm having this conversation with you, they won't do anything to me, but they can kill him". She was very serious, and she knew those words she was speaking were the terrible truth. "He is their propriety, and there's nothing I, or anyone, can do to change that".
Shikamaru nodded to show he agreed with her. "I know that", he said looking at the girl with a sad face. "But maybe we can do something to just keep them away from them. I'm sorry, but I can't know this and do nothing about it. Anything we do is better than just leaving them to their fate, right?".
The girl frowned deeply again, and suddenly her eyes filled up with tears. "Do you think I don't want to protect him? I do everything I can! I take him to school and wait for him outside, and I stay by his side all the time. But when he gets a little bit older the Main House members will turn their eyes on him, and there will be nothing I can do".
"So you just accept it?", Shikamaru asked, knowing that he had to take advantage of the girl's emotional state. "This doesn't only mean they will do terrible things to him. It also means they will kill him some day, in a very cruel and horrible way". He bit his lips, and looked directly into the girls eyes. "I can't accept it. And I won't. I can't not try, just because it seems impossible".
The girl looked at him with terrified eyes. Then, she lowered her head again. She was obviously scared, but maybe she was considering it. Shikamaru made a step towards her and spoke in a soft but clear voice. "I don't want my friend to die".
She didn't react for a few seconds. Then, she took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. When she raised her head, she looked confused and hesitant.
"I understand how you feel", the girl said in a sad tone. She thought for a few moments, and then met Shikamaru's eyes. "But how do I know I can trust you?", she asked.
The Nara smiled. He had a chance of getting her help, after all. "Maybe I should start by telling you my name", he replied. "I'm Shikamaru".
At the end of the day the girl was still reluctant to talk to him about the Hyuuga clan, but she really believed he was worried about his friend. The little boy was her brother, and their father was a strong member of the Main House. Their mother was dead, which didn't surprise him. He was tempted to ask for the woman's name, to see if she had been killed by the Hyuuga clan in the same way Neji's mother had. But it was just too soon. The girl wasn't sure about his intentions yet, and he still needed to gain her trust. It was going to be hard, but he knew he had to achieve it.
Neji's POV
Just one night after he got to the border people began appearing out of the trees from the south with the intention of entering Fire Country. They came in small groups intermittently throughout the entire day. The border shinobi had to stop each group to ascertain their reasons for visiting the northern country. All their answers were the same: they were escaping from the great pest.
Each group that arrived contained at least one person that was ill who had to be carried by the friends or relatives that made up the rest of their party. According to the travelers, there was a devastating, unstoppable disease that was spreading, unchecked, across the Land of Tea.
The situation was delicate. If this disease was contagious, it could affect the Fire Country as well, which meant they couldn't allow them to cross the border. They had to do all they could to assist them here. The Captain ordered the sick to be put in quarantine. All the medic ninja along the entire border were focused on trying to find a way to cure them. Neji was the only one with a Byakugan, so he spent the following days on a horse, traversing the border from end to end over and over again to ensure no one would cross. The people were desperate. They attempted any means they could think of to escape from whence they came.
When the news that the first of those infected had died in one of the border's stations the situation grew even more tense. After that unfortunate patient, many others soon followed, and there was apparently nothing the medics could do for them. They needed the best doctor they could find, and everybody knew who that was. The Hokage.
Shikamaru's POV
He met with the girl and her little brother at the same park numerous times over the next few days. He told her a little about himself. His thinking being, that getting to know him better might help make her lower her guard. Little by little, she started to open up.
Her name was Hanae, and she was sixteen years old. Her brother's name was Hoshi, and he was only eight. Shikamaru empathized with their story immediately because it was impossible not to. She had been the only one taking care of the little boy since their mother had died, supposedly due to complications during childbirth. Their father was cold and distant. They had been raised mostly by servants, leaving them basically alone inside that awful clan.
Shikamaru showed how upset their plight made him. He had no need to fake it, though he was willing to do just about anything to get the girl to trust him. During the last day, he even went a little further and played with the boy.
He was pushing Hoshi on the swing when a strange sound interrupted the kid's happy laugh. Shikamaru turned around to see where it had come from, but there was nothing. He heard it again, and looked down. Standing on the ground right behind him with her characteristic grumpy expression was Tonton, the Hokage's pig.
