A/N: sigh I'll disclaim for once. Naruto and all its subsequent characters are not my property. Motivation is still a serious issue, and the chapters just keep getting shorter and shorter. I want nothing more than to give you a good read that'll keep you at the computer for more than 5-10 minutes, but I stopped watching the anime after they started the filler arc, but I'm going to resume either this week or next week, and while Neji is alive it apparently isn't enough to flood me with ideas for this fic, but I did manage to finish this chapter with some wonderful development, so I'm reasonably happy. If you do need something by me to read though, try my story Ersatz on Fictionpress, it's good I promise cross my heart and hope to fry.

Chapter Fourteen

Sasuke and Lee returned to the Hokage's office at dawn empty-handed. Lee apologized to a half-awake Tsunade for failing in their mission and she offered a reassuring remark she was bound not to remember having said in the morning. Right before she took a nose-dive onto her desk she mentioned that Kotetsu had a prisoner, and after her soft snores began to permeate the otherwise quiet atmosphere both boys departed the office, Lee on his way home, and Sasuke in search of Kotetsu.

He found Kotetsu sitting on a chair outside a cell, lightly dozing. Raising an eyebrow, Sasuke tapped the older man with the toe of his sandal. Almost instantly, one eyelid opened to reveal a tired brown orb. "Uchiha? What are you doing here so late?"

"Stopping your prisoner from escaping," Sasuke replied, folding his arms over his chest.

Kotetsu laughed. "Trust me, he's not going anywhere. Your friend Kiba made sure of that," just as quickly as it had began, his laughter ended. "I ran down the list of all the possible targets, Hokage-sama, the sole survivor of the Uchiha clan, Uzumaki Naruto, the Hyuuga clan, even Konohamaru-kun, but he didn't seem to recognize any of the names."

"Then what is the next step?"

The man sighed. "I don't know."

Sasuke walked to the cell door, taking a chair with him. "Allow me to interrogate him."

Kotetsu's eyes widened, but he stepped aside. "It's your funeral."

Sasuke pulled the door open and sat in front of the prisoner. "Oy, I know you're awake."

The man extracted himself from his own tangled heap and stared up at his new captor from his new position on his back. "Another one? This village is just filled with incompetent ninjas, isn't it?"

Sasuke decided to cut to the chase. "What are you doing here?"

"I thought it was obvious," he wiped the dried blood from around his lips. "Serving time for attempted kidnapping."

The Uchiha didn't even bat an eye at his sarcasm. "Are you working alone?"

"Why ask questions you already know the answer to?" he smirked. "Come up with something new. Your friend over there already put me through the routine. If you don't mind, I'm too tired to sit through it again."

"What do you want with Hyuuga's wife?"

The prisoner directed the question back at him. "If you had the opportunity, what would you want with Hyuuga's wife?"

He had been expecting the deflection and moved on to the next question. "Why pick him to impersonate?"

"Do you really think I would answer that?" he tilted his head to the side, an amused expression on his face. "I'm not stupid Uchiha-san."

Sasuke clenched his fists at his side. "Is dying at the hands of your associates more terrifying than dying at my hands?"

He smiled. "Finally, a question worth answering," he drew himself into a sitting position. "Either way, I don't intend to die."

"Then you expect to escape?"

He shrugged. "Stranger things have happened."

"What is the name of your organization?"

"We don't have a name. We find that adds to the intrigue."

"What sort of missions do you accept?"

"Sorry," he pointed at Kotetsu. "He asked me that one already."

"What is your intention in this village?"

"I heard it's a good spot for a vacation," he glanced around the cell. "And all of your accommodations are top-notch."

Sasuke's right eye twitched, forcing himself to remember that they wouldn't get any information out of him if he sliced the man in two. "What will it take for you to tell us the truth?"

"Sake and a pretty girl or two," he laughed at the look on Sasuke's face. "You don't have to worry about compromising a couple of Konoha's virgins, though I wouldn't mind."

Sasuke clenched his fist. "Get to the point."

"Well, we are planning something, but I can't let you find out until its set into motion. More fun that way and all. As far as the Hyuugas, two missing-nin from your village suggested them. If it helps, they're identical twins."

Realization dawned on Kotetsu. "Those bastard Shiratoris."

"Yeah, them," he raised an amused eyebrow. "So they really did cause a ruckus here?" he shook his head in disbelief. "We never thought they were actual criminals, just spoiled brats. The world out there's full of wannabe ninjas like that."

"The point," Sasuke reminded him.

"I'd keep an eye on Hyuuga Neji if I were you. There's no way to tell when his personality will suddenly do a 180."

Neji sat at his wife's bedside, his eyes focused on her still form. Those bastards had almost gotten to her again. As he watched her breathing became heavier and her limbs stretched under the sheet.

He let out a sigh of relief. She was finally waking up.

On cue pale eyelids fluttered open, revealing big brown eyes. Bringing one callused hand to her forehead she blinked and sat up. "How long have I been asleep?"

"Nearly twelve hours."

Her brain suddenly cleared, she clutched the sheet to herself and adopted the best fighting stance she could come up with. "Are you the real one?"

"Would I still be waiting at your bedside if I was?" he slowly reached for her hand, not missing the flinch that went through her body at his touch and placed it on his face.

TenTen ran her fingers over his face, feeling the familiar lines. Suddenly relieved she wrapped both arms around his neck and sagged into his embrace. "Is Haruka okay?"

"Kiba and Hinata came by and they took her home. It's alright," he kissed her forehead. "I won't let anything happen to either of you, I promise."

"Have you figured out what they want yet?"

He sighed, not wanting to admit his failure.

By now she was a master of reading her husband's body language. "Neji, you don't have to beat yourself up over this."

"Uchiha and the others are helping. Maybe they'll be able to find out more."

She pulled herself into his lap. "I know it isn't over, but I don't want you to worry about anything."

He wrapped his arms around her waist. "I can't help it. I don't ever want to feel like I felt five years ago."

The door opened and a young nurse walked in. She blushed heavily when she saw the couple locked in their embrace and averted her eyes. "Hyuuga-san, I'm glad that you're awake, but visiting hours are over."

Neji stood, lifting TenTen up with him. He kissed his wife on the lips and then gently lowered her back down onto the bed. "I'll be back to visit tomorrow."

She nodded. "I'll be here waiting."

He stuck his hands in his pockets and shuffled out into the waiting room. As he began to make his exit, one of the visitors stood up and began to shadow him. Neji waited until he was just outside the hospital, and stopped standing in the circular pool of light that the streetlamps cast. "You're going to warn me?"

Laughter spilled toward him. "I'm not that fond of you."

He drew a kunai. "Then I guess I should be afraid for my life."

"That would be wise."

"Then you picked the wrong night. I've already died," Neji spun around, fully intending to fling the kunai in a deadly arc towards his opponent, but instead the weapon clattered to the ground.

Standing mere inches from him was his wife, her brown hair unbound, cascading down her back. She wore the chuunin uniform that she usually sported, but the vest was notably absent, the tight material clinging flatteringly to her body. An alien smirk covered her features as she stretched her hands over his shoulders, pulling him closer. "Careful honey," she drew circles on his back with her fingers, her words coming out in a sexy drawl. "You wouldn't want to kill your wife by accident, now would you?"