Asunder

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I have yet to do this, and I really should. A big huge-ass thanks to Chev for everything she's done to help me. This story never would have happened without her, and without her slave-driving, proof-reading,and"Write the next chapter now, HOR!" I doubt this story would have gone anywhere. So, you rock Chev.

Second: Writing Neji scares me. Very much so.

Comments and criticisms always welcome.

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Chapter Three: Follow

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Dammit!

Shikamaru dashed through the trees, shoving branches out of his way and giving Chouji an easier path to follow. Ahead, barely in sight, Kiba and Akamaru ran, noses low as they followed—or tried to, at least—Naruto's scent. Shikamaru could only hope between the two they could hold onto the other boy's smell; it had been hard enough to find it in the first place.

The usually lazy boy allowed himself another mental curse, eyes narrowed as he shoved another branch out of his way. He'd been careless, ignored any potential dangers and let this happen. He should have accounted for something like this. Of all the times for him to slip up…

Ahead of him, Kiba suddenly stopped short, face lowered as Akamaru growled. Shikamaru stopped himself, lifting a hand to call a halt. Chouji stopped behind him with an oof, but Shikamaru ignored the noise.

"Kiba, did his direction change?"

The other man shook his head and growled louder. "No, dammit. It's gone!"

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "Gone? Scents can't just go away… Where did it stop?"

"Right here, and we're not finding anything else to help. Dammit! This shouldn't be possible! Scents don't just disappear!"

"Maybe the guys who took him covered it up?" Chouji suggested, but Kiba shook his head angrily, scratching at his head and ruffling his hair.

"You can't just cover up a scent like that, especially if I've been able to follow it this far!"

"But it was difficult to pick up, wasn't it," Shikamaru murmured, eyes lidded as an idea began to form. "It's impossible for a scent to disappear on its own so suddenly, but if someone were to use a type of genjutsu on it…" He paused, hands folded before him as he sorted through all the possibilities.

Is that type of genjutsu even possible? Could someone cover up a scent…? Or… He opened his eyes, a curse escaping before he could stop it.

"Shikamaru, what is it?" Chouji jumped the large branch separating them, his cheeks red and eyebrows scrunched together in worry.

But Kiba realized it too, an angry growl echoing through the trees. "Dammit!"

"It was a trick," Shikamaru said softly, eyes hard. "How the hell did I let them trick me?"

Chouji blinked, looking between Shikamaru and Kiba and back again. "Tricked you how?"

"A fake scent, made with genjutsu," Kiba said, teeth bared. "And a damn good one, to have fooled me and Akamaru. Shit!"

"A ninja that can use genjutsu like that… What the hell are we dealing with here?"

Turning sharply, he signaled to his fellow shinobi and began to journey back to camp. They needed to regroup, replan, and go find Naruto before the bad feeling in Shikamaru's stomach got any worse.

-

Neji frowned, releasing the Byakugan and leaning against the trunk of the tree, supported by his hand. He'd been searching since sunup, when an angry Kiba had charged into their camp and thrown a forehead protector on the ground in front of Shikamaru.

And now, hours later, there was still no sign of the loudmouthed owner. Shikamaru had acted instantly, separating them into teams to search in all directions. Neji had opted to go by himself, arguing that the Byakugan was more than enough to compensate for a partner, and that besides Shikamaru, he was the smartest and most strategic of the entire group.

That, and the one person who he could have paired up with was still back at camp.

He had no idea what was going on with Gaara, but Neji bristled at the thought that the Sand-nin had stopped him from waking up—hell, going near—Hinata. Despite the help they'd given three years ago, and the subsequent treaty that had lasted since then, Neji didn't trust the three Sand siblings. And of the three, he trusted Gaara the least.

What does he think he's up to?

Shaking his head to clear it, the Hyuuga prodigy turned and headed back to their camp—they'd have to come up with a new plan of approach should Sakura and Shino's search prove fruitless as well.

Something told Neji that it would.