Crap, that meant only one thing. The animal snorted and stomped her hind legs. Shikamaru stopped pushing the little boy and lowered his shoulders in resignation.
He made his excuses to the siblings. A summons from the Godaime wasn't something he could ignore. Dragging his feet, he followed Tonton to the Hokage mansion. The pig walked fast, and turned around a couple of times to glare and snort at him again.
"Can't you see I'm right behind you?", he muttered. "I'm not gonna run, you should know that by now".
When they arrived at the Hokage mansion the pig took him directly to Tsunade's office. He knocked on the door and seconds later he heard the irritated voice of the Godaime telling him to come inside. A sudden thought popped into his head. Could she have found out that he had had something to do with the arsine tanks incident? His body froze. He couldn't think of any other reason why the Hokage could want to see him except a mission request. He really hoped that wasn't it. She could also want to check how his investigation into Akatsuki was going, and he really had nothing yet. So whatever the reason for his summons was, it definitely wasn't good.
He slid the door open and peered inside. The Godaime was standing in front of her desk, looking at the huge piles of paper scattered in front of her. She was frowning deeply, which wasn't a good sign. After he took a step inside, the woman looked up and saw him.
"Where have you been?" She looked angry and appeared to be in a really bad mood. "Tonton has been looking for you since morning". Shikamaru started to apologize, but the pig walked past him and started squeaking to the Godaime, apparently talking to her.
"You were playing in the park?", the woman asked. Shikamaru threw a heated glare to the animal. "You should be here, helping. You can't be lazing around in this time of crisis".
Shikamaru raised his eyebrows at hearing this last sentence. He stared at Tsunade, confused. "What crisis?".
The woman looked at him in shock. Even the pig turned around and watched him with surprise. "You don't know?", she asked. Shikamaru blinked a couple of times and shook his head awkwardly. "There is a terrible epidemic devastating the south. Hundreds of people have already died".
Shikamaru's jaw dropped. "What?", he said, approaching the desk.
"The whole Land of Tea is affected", Tsunade continued. "Fortunately Konoha is the only border they had, but if things get worse they could start trying to escape the area via the water. We need to find a cure, or at least a way to stop it from spreading".
"There is no cure?", Shikamaru asked, not believing what he was hearing. "What's causing the deaths?".
Tsunade clenched her fists over her desk. "We don't know", she admitted resentfully.
Shikamaru shook his head, astonished. "This is crazy. Do we know what the symptoms are?"
The Godaime closed her eyes and frowned even more. "I do", she answered. "I have investigated a number of cases myself. I just got back from the quarantines. I can't explain it".
The Nara was completely shocked. He immediately thought about Neji. He was at the border, and must be very busy with the situation. But being there meant he was incredibly exposed. What if he got infected too? What if he already was? A chill ran down his spine. He wanted so much to ask the Hokage about him, but he knew he couldn't.
"I need you to go through these documents and get me numbers regarding the timing and frequency of deaths". She handed him a pile of papers. "I need to know how fast this is spreading. How long will it take you?".
Shikamaru took the documents and gave them a quick glance. "About ten minutes", he answered.
Tsunade swept the top of her desk with her arm, scattering papers to the floor. She was obviously in a hurry. "Sit down and get to work", she barked.
He sat and began immediately. Shikamaru took a pencil and leaned over the desk. He counted the deaths and took note of the dates starting to calculate. A few minutes later he handed the results to the Hokage.
"I have to take this to the Hospital and compare it with old epidemics in case it could be something we have seen before", she said, walking to the door. Before disappearing she turned around. "Don't get lost again. If I have to send a mission to investigate this I want you leading it".
The Nara watched her go, followed by Tonton. In the second the woman left, his mind turned on. Millions of thoughts exploded in all directions.
A disease with no explanation which not even the Hokage could understand? Unaccountable symptoms? Massive deaths? That sounded very familiar. He immediately thought about the Main House poison. It was almost impossible to detect, and it could be fatal quickly. But how could someone manage to poison so many people?
His mind traveled to a mission not that long ago, the day his brain collapsed in front of his whole team. They had traveled to a little village, just across the border with the Land of Tea, to stop a bandit who intended to poison the river. With Shino leading, the team had been able to destroy the poison, and to attach a tracking bug to one of the enemies clothes. But they had apparently discovered it and killed it shortly after, because Shino's bugs had lost track of them. Since that moment there had been no signs they were going to try again.
