Notice: I do not own Naruto, and make no claims of copyright on the
characters who are not my property. Original characters, however, are mine.
Author's Notes: So, another chapter. This one is a quiet chapter, and the next one will be too, but things will vamp up shortly. I'm hoping to make this story arc a little more condensed so I can move into the big final section, but there's a lot to do for that.
There were some good questions from the reviewers about the last chapter, so let me see if I can manage some answers:
Orlha: this lady has done all sorts of horrible things, which I won't reveal just yet, but don't worry, she's plenty villainous. As for Neji, well, technically he's not promoted yet (since Tsunade has to make the ruling) everyone knows he's going to be, so he's effectively a chuunin.
Daniel of Lorien: I've written in the Akatsuki because I feel that I can freely borrow two out of nine villains without bothering anyone, given that only three have appeared so far in the manga and figuring that at least some should be from villages that have nothing to do with Konoha (ie. Lightning) and therefore won't be dealt with as part of the main plot. Naruto as a character is not appearing in this story at all, and neither will any of the other characters, mostly because I truly disdain to project out their abilities, and because I can't write for a character like Naruto (really I'm only using Neji because he's well, dead).
Hattuteline: no, I'm not letting the story go, I fully intend to finish the whole thing, but as it gets progressively longer it becomes more difficult to add new parts sometimes, which means things take longer. Ultimately I hope to finish all of this by the end of the summer (but I don't think I'll make it).
Uchiha Kumiko: I'm glad my techniques have turned out good. Some of them were heavily planned (like Rend) and some were rather fortuitous accidents (like Mizuho). In many ways the hardest part of coming up with the exam was coming up with new techniques, especially chuunin level ones. I'm not a humor-endowed author (in fact my own sense of humor is rather strange) but ultimately I don't think of ninjas as particularly funny anyway. I'm glad it works though.
Within Bare Walls
Another white hospital room, how unappealing. That was Neji's first thought as his vision gradually returned to him. Slowly, his eyes painfully aware of how light those white walls made everything; he opened his eyes and saw the world again. A moment more and he saw an entirely different color. Black, in luxurious waves. What is...ah, Shiren. He recognized her hair, unbound as it rarely was. A moment later and he could sense her breathing.
Slowly, and with moments of pain from his bound right shoulder, Neji turned his head. It is Shiren. He recognized her easily, lying slumped in a chair, sleeping by his bedside. As he did the memories of the day before came flooding back to him, and he recalled what had happened before he lost consciousness. The memory made Neji wince, and he looked deep within in disappointment. Did I really almost do...that? He sat in silence considering it, recognizing that what had happened had happened. I almost killed her, and she almost killed me. A fine pair we are. Is that the fate of dragon ninja?
Neji closed his eyes for a moment, and took in a deep breath. If that is this fate, then I will simply have to fight it. He resolved that, confirming the decision he had made on the mountainside after witnessing the destruction wrought by Wusashu. There must be another way.
In a moment Neji moved to sit up, and he found that a throbbing ache surged down his right side the very moment he began to move. Turning his head he saw the white bandages wrapped there, over pale and white flesh, and a great hole in his body he could feel if not see. He had been struck by thunder and the mark was severe. Neji let himself fall back onto the bed, and then rolled his body onto his left side. From there he levered himself upward to a sitting position. With careful movement he could minimize the pain in his right side.
This motion was far from silent, and with the rustling of the sheets Shiren's eyes snapped open. Her head shook and she stared at Neji suddenly, meeting his eyes with frightful urgency. As he watched Neji saw them grow watery and teary, though Shiren held back the tears and sat up fully herself.
"Neji, you're awake." Shiren said, her voice soft and gentle, a tone Neji found surprising, but he recognized the caring behind it, and felt out of his depth in forming a response. "I'm glad." Shiren continued. "The medical ninja said the damage was serious," she paused. "But...but they said you should be fine, and with treatment fully healthy in a few days. That's..." She paused again, and now the tears did seep out. "Neji, I'm so sorry, really, I...I can't believe what happened."
"It's alright." Neji said immediately, without even thinking the words. "What happened is done with, and we promised it would never happen again. That's enough Shiren, more than enough."