-

Shikamaru's team arrived back at camp within a few minutes of both Neji and Sakura. The pink-haired shinobi looked ready to hurt something—or someone—and Shikamaru definitely wasn't making plans to be on the receiving end of any violence.

Too bad Sakura didn't seem to agree.

"You…" She growled the moment she caught sight of the lazy Chuunin. Shikamaru sighed. Here she goes…

"How could you let this happen? If Sasuke-kun were here no one would have been able to do something like this!"

Shikamaru decided not to point out the fact that Sasuke was as likely now to do something like this than not. When Sakura was in her irrational mode, it was best not to point out the fact.

"Sakura," Chouji started, hands held up in front of him, "it's not like this was something—"

"No, she's right," Shikamaru interrupted, not looking away from the girl. "I was careless and let my guard down. We all did."

Sakura didn't seem at all placated. "And what about Hinata-chan? How could you have just left her behind like that? Now look what's happened!"

That gave all the boys pause, although Neji snapped out of it quickly.

"What about Hinata-sama?"

Sakura glared at them all, hands on her hips.

"She's gone. And Gaara's gone too."

Neji took off before she finished.

-

He hurt. Whatever was holding him hurt his arms and legs. Whatever had hit him had done so hard enough so that his torso still hurt. The cramp in his legs from sitting so long hurt. The teeny tiny bit of sunlight he could just barely see hurt.

Naruto was so not happy.

Forcing his eyes open and hissing only slightly at the light, he took stock of his situation. Or tried to, anyway. Whoever had grabbed him had done a damn good job to make sure the hyperactive shinobi wouldn't be able to do anything.

"Oi!" No one ever said Naruto was the brightest crayon in the box, now did they? "Hey, what the hell! Let me outta here! …Don't just ignore me, I know there's someone here!" Ok, that was a lie, but still. He had to try something, right? "Dammit, answer me!"

The cell, naturally, didn't comply.

Gonna kill them when I get free, gonna kill them when I get free… Growling and struggling against his bonds, thoughts of asskicking giving him strength, Naruto just barely managed to catch the sound of a door opening. Turning his head toward the noise, he growled his best growl and waited for whoever it was to show up.

"Oi, you had better let me go or…"

"Will you shut the hell up already! Gods, you just woke up and I already hate you for it."

Naruto frowned at the woman. She didn't look all that threatening, he figured, what with the fact she was—maybe—two inches taller than him. And was skinnier than Ino on one of her diet kicks. And not that healthy skinny either—she looked like a strong wind would snap her in half.

But that was neither here nor there. Naruto had someone to question, and damn him if he was going to let her get away without answering anything!

"Oi, where the hell am I?"

Running a hand through her short dark hair, she sighed a sigh of longsuffering. "Like I'd tell you that, you idiot. We're not all as stupid as you, you know."

"Hey!"

"But if you would really like to know… I suppose I could tell you. If you promise to keep your mouth shut for five minutes."

A part of Naruto knew there was some sort of trick to this. In fact, that part was pretty damn sure of it.

That part was also the size of a peanut and was rudely shoved out of the way.

"Let me know before I kick your ass!"

Rolling her eyes in that way Shikamaru, Neji, Sakura, Kiba…in the way everyone but Hinata did towards him when he was being obstinate, the girl crept forward, leaning in so her mouth was right beside his ear.

Naruto suddenly had a bad feeling about shoving his premonition to the side.

"You're in a dungeon, you dumbass, now shut the hell up!" Her scream echoed throughout the cell, bouncing off the walls and lasting a good ten seconds after she'd stopped.

Once his ears stopped ringing and he could see straight, Naruto glared up at the vertically challenged kunoichi, fangs bared as he tried to lunge at her but fell short, restrained by whatever it was that was keeping him bound. She just laughed and stood up straight, although she didn't move away.

"Idiot. It'll take more than that to get me. You can't do anything without your arms free."

We'll see about that!