But it was just too much of a coincidence that the epidemic was taking place in that same province. Maybe the person who was behind it had decided to try a little further into the Land of Tea where Konoha had less informants. To poison so many people it would need to be a considerable amount of the poison.
Shikamaru's heart jumped when he realized the Hyuuga clan had more than enough. He remembered the vast fields they had gotten after the deal with the ambassador planted with thousands of those damned seeds. He had always wondered why the Main House wanted to increase their production if they had always used them in a discrete way.
His heart was racing in his chest and cold drops of sweat started to roll down his neck. This was serious. It could mean that the Hyuuga clan was involved in a massive catastrophe that bordered on genocide. He needed to share his theory with someone, and he knew exactly who that someone was.
Without another thought he started running, for the third time, to Hiashi's office. When he finally got there, the man was sitting behind his desk like always, and fortunately, he was alone. Seeing Shikamaru stop abruptly at the door he frowned. Every time the boy darkened his doorway he came bearing bad news. So, when the Nara closed the door behind him, he didn't flinch.
Hiashi was aware of the situation in the Land of Tea, so it was easier for Shikamaru to explain his theory to him. He talked fast, not knowing if he was making any sense at all, but he was just too agitated to slow down. The man listened and appeared to grow more concerned with every new fact the younger ninja gave him.
"Sir., this could be the explanation", the Nara said when he finished exposing his theory. Hiashi raised his hand to his face and rubbed his forehead. He obviously understood the magnitude of the situation if Shikamaru was right.
"It seems feasible, but at the moment it is just a theory", he answered. "An accusation like this is extraordinarily serious, young man. Irrefutable proof will be needed".
The Nara boy nodded solemnly. "I know, Sir.", he agreed. "We need some water samples from the area and to analyze them. If the poison from the seed is there we might be able to detect it".
Hiashi stood up and met him in front of his desk. He made direct eye contact with the other ninja, so Shikamaru paid close attention. "I will try to get it. Until I get back, do not say a word about this to anyone. We must be discreet".
Shikamaru nodded again. He was lucky to be able to count on Hiashi, but the man was in a difficult position. If the Hyuugas were really involved, it would be hard to prove that he was not a part of it, being the head of the clan. The Nara knew he was worried about this, and he appreciated that he was willing to investigate his clan despite of the consequences it could bring for him.
They left the Hokage mansion together and once outside, Shikamaru watched Hiashi leave to get ready for his journey. The Nara would have offered to go with him, but he had to stay in the village in case more information arrived, and because the Hokage had ask him to stay close. He put his hands in his pockets and started walking, impatient and frustrated. He hated that the only thing he could do now was to wait.
While he wandered Konoha's streets again, his mind kept busy. Why would the Main House want to kill all those people? Why had they chosen to attack the Land of Tea? What was their objective? Or maybe they weren't doing it for themselves. Maybe they were working for someone else. Perhaps that ambassador. Shikamaru didn't know anything about the man yet, just that he was important, but he didn't even know which country he represented. He considered other links the Main House had with people from outside Konoha, and his thoughts flew straight to the monks. He knew they were purchasing Gasei Seals and giving them to the Hyuugas to accumulate chakra, and he had deduced that they were doing this to be able to open the Kin Temple's door. He had only investigated the links these monks had had with Konoha in the past, which were almost none, but he didn't know much more about them. Maybe he could search for more information regarding their cult. He had nothing else to do while he waited for Hiashi to return.
Turning around, he started walking towards the library. The librarian girl was there, Shiho. She had had a huge crush on Shikamaru for years, though she was much older than him. So she was quite happy to help him find the books he needed.
The Nara had never really cared about religion, so he had paid no attention to that section. He sat at a large table, surrounded by books, reading about different religious orders. He was looking for something that could relate to the monks he had seen with the Main House members to the current situation.
He read, and read, and read countless pages of the most boring and ridiculous religions. Though for him, all religions were boring and ridiculous. Three hours later, Shiho approached shyly to tell him that she needed to close the library. Shikamaru looked through one of the big windows and realized that it was already night.
But he hadn't found anything yet. He turned to Shiho and put on his best innocent expression, and pleaded with the girl to let him stay.