"Neji." Shiren said, grabbing his left hand with both of hers, letting Neji feel their warmth pressing down. "It's not enough." She said seriously. "When I think about what would have happened if I had completed the move, if you hadn't opened my eyes, I can't bear it." She looked deeply into his eyes again. "I spent all of the ceremony yesterday standing there, listening blindly as I relived those moments, seeing the strike, seeing you fall, your eyes closing. Neji, if I had finished the move, if you were gone, I couldn't bear it." Shiren gazed into Neji's white eyes with desperation, and her hands squeezed his own with iron force. "I couldn't bear to go on without you here."
For Neji, looking into Shiren's eyes, it was a shocking moment, recognizing that his feelings mirrored her own, that she felt the same way. "Shiren." He spoke quietly, his voice low, but unguarded as it never was around others, lacking in the tight controls he kept on it. "It's the same for me."
"What?"
"I was going to do my own move." He told her softly, his own sadness in his voice. "I could have blocked your strike, countered it so that the lightning blow would never have a chance to land, there is a way, to blend Kaiten with a dragon jutsu, but it would have destroyed you." Neji looked deeply into Shiren's dark brown eyes, so different from his own, yet so similar. "Shiren, I was going to do it, just as you were going to complete your move, only Xi's prohibition, that I not kill, only that gave me time to realize what I was doing. Everything else is the same." He paused. "I saw the same things you saw, before I fell, I saw it all happen. I couldn't have done it, I refuse to lose you."
The tears stopped flowing from Shiren then, and a soft smile stretched over her lips. "Thank you, Neji." She took her right hand off of his. "I'm really glad you said that." Shiren leaned over next to Neji for a moment, and for a second he was confused. She pressed her right hand against his back and bent in close. Her hair fell around Neji, and her lips brushed his lightly. Only for a moment, and Neji was stuck silent, and his emotions leapt and knotted strangely inside him, feeling that strange soft touch, and then it was gone. "Thank you, Neji." Shiren repeated, and then she let go, sitting back down in her chair.
Neji blinked, trying to confirm what had just happened. He squashed the urge to run his fingers over his lips, as if to touch some residue of Shiren's essence. Confused, he tried to sort things out, but realized it was impossible. I...is this possible? He couldn't answer that, and so, before he lost his composure completely, changed the subject.
"Shiren, has Xi come by?" He asked simply, returning to seriousness.
Sensing both Neji's confusion and the need to change subjects Shiren answered readily. "Yes, for a moment. He has been in conversation with Raikage and Tsuchikage for a long time."
"Did he say anything?" Neji asked, recalling now the agreement that he and Xi had made, wondering what the outcome would be. Let it be, please. It would be impossible for anything else.
Shiren's face dropped. "He did, Neji. He told me that the Raikage made his decision, the Gosain will be made a chuunin, and that I will be."
Hearing the news Neji felt a great deal of happiness. "A chuunin, he didn't say anything else?" Neji muttered.
"No, that's all." Shiren said dourly. "He didn't seem proud of me at all, or Gosain, or even of you. Xi seemed to be ignoring us, like there was something else more important."
"Heh." Neji replied, and looked straight in the eye, feeling smile creep over his normally stern face. "It may not be something he wants to think about now, but if you are going to be a chuunin, Xi agreed to teach you as a dragon ninja."
Shiren looked at Neji carefully, as if looking for the repetition of the words in his blank eyes. "Really?" She gasped. "He agreed to that?"
"Yes."
"Then...then everything is so much better." Shiren whispered. "I was worried, that I would have to say goodbye Neji, that I would go back to lightning. And instead, you tell me that I can reach my dream." She brushed away the beginning of tears from her eyes. "It makes me very happy."
Neji felt Shiren's happiness, and enjoyed it with her, but there was darkness there too. "Shiren," He said darkly. "It is not a pleasant thing to be a dragon ninja, to be a killer. Do you truly want that?" It was hard to force out the words, but Neji knew he had to say them, had to be honest with her.
The stare that she returned was crystal clear. "Do not think I do not know Neji." She answered. "My first glimpse of Xi was when he killed a man in front of me, but this is my decision. I will serve lightning, and this is the only way, so I will take it." She continued more lightly. "Besides, some things are worth accepting to be close to the right people."
Neji was only able to nod. "Ah." He muttered, and then fell silent, looking away for a moment. I need to shift the conversation, we understand each other too well to need to discuss this, he realized. "I suppose it really doesn't matter until Xi comes back. Anyway, have you seen Gosain?" He asked.
