Chapter Twelve

A/N: Hahahahahahahahahahahaha, I managed to complete yet another chapter and the plot has thickened. Also I managed to get my old favorite pairing back into the story, god knows they haven't shown up since early in Possession. I know it seems like the story is progressing slowly, but I don't want to hurry through it either. Hopefully I can get ideas and motivation without either of the main characters appearing often in the show or manga. I'm also overjoyed to see the NejiTen genre growing with leaps and bounds and my pride would like to think I had a hand in that, even though you other authors are more talented than I am. I have read many of your stories, I'm just lazy and there's no excuse for it, I'll go back and leave reviews, cause I really do enjoy them.

Neji glowered at the woman standing in front of him. The Hokage had appeared out of nowhere, no doubt summoned by Naruto or Sasuke and she insisted on blocking his passage, spewing some nonsense about how he was too close to the issue and too clumsy to prevent such a delicate situation from spiraling out of control. She then casually mentioned that she was on her way to examine his wife, and then stopped just short of ordering him to follow her, but he knew the elder woman well enough to know that it was in best interest to obey her unspoken command lest he find himself being dragged through the town by his ankles.

He did follow the woman to the hospital, but not without protesting all the way there. Upon arriving she immediately ditched him into the care of the waiting nurses and Naruto, disappearing down the hallway into TenTen's room. He glared at the pretty young women, causing them to shrink back fearfully and then slumped into a chair next to Naruto. "Where's Uchiha?"

"Sasuke and Lee went to look for the person who was in your apartment."

"Tch." Neji crossed his arms in a less threatening gesture of anger. "They won't find him."

"Why do you think so?"

"He disguised himself as me. I think he's capable of becoming another ninja in this village just to achieve his mission."

"Mission?"

"He was helping the Shiratori brothers get their revenge against me, but there was something else his organization was planning."

"Like what?"

"If I knew that I wouldn't be here dobe," without meaning to he used Sasuke's regular insult for the blonde teen.

"But what about TenTen?"

Neji sighed. "That's not what I meant. I want to be here, but I also want to complete my duties as a ninja of this village. Fuyuki and the Shiratori bastards are my responsibility. To rely on someone else to complete that for me is shameful."

"Neji, none of this is your fault."

The white-eyed man rolled his eyes. "I can't take this. What's the point of being here if I can't even see her?" he stood up and moved to storm out of the hospital, but he found that he was being restrained by the younger ninja.

"Godaime said to keep you here however I needed to Neji, and I won't hesitate to knock you unconscious if I have to," the look in his blue eyes was one of hardened determination, and although he had faith in his own strength, that look was nearly enough to convince him that Naruto would make good on his threat.

"Fine," Neji sank back into his seat, practically pouting. "I'll wait."

"You're not the only ninja in Konoha you know. We're also capable of completing missions."

Nara Shikamaru groaned, unable to believe that he had been dragged out of his bed at such an unreasonable hour and forced to go on a village wide man-hunt. His girlfriend of five years, Yamanaka Ino had awoken him rudely when Kotetsu had come by, jumping on top of his still form buried under his sheets when he refused to move. She had told him in no uncertain terms to "Get his lazy ass out of bed or he would be in a world of pain" and at that warning he had sprung to life. He'd rather be stumbling through his day half-asleep than subject to torture at Ino's hands. She could be downright sadistic when she was ready.

And so he found himself at Kiba's side, watching as the other teenager constantly sniffed the air every few steps, his boredom finally taking hold of him. "How do you know what to sniff for?"

"I met the imposter. There's a slight difference between the way he smells and the way his subject normally smells."

"Ah," Shikamaru folded his arms behind his head. "So what's he like?"

"From Neji's report he has the ability to perfectly mimic anyone he's been in contact with for even a few seconds."

"So that means…"

"Yeah," both males looked around at the packed village square. "He could be anyone in Konoha."

Shikamaru sighed. "Somehow my life always becomes more and more troublesome," he kicked at a pile of dirt with the toe of his sandals. "Fuyuki may be skilled at transforming, but didn't Neji say that he escaped with six other ninjas?"