"Laugh all you want, but don't underestimate me!" With a cry, Naruto leaned back and thrust his legs into the air, smacking the back of his head against the cell wall while his feet careened into the girl's thigh, throwing her to the side as her eyes widened in surprise. She landed on the ground with a loud thud, her arm pinned beneath her in what Naruto hoped was a very uncomfortable way.

That'll teach her!

"Brat!"

"Bitch!"

"Dumbass!"

"Ugly!"

Now they were just being childish.

Cursing under her breath, the girl pushed herself to her feet, wobbling slightly as she put pressure on the leg he'd kicked. That's gonna bruise. Heh. Serves her right!

"Stupid dumbass gennin pissing me off…"

"Oi! Answer my question now!"

She glared over at him, her right cheek all scraped up from where she'd hit the floor, and forming into what was sure to be one nasty bruise. "No."

"Just do it!"

"Like hell I will. You kicked me!"

"You locked me up!"

"You're our prisoner!"

"And you're ugly!"

Letting out a frustrated growl and throwing her hands in the air, the girl stomped over, careful to stay to his side so it would be harder for him to kick her—Dammit!—and leaned down to grab his hair.

"Listen punk, and listen well. I hate to repeat myself. You're our prisoner. That means we don't owe you anything. You're also loud, you have a funny face, and I hate you. But that doesn't matter much, because I gotta keep you alive until my boss gets here. Believe me, this causes me much pain."

Naruto grinned cheekily at her.

"Just shut up and be a good little prisoner, and we'll feed you. Isn't that a fair trade? Yes, I thought so too."

"You keep saying 'we.' Who else is with you?"

Her teeth were starting to grind together.

"Well, who? I bet it's those Sand-nin guys I was following, isn't it? Dammit, Shikamaru was right, you guys are up to something! You do know we're in a truce now, don't you?"

"For one, yes I know. For two, truces mean nothing. For three, do you even pay attention to anything?" She held her other hand up in front of his face, wiggling the fingers. Naruto raised an eyebrow, clearly not seeing what she was talking about. "The ring, you idiot!"

"It's ugly, what about it?"

Releasing his hair, she stomped away and kicked the far wall hard enough to jar herself, then turned back around, hands on hips and a falsely sweet smile on her face.

"It means, you smart boy, you, that you're now a possession of the Akatsuki."

Aw, hell.

Her smile would make puppies cry. "And you're this Ayaru's prisoner."

-

He didn't know why he was following her. He didn't know why he'd not allowed her comrades to wake her. He didn't even know why it was that he felt the need to test her.

She confused him, and he could only think that was the reason.

Gaara had always believed that your own strength was the one thing that mattered. Live only for yourself, be strong, and let no one interfere with you. He'd lived for twelve years like that—alone, only able to depend on himself. And for six of those twelve years, the only way for him to acknowledge his own existence was to be stronger than everyone else and show that his way was the only way.

But this girl defied that. She was weak, and yet she was trusted. Accepted. Gaara had spent the past three years trying to realize what it was about the Leaf ninja that made them so strong while being physically weak. Losing to Naruto had made him realize things, enough so that he came to the Leaf's aide in their failed attempt to bring back the Uchiha boy.

But he still couldn't quite understand why.

So he tested her, followed her, separated her from the ones who would make her strong. To see what she would do—what she could do.

And she struggled. They'd been searching for the better portion of the day, lost in the sands, and he could tell she was exhausted, but she kept going. He didn't know why. She was going in circles, passing the same place at least two times over, and her water was running low.

She had to know there was no chance, didn't she?

But she had proven before that she wasn't as weak as she seemed. He had seen it first hand at the Chuunin exam, in her fight with the other Hyuuga boy. She'd lost horribly, as he knew she would, and at the time he hadn't cared. He didn't think he cared much now, either. But that strange influx of strength had confused him. No one as weak as her should have been able to put up as much of a fight as she had.

He wanted to understand it.

So he followed her, never coming close enough for her to notice, never helping her when she fell.

He simply watched.