It was simple for Shiren to sense what Neji was doing, and so she responded accordingly. "I have, but only for a moment. He is down the hall a short distance. I went with Xi to speak with him for a moment, that's all."
"Then we should go and see him." Neji remarked. "Also, you said I should visit that grass ninja, Kei, with you as well."
"I did," Shiren answered. "But you can't leave your bed yet."
"Heh." Neji muttered under his breath. "My shoulder hurts, but I can walk down a hallway." Neji used his left arm to prop himself up, moving to a sitting position. He pulled his legs over under him, and then off the side of the bed, all with only a minor wince of pain. However, when he hopped out of the bed and onto his feet his right arm swung forward, and stabbing pain shot up the limb, causing Neji to cry out against his will.
Shiren was by his side in an instant, grabbing him from the good left side and holding him up. "Are you sure?" She asked, concerned.
"I'll be alright," Neji managed. "Thanks." He added.
"I guess it will be alright for just a short trip down the hall." She smiled tiredly up at Neji, and placing his left arm over her back, began to walk with him.
So now our positions are reversed, Neji recalled, remembering that he had carried Shiren up the mountainside when she had been wounded. Despite the pain, he found it was a pleasant feeling to walk so close to her.
Their progress down the hallway was slow, and by the time they had passed the three doors necessary to reach Gosain's room the pain was seriously wearying Neji, but he bore it stoically. Shiren, likewise, said nothing more of the wound, trying to ignore having inflicted it, as they had decided together.
Shiren opened the door to Gosain's room and Neji found the other ninja sitting up in bed, covered in many bandages, but quietly reading a scroll. He looked up as they entered, but said nothing until Shiren helped Neji into the chair. Gosain's eyes passed from Neji to Shiren and then back again, searching. He was silent for a moment, and then spoke, choosing his words carefully. "What brings you two here?" He asked.
"I wished to check my teammate's condition." Neji answered coldly, but brightened slightly with his next sentence. "And congratulate him on becoming a chuunin." Gosain nodded at this. "How are you Gosain?"
"Tolerable." The older ninja answered. "That stone ninja hits like a boulder, the medics said I had two ribs cracked and most of the rest are bruised." Gosain coughed. "It makes it hard to breathe, but I've had a lot worse, give me a few days and I'll be fine." Gosain cased Neji carefully, with eyes that knew how to look for pain. "How'd you get hurt like that? That stone ninja doesn't strike me as the type to stab..." Gosain trailed off, looking at Shiren again. "Well, no wonder you've been so quiet, Shiren."
Shiren looked away from Gosain, but Neji grabbed her arm, pulling her back. "It's not like that Gosain." He told the other ninja. "I don't know if they told you, but Shiren beat me, she used the same move used against Tonetero, and so I forfeited the match perhaps a moment too late, but it is not something I do not accept."
Gosain gave Neji a strange look, grasping for something to say. "Shiren won huh? No, no one told me that. Xi stopped by this morning for about five seconds, said I'd been made a chuunin, and you two as well, but that was it." He gave the pair another look. "Well, I guess whatever happened is between the two of you anyway, it's not my business, so I won't ask more."
Shiren gave a silent nod of thanks. Neji said nothing. "I suppose you will be going back to lightning now. I expect I'll see you when you go, but regardless, I will remember having served on a team with you, Gosain. You were a good teammate."
"Heh." Gosain's eyes clouded for a moment. "You two were the best teammates I've had, hell, the only time I've had two teammates come back ready to keep going. We all made chuunin right? That's pretty damn good. It's kind of a shame to break the group up, but that's the way it goes." He looked at Shiren again. "You staying?"
"Yes. I will become a dragon ninja."
"That's good I guess, though I'll miss having a companion back home, but that's nothing new." Gosain paused. "That's enough for now I suppose. It's good to know what happened, but I'll save the goodbyes for when it's actually time to leave."
Neji nodded, and stood up. "Thanks, Gosain." He told the lightning ninja as he and Shiren left.
"Kei is across the hall." Shiren whispered as she closed the door to Gosain's room.
"Heh. A short walk then."
Shiren pulled the door open slowly, and then jumped aside swiftly as a kunai slashed through the air where her head had been, to slam into the far wall of the hallway.
"Damn, that was my last shot." A bitter voice, the voice of Aburanki Kei, came from within. "If you're going to finish it off you should do it quickly, before I start screaming."
"Please don't do that." Shiren said softly as she extended her head around the doorframe.