"Just a few more hours", he implored. "You can leave and I will close up. I promise I'll put every book back where it belongs". He approached a little, trying to take advantage of her crush on him, and smiled slightly. "Please?".
Shiho blushed so much her cheeks seemed to be on fire. She covered her face with embarrassment and nodded eagerly, giggling.
When she finally left, Shikamaru immersed himself in the books again. He kept reading for two more hours, but he only found what he already knew about the Kin Temple: that it was an old church, located somewhere in the Fire Country, which was supposedly made entirely of gold, and had a protective jutsu which required ridiculous amounts of chakra to be open.
Could they be killing these people to steal their chakra, and open the stupid door? Could they be using the Gasei Seals for that? Shikamaru felt sick with just the thought of it. He kept reading, hoping he was wrong.
And then, he found something. He was reading a passage from an old book from one of the different branches of religions he had identified. It said that mankind would fall deeper and deeper into darkness, and could only be saved with the intervention of the chosen son. This person was the son of the gods, but apparently it wasn't one particular person. The book said it would be the one who dared to take the souls of his loved ones, and stained his hands with their blood in order to save them all. Shikamaru blinked a few times, not liking how creepy that was. The book said that when this person came, he would test mankind and only the worthy will remain. Then the great doors would open, and the son of the gods would receive his enlightenment to guide them all.
Shikamaru reclined in his chair. Was this freaking shit really possible? Were the Hyuugas providing the seed to a crazy cult so they could decimate the population and open that stupid door? He thought about the Kin Temple. Maybe the word "gold" was just a metaphor. A metaphor for enlightenment. Did one of the damn Main House members think he was the son of the gods? Maybe Hisao? Or perhaps they were just working for someone who thought they were.
He clenched his fists. Shit, but even if something about all of this was possible, why had they started with the Land of Tea? The temple was thought to be in the Fire Country, after all. What did he know about the Land of Tea? He knew they had no shinobi force, only a guard to protect their head and their small council. That meant they had little ways to defend themselves. But having no other border than the one with the Fire Country, they had apparently never needed it.
They were peaceful people, and they had stayed neutral in times of war. He knew they had received many refugees back then, mostly from the Fire. Maybe the person that was causing all this thought that Fire Country would take the sick people in in gratitude, and the disease could spread. But if the deaths were caused by the seeds like he thought, then it wouldn't be contagious, so it didn't make sense.
He leaned over the table onto his elbows and covered his face with his hands. This was a hell of a lot more than troublesome.
Neji's POV
It was chaos. The entire border had to be blocked to stop the hundreds of people that were desperately trying to cross. The Captain called for reinforcements, and a considerable amount of shinobi came from Konoha as support. All the medics had been summoned to the front, because the number of patients was increasing. He was now just doing his best to contain people, taking them to the quarantine points where the doctors could care for them. There were so many. With each passing second it seemed another group arrived. Watching some of them succumb was difficult, but the worst was to watch their family and friends gather around them, realizing they had lost them forever.
The families of the dead and the dying were given space to pay their respects and say goodbye to their loved ones. And they did, in a very particular way. Apparently the people from the Land of Tea were extremely devout. They gathered around the ill and prayed, lifting their hands in the air, closing their eyes, and raising their faces to the sky. Over and over again they repeated the same prayer together, before the person passed, continuing the prayer well after they were gone.
Many of them had implored Neji to call a priest. They desperately begged for a priest to be there at the moment of their loved ones death. Neji apologized uncountable times, but there was no priest to call. In the Fire Country, religion was important, but it had no place in military endeavors. Hearing this, the refugees just turned around and returned to their monotone chants, like trying to do, all together, what a priest was supposed to do.
Neji didn't understand that belief, but he would respect their grief and their ways of expressing it. He wished there was something he could do, but not even the Godaime had been able to figure out what was causing it. It was all one giant tragic mess.
Hello!
Sorry again for the long wait. I know this chapter was shorter than the previous ones, sorry for that too. And I realize this story has too many moments of Shikamaru searching around for answers. I hope it wasn't too boring to you. From now one things will start moving faster! The story is approaching to its end!
Thanks to Miranda Z, my wonderful editor, for her awesome work.
If you guys like where this is going, please let me know!
Till next chapter! ^^