Kiba's face wrinkled in concentration for a moment as he tried to remember the copy of the report he'd been given to memorize just hours ago. "Yeah, that's why all of his windows were broken."

"Fuyuki may be able to hide himself, but six other missing-nins will be difficult to hide, even in a village this big."

Kiba nodded, even though he didn't see where the genius was taking this conversation.

"If we have Kotetsu and Izumo look at the records of everyone who has entered this village within the past few days then we should find the place they are hiding without any effort at all."

Kiba's mouth hung open in surprise. How had he not seen that connection? Searching for one man would indeed be difficult in a village full of people, but finding a group would be much easier.

Shikamaru yawned. "If that's all you need, I'll be going back to my bed."

"Thanks."

"No problem," leaving the dog boy behind he shuffled off in the direction of his apartment, his fantasy of hitting his pillow for a few hours suddenly the most welcome daydream he'd had in months. Ino would probably kill him if she knew about that thought. She always preferred it when his fantasies involved her, and if she could she'd probably program all of his thoughts that way. He had to admit that he thought about her more often than usual lately, especially with all of the hints she had been dropping lately. Two weeks ago they'd been passing by a jewelry store, and she stood in front of a wedding ring display for longer than was necessary. He realized that even though they'd started dating when they were just kids they had been together for five years, which was an agonizingly long time at any age, but marriage was the natural progression for a relationship that had lasted that long.

He'd been saving up his salary lately, and he eventually planned on buying her an engagement ring, if it meant she'd stop dropping her ridiculous hints. He'd put off the marriage for as long as was possible without him being physically abused, but with Neji and TenTen's relationship as the topic of choice among the village's younger women, he wouldn't be able to avoid it for long.

Shikamaru was fifteen paces away from his apartment's street when he felt a dark presence clutch at his heart. Without even meaning to, his breath shortened and began to come in ragged gulps. He felt his blood run cold and heavy sweats broke out on his face.

Three ninjas leapt down in front of him, their presence going unnoticed by the wandering crowd. He thought he vaguely recognized two of them, but the reason why they accosted him was completely beyond him.

"Hey!" one of them pointed at him, his face breaking into a smile. "I remember you."

Denial, Shikamaru admitted, was his best defense. He did his best to hide his emotional reaction and brushed past them. "I never met any of you before."

"Yeah bro, I know him too."

"You're right Ryoji, he was the plain looking kid with the hot blonde girl five years ago."

"You think he knows anything?"

"I think he's the little bitch that squealed."

"You know what?" the other one with the identical face stared at him. "I think you're right. Wonder what he'd do if something happened to his pretty little girlfriend. The two of you still together?"

Shikamaru didn't get the opportunity to respond. The selfsame blonde girl appeared out of thin air, as had become her habit. "Mou, Shikamaru-kun, I sent you out to do a mission for the Hokage and here you are hanging out with your friends," she shook her head in annoyance and grabbed him by the ear. "I swear, do I have to watch you every second?" she dragged him off towards his apartment, throwing an apology over his shoulder at the men standing dumbfounded behind them and then cursed several times at Shikamaru loudly enough for them to hear.

He happily went along with her punishment, only freeing himself from her iron grip after he was out of their earshot. Before she could berate him even more, he seized her cheeks and kissed her passionately.

Ino looked completely surprised and was blushing slightly. "What was that for?"

"You may not realize it, but you saved my life back there."

"Eh?" now she was totally lost.

"Those guys were the Shiratori brothers," he stared up at the clouds. "The same brothers who hurt TenTen six years ago. I don't know what they're doing in town, but they remember both of us. From now until we're sure that they've been captured I need you to be extra careful. Always make sure you go out with someone else, and I don't want you to even be home alone."

"Geez, Shikamaru, you could at least trust me. I am a ninja too, you know," the telltale signs of anger began to cross her beautiful face.

"I want to make sure you're okay. I'd die if anything happened to you Ino, you know that."

The blonde girl sighed, agreeing with her boyfriend even if she didn't want to. "Fine."

"Good." Suddenly his good day was ruined. He wouldn't be able to rest until those two and their friends were apprehended. Now Neji's obsession didn't seem so insane after all.