"You!" Kei reacted with shock. "I'm sorry." She said immediately. "The motions didn't match the nurses, so I thought the grass ninja had sent someone to do me in." The voice mellowed tiredly. "I've been jumping at every sound since yesterday, please come in, with you here I can relax a bit."
Shiren stepped around the door, taking Neji with her, and affording him his first look at Aburanki Kei since yesterday. The grass ninja was covered in bandages, such that only her eyes and mouth showed clearly. She was pale from blood loss, and dark circles lay under her eyes, evidence of exhaustion. The wounds inflicted by Tonetero's cutting thorns did not heal easily. Kei saw Neji and looked at him in surprise. "I didn't expect you to come, dragon ninja."
Slipping into the unused chair, Neji took a moment to let the pain in his arm subside before answering. "Shiren requested that I visit you."
"Well, two people is preferential over one I suppose." Kei answered tiredly. "I'm sorry about the kunai lightning ninja," She said to Shiren. "But I truly expected a visit from a grass ninja to take my life."
"Why?" Shiren asked softly. "Should they not be after me?"
"Ah, yes, I was told that you killed him." Kei replied. "A stone ninja, I suppose he was one of the medics, he told me the results of the tournament. No, they are not after you." Kei laughed bitterly, and then entered into a fit of coughing. "Sorry. They are not after you; it would be a stupid move. Tonetero was supposed to win the tournament you know, that was the plan. My job was to insure he didn't get in trouble until the final stages." Kei's eyes narrowed. "They made me suffer as the target for his mockery, to be his shadowy protector, that damn monster."
"What was he?" Neji asked. "His abilities were very strange, certainly a bloodline limit, but he had no clan name."
Kei's head snapped around. "You see too much, dragon ninja." She snapped with biting anger that lapsed immediately. More gently she continued. "That much I cannot say."
"Understandable." Neji replied. So, he was truly like Gaara.
"Anyway, you killed him, thank you." Kei told Shiren. "I did not expect that, I had hoped you would defeat him, but I didn't believe it was possible. I apologize for doubting you."
"You doubt yourself too much." Shiren replied. "You are stronger than you make yourself out to be."
"I'm not strong enough." Kei said sadly. "I wasn't strong enough to obey orders and hope for his success, and for that I will be blamed. That's why I think they will kill me." She turned her bandaged head to Neji. "Dragon ninja, you said I would owe your companion..."
"It is not import-"Shiren interrupted, only to have Neji cut her off.
"Shiren, you are going to be a dragon ninja," Neji said, regret present in his voice. "We collect debt. Nothing is for free. Yes, you will owe Shiren, Aburanki Kei."
"I will pay it back," Kei said seriously. "I will pay it back someday, if I survive anyway." She shook her head. Neji and Shiren looked on in silence for a moment.
"You will survive grass ninja." The words were harsh, but hopeful, and their source was instantly recognizable.
"Xi." Neji said without turning, for indeed the older dragon ninja stood in the door.
Kei looked at him. "Draci Xi? The jounin for your team?"
"Yes." Shiren said. "It seems we will have to go."
"Correct, Shiren." Xi admonished. "You need to get Neji back to his bed, since he will need to recover quickly in order to help train you."
"Help train her?" Neji asked, incredulous.
"Well, you don't seem to be listening to anything I say these days, Neji, so you can help train Shiren." Xi turned to Kei. "I will be taking these two from you." He told her.
"What did you mean?" Kei asked, desperation in her voice, as Xi turned to go. "What did you mean, I will survive?"
"The grass jounin confirmed you as a chuunin last night, over the head ninja's objections. Raikage and Tsuchikage believe it was the correct decision. You will survive and return to your village, that is all." And Xi left the room, dragging Neji and Shiren behind him.
"I will see you another day." Shiren whispered to the shocked and speechless Kei as they left.
Neji was silent, considering the words of both Kei and Xi. I doubt I will ever see the Grass ninja again. He determined. I suppose it doesn't matter, she is not important to me now. Train Shiren? He wondered about that. Neji had never trained anyone. Oh, he had trained with TenTen extensively, but that had been far more one sided. How am I supposed to train Shiren, I have not mastered the dragon ninja methods yet. What did Xi mean I am not listening to him? Neji had a great deal of respect for the senior dragon ninja, and listened carefully to everything he said. Indeed he had memorized Xi's instructions for every dragon jutsu. So how am I not listening? Neji determined to find the answer to that remark.
Author's Notes: So, another chapter. This one is a quiet chapter, and the next one will be too, but things will vamp up shortly. I'm hoping to make this story arc a little more condensed so I can move into the big final section, but there's a lot to do for that.
There were some good questions from the reviewers about the last chapter, so let me see if I can manage some answers:
Orlha: this lady has done all sorts of horrible things, which I won't reveal just yet, but don't worry, she's plenty villainous. As for Neji, well, technically he's not promoted yet (since Tsunade has to make the ruling) everyone knows he's going to be, so he's effectively a chuunin.
Daniel of Lorien: I've written in the Akatsuki because I feel that I can freely borrow two out of nine villains without bothering anyone, given that only three have appeared so far in the manga and figuring that at least some should be from villages that have nothing to do with Konoha (ie. Lightning) and therefore won't be dealt with as part of the main plot. Naruto as a character is not appearing in this story at all, and neither will any of the other characters, mostly because I truly disdain to project out their abilities, and because I can't write for a character like Naruto (really I'm only using Neji because he's well, dead).
Hattuteline: no, I'm not letting the story go, I fully intend to finish the whole thing, but as it gets progressively longer it becomes more difficult to add new parts sometimes, which means things take longer. Ultimately I hope to finish all of this by the end of the summer (but I don't think I'll make it).
Uchiha Kumiko: I'm glad my techniques have turned out good. Some of them were heavily planned (like Rend) and some were rather fortuitous accidents (like Mizuho). In many ways the hardest part of coming up with the exam was coming up with new techniques, especially chuunin level ones. I'm not a humor-endowed author (in fact my own sense of humor is rather strange) but ultimately I don't think of ninjas as particularly funny anyway. I'm glad it works though.
Within Bare Walls
Another white hospital room, how unappealing. That was Neji's first thought as his vision gradually returned to him. Slowly, his eyes painfully aware of how light those white walls made everything; he opened his eyes and saw the world again. A moment more and he saw an entirely different color. Black, in luxurious waves. What is...ah, Shiren. He recognized her hair, unbound as it rarely was. A moment later and he could sense her breathing.
Slowly, and with moments of pain from his bound right shoulder, Neji turned his head. It is Shiren. He recognized her easily, lying slumped in a chair, sleeping by his bedside. As he did the memories of the day before came flooding back to him, and he recalled what had happened before he lost consciousness. The memory made Neji wince, and he looked deep within in disappointment. Did I really almost do...that? He sat in silence considering it, recognizing that what had happened had happened. I almost killed her, and she almost killed me. A fine pair we are. Is that the fate of dragon ninja?
Neji closed his eyes for a moment, and took in a deep breath. If that is this fate, then I will simply have to fight it. He resolved that, confirming the decision he had made on the mountainside after witnessing the destruction wrought by Wusashu. There must be another way.
In a moment Neji moved to sit up, and he found that a throbbing ache surged down his right side the very moment he began to move. Turning his head he saw the white bandages wrapped there, over pale and white flesh, and a great hole in his body he could feel if not see. He had been struck by thunder and the mark was severe. Neji let himself fall back onto the bed, and then rolled his body onto his left side. From there he levered himself upward to a sitting position. With careful movement he could minimize the pain in his right side.
This motion was far from silent, and with the rustling of the sheets Shiren's eyes snapped open. Her head shook and she stared at Neji suddenly, meeting his eyes with frightful urgency. As he watched Neji saw them grow watery and teary, though Shiren held back the tears and sat up fully herself.
"Neji, you're awake." Shiren said, her voice soft and gentle, a tone Neji found surprising, but he recognized the caring behind it, and felt out of his depth in forming a response. "I'm glad." Shiren continued. "The medical ninja said the damage was serious," she paused. "But...but they said you should be fine, and with treatment fully healthy in a few days. That's..." She paused again, and now the tears did seep out. "Neji, I'm so sorry, really, I...I can't believe what happened."
"It's alright." Neji said immediately, without even thinking the words. "What happened is done with, and we promised it would never happen again. That's enough Shiren, more than enough."
"Neji." Shiren said, grabbing his left hand with both of hers, letting Neji feel their warmth pressing down. "It's not enough." She said seriously. "When I think about what would have happened if I had completed the move, if you hadn't opened my eyes, I can't bear it." She looked deeply into his eyes again. "I spent all of the ceremony yesterday standing there, listening blindly as I relived those moments, seeing the strike, seeing you fall, your eyes closing. Neji, if I had finished the move, if you were gone, I couldn't bear it." Shiren gazed into Neji's white eyes with desperation, and her hands squeezed his own with iron force. "I couldn't bear to go on without you here."
For Neji, looking into Shiren's eyes, it was a shocking moment, recognizing that his feelings mirrored her own, that she felt the same way. "Shiren." He spoke quietly, his voice low, but unguarded as it never was around others, lacking in the tight controls he kept on it. "It's the same for me."
"What?"
"I was going to do my own move." He told her softly, his own sadness in his voice. "I could have blocked your strike, countered it so that the lightning blow would never have a chance to land, there is a way, to blend Kaiten with a dragon jutsu, but it would have destroyed you." Neji looked deeply into Shiren's dark brown eyes, so different from his own, yet so similar. "Shiren, I was going to do it, just as you were going to complete your move, only Xi's prohibition, that I not kill, only that gave me time to realize what I was doing. Everything else is the same." He paused. "I saw the same things you saw, before I fell, I saw it all happen. I couldn't have done it, I refuse to lose you."
The tears stopped flowing from Shiren then, and a soft smile stretched over her lips. "Thank you, Neji." She took her right hand off of his. "I'm really glad you said that." Shiren leaned over next to Neji for a moment, and for a second he was confused. She pressed her right hand against his back and bent in close. Her hair fell around Neji, and her lips brushed his lightly. Only for a moment, and Neji was stuck silent, and his emotions leapt and knotted strangely inside him, feeling that strange soft touch, and then it was gone. "Thank you, Neji." Shiren repeated, and then she let go, sitting back down in her chair.
Neji blinked, trying to confirm what had just happened. He squashed the urge to run his fingers over his lips, as if to touch some residue of Shiren's essence. Confused, he tried to sort things out, but realized it was impossible. I...is this possible? He couldn't answer that, and so, before he lost his composure completely, changed the subject.
"Shiren, has Xi come by?" He asked simply, returning to seriousness.
Sensing both Neji's confusion and the need to change subjects Shiren answered readily. "Yes, for a moment. He has been in conversation with Raikage and Tsuchikage for a long time."
"Did he say anything?" Neji asked, recalling now the agreement that he and Xi had made, wondering what the outcome would be. Let it be, please. It would be impossible for anything else.
Shiren's face dropped. "He did, Neji. He told me that the Raikage made his decision, the Gosain will be made a chuunin, and that I will be."
Hearing the news Neji felt a great deal of happiness. "A chuunin, he didn't say anything else?" Neji muttered.
"No, that's all." Shiren said dourly. "He didn't seem proud of me at all, or Gosain, or even of you. Xi seemed to be ignoring us, like there was something else more important."
"Heh." Neji replied, and looked straight in the eye, feeling smile creep over his normally stern face. "It may not be something he wants to think about now, but if you are going to be a chuunin, Xi agreed to teach you as a dragon ninja."
Shiren looked at Neji carefully, as if looking for the repetition of the words in his blank eyes. "Really?" She gasped. "He agreed to that?"
"Yes."
"Then...then everything is so much better." Shiren whispered. "I was worried, that I would have to say goodbye Neji, that I would go back to lightning. And instead, you tell me that I can reach my dream." She brushed away the beginning of tears from her eyes. "It makes me very happy."
Neji felt Shiren's happiness, and enjoyed it with her, but there was darkness there too. "Shiren," He said darkly. "It is not a pleasant thing to be a dragon ninja, to be a killer. Do you truly want that?" It was hard to force out the words, but Neji knew he had to say them, had to be honest with her.
The stare that she returned was crystal clear. "Do not think I do not know Neji." She answered. "My first glimpse of Xi was when he killed a man in front of me, but this is my decision. I will serve lightning, and this is the only way, so I will take it." She continued more lightly. "Besides, some things are worth accepting to be close to the right people."
Neji was only able to nod. "Ah." He muttered, and then fell silent, looking away for a moment. I need to shift the conversation, we understand each other too well to need to discuss this, he realized. "I suppose it really doesn't matter until Xi comes back. Anyway, have you seen Gosain?" He asked.
It was simple for Shiren to sense what Neji was doing, and so she responded accordingly. "I have, but only for a moment. He is down the hall a short distance. I went with Xi to speak with him for a moment, that's all."
"Then we should go and see him." Neji remarked. "Also, you said I should visit that grass ninja, Kei, with you as well."
"I did," Shiren answered. "But you can't leave your bed yet."
"Heh." Neji muttered under his breath. "My shoulder hurts, but I can walk down a hallway." Neji used his left arm to prop himself up, moving to a sitting position. He pulled his legs over under him, and then off the side of the bed, all with only a minor wince of pain. However, when he hopped out of the bed and onto his feet his right arm swung forward, and stabbing pain shot up the limb, causing Neji to cry out against his will.
Shiren was by his side in an instant, grabbing him from the good left side and holding him up. "Are you sure?" She asked, concerned.
"I'll be alright," Neji managed. "Thanks." He added.
"I guess it will be alright for just a short trip down the hall." She smiled tiredly up at Neji, and placing his left arm over her back, began to walk with him.
So now our positions are reversed, Neji recalled, remembering that he had carried Shiren up the mountainside when she had been wounded. Despite the pain, he found it was a pleasant feeling to walk so close to her.
Their progress down the hallway was slow, and by the time they had passed the three doors necessary to reach Gosain's room the pain was seriously wearying Neji, but he bore it stoically. Shiren, likewise, said nothing more of the wound, trying to ignore having inflicted it, as they had decided together.
Shiren opened the door to Gosain's room and Neji found the other ninja sitting up in bed, covered in many bandages, but quietly reading a scroll. He looked up as they entered, but said nothing until Shiren helped Neji into the chair. Gosain's eyes passed from Neji to Shiren and then back again, searching. He was silent for a moment, and then spoke, choosing his words carefully. "What brings you two here?" He asked.
"I wished to check my teammate's condition." Neji answered coldly, but brightened slightly with his next sentence. "And congratulate him on becoming a chuunin." Gosain nodded at this. "How are you Gosain?"
"Tolerable." The older ninja answered. "That stone ninja hits like a boulder, the medics said I had two ribs cracked and most of the rest are bruised." Gosain coughed. "It makes it hard to breathe, but I've had a lot worse, give me a few days and I'll be fine." Gosain cased Neji carefully, with eyes that knew how to look for pain. "How'd you get hurt like that? That stone ninja doesn't strike me as the type to stab..." Gosain trailed off, looking at Shiren again. "Well, no wonder you've been so quiet, Shiren."
Shiren looked away from Gosain, but Neji grabbed her arm, pulling her back. "It's not like that Gosain." He told the other ninja. "I don't know if they told you, but Shiren beat me, she used the same move used against Tonetero, and so I forfeited the match perhaps a moment too late, but it is not something I do not accept."
Gosain gave Neji a strange look, grasping for something to say. "Shiren won huh? No, no one told me that. Xi stopped by this morning for about five seconds, said I'd been made a chuunin, and you two as well, but that was it." He gave the pair another look. "Well, I guess whatever happened is between the two of you anyway, it's not my business, so I won't ask more."
Shiren gave a silent nod of thanks. Neji said nothing. "I suppose you will be going back to lightning now. I expect I'll see you when you go, but regardless, I will remember having served on a team with you, Gosain. You were a good teammate."
"Heh." Gosain's eyes clouded for a moment. "You two were the best teammates I've had, hell, the only time I've had two teammates come back ready to keep going. We all made chuunin right? That's pretty damn good. It's kind of a shame to break the group up, but that's the way it goes." He looked at Shiren again. "You staying?"
"Yes. I will become a dragon ninja."
"That's good I guess, though I'll miss having a companion back home, but that's nothing new." Gosain paused. "That's enough for now I suppose. It's good to know what happened, but I'll save the goodbyes for when it's actually time to leave."
Neji nodded, and stood up. "Thanks, Gosain." He told the lightning ninja as he and Shiren left.
"Kei is across the hall." Shiren whispered as she closed the door to Gosain's room.
"Heh. A short walk then."
Shiren pulled the door open slowly, and then jumped aside swiftly as a kunai slashed through the air where her head had been, to slam into the far wall of the hallway.
"Damn, that was my last shot." A bitter voice, the voice of Aburanki Kei, came from within. "If you're going to finish it off you should do it quickly, before I start screaming."
"Please don't do that." Shiren said softly as she extended her head around the doorframe.
"You!" Kei reacted with shock. "I'm sorry." She said immediately. "The motions didn't match the nurses, so I thought the grass ninja had sent someone to do me in." The voice mellowed tiredly. "I've been jumping at every sound since yesterday, please come in, with you here I can relax a bit."
Shiren stepped around the door, taking Neji with her, and affording him his first look at Aburanki Kei since yesterday. The grass ninja was covered in bandages, such that only her eyes and mouth showed clearly. She was pale from blood loss, and dark circles lay under her eyes, evidence of exhaustion. The wounds inflicted by Tonetero's cutting thorns did not heal easily. Kei saw Neji and looked at him in surprise. "I didn't expect you to come, dragon ninja."
Slipping into the unused chair, Neji took a moment to let the pain in his arm subside before answering. "Shiren requested that I visit you."
"Well, two people is preferential over one I suppose." Kei answered tiredly. "I'm sorry about the kunai lightning ninja," She said to Shiren. "But I truly expected a visit from a grass ninja to take my life."
"Why?" Shiren asked softly. "Should they not be after me?"
"Ah, yes, I was told that you killed him." Kei replied. "A stone ninja, I suppose he was one of the medics, he told me the results of the tournament. No, they are not after you." Kei laughed bitterly, and then entered into a fit of coughing. "Sorry. They are not after you; it would be a stupid move. Tonetero was supposed to win the tournament you know, that was the plan. My job was to insure he didn't get in trouble until the final stages." Kei's eyes narrowed. "They made me suffer as the target for his mockery, to be his shadowy protector, that damn monster."
"What was he?" Neji asked. "His abilities were very strange, certainly a bloodline limit, but he had no clan name."
Kei's head snapped around. "You see too much, dragon ninja." She snapped with biting anger that lapsed immediately. More gently she continued. "That much I cannot say."
"Understandable." Neji replied. So, he was truly like Gaara.
"Anyway, you killed him, thank you." Kei told Shiren. "I did not expect that, I had hoped you would defeat him, but I didn't believe it was possible. I apologize for doubting you."
"You doubt yourself too much." Shiren replied. "You are stronger than you make yourself out to be."
"I'm not strong enough." Kei said sadly. "I wasn't strong enough to obey orders and hope for his success, and for that I will be blamed. That's why I think they will kill me." She turned her bandaged head to Neji. "Dragon ninja, you said I would owe your companion..."
"It is not import-"Shiren interrupted, only to have Neji cut her off.
"Shiren, you are going to be a dragon ninja," Neji said, regret present in his voice. "We collect debt. Nothing is for free. Yes, you will owe Shiren, Aburanki Kei."
"I will pay it back," Kei said seriously. "I will pay it back someday, if I survive anyway." She shook her head. Neji and Shiren looked on in silence for a moment.
"You will survive grass ninja." The words were harsh, but hopeful, and their source was instantly recognizable.
"Xi." Neji said without turning, for indeed the older dragon ninja stood in the door.
Kei looked at him. "Draci Xi? The jounin for your team?"
"Yes." Shiren said. "It seems we will have to go."
"Correct, Shiren." Xi admonished. "You need to get Neji back to his bed, since he will need to recover quickly in order to help train you."
"Help train her?" Neji asked, incredulous.
"Well, you don't seem to be listening to anything I say these days, Neji, so you can help train Shiren." Xi turned to Kei. "I will be taking these two from you." He told her.
"What did you mean?" Kei asked, desperation in her voice, as Xi turned to go. "What did you mean, I will survive?"
"The grass jounin confirmed you as a chuunin last night, over the head ninja's objections. Raikage and Tsuchikage believe it was the correct decision. You will survive and return to your village, that is all." And Xi left the room, dragging Neji and Shiren behind him.
"I will see you another day." Shiren whispered to the shocked and speechless Kei as they left.
Neji was silent, considering the words of both Kei and Xi. I doubt I will ever see the Grass ninja again. He determined. I suppose it doesn't matter, she is not important to me now. Train Shiren? He wondered about that. Neji had never trained anyone. Oh, he had trained with TenTen extensively, but that had been far more one sided. How am I supposed to train Shiren, I have not mastered the dragon ninja methods yet. What did Xi mean I am not listening to him? Neji had a great deal of respect for the senior dragon ninja, and listened carefully to everything he said. Indeed he had memorized Xi's instructions for every dragon jutsu. So how am I not listening? Neji determined to find the answer to that remark.