No More Dead Heroes
Chapter 16: Altruistic
Times have changed and loyalties are shifting faster than the eye can follow. Its bad and it only gets worse when Orochimaru's army makes its debut. You can't know who to trust, because you don't know who anyone is anymore. dark, shonen-ai
I'm slipping away
I'm slipping away
In every way...
"Smile Kiba." Kiba muttered to himself under his breath as he followed the guard down the cell block row. "Whatever else you do, you have to smile. Don't let him see how wrong everything is, just smile and it'll all be okay." The guard didn't even turn when Kiba's voice rose slightly when he tried to force the word okay past his lips. It was harder than he would have expected, but that was only because he didn't believe it was possible for it ever to be better. Gritting his teeth painfully, he smiled as though in pain a few feet away from, far enough that he couldn't quite see in yet, Shino's cell; set slightly apart from the others.
The smile faded immediately. Feeling a sob rise in his throat, Kiba choked it back, staring through the cell bars in despair. If he hadn't known Shino so well, he wouldn't have recognized the Chuunin, or even have seen him huddled against the back wall of the cell. The Aburame had been back in Konoha for five days and only now had Kiba been able to convince Tsunade that he wouldn't murder the guard and free Shino.
Now that he saw him, he was sorely tempted to do just that.
Kiba turned to the guard, his eyes hard. "Let me in." The man hesitated, pausing a moment to weigh the rules over his life. Reaching the obvious conclusion, he pushed his jacket back to pull the key ring off his belt. Separating one key from the others, he slid it into the lock, but before he turned it, he looked at Kiba.
"He's not stable. He's still in shock, it's doubtful he'll recognize you. We had to move him to solitary confinement three days ago, because the thieves we had him in with tried to kill him when they found out he was a missing-nin. The Hokage herself came down after we moved him and he had no idea who she was." When Kiba didn't reply, didn't even look away from Shino, the guard sighed and unlocked the cell door. "Don't say I didn't warn you."
Sliding through the narrow opening the guard allowed him, Kiba fought to keep his hands unclenched as he walked across the open expanse of the cell hesitantly. As long as he kept his distance, he wouldn't have to find out if what the guard said was true. If it was, he wasn't sure what he would do; it wasn't like he could exactly talk freely to his boyfriend with a guard right there. It just didn't work like that though; he couldn't just stand there and watch Shino pull even further away from him.
The closer he got, the clearer he could see the crisscross of cuts and scrapes on Shino's body, the bruises on his elbows and shoulders, presumably from both being beaten on and fighting back. He couldn't see the Aburame's face, as it was turned towards the wall. "Hey." He said softly, wincing noticeably when he turned his face further away from him. Kneeling in front of Shino, Kiba put a gentle, but calloused, hand on the other boy's chin, turning his face carefully so that he could see whatever he was hiding. Kiba had to close his eyes to steady himself when he saw it. He swallowed heavily, fighting to keep his breakfast down.
It was clear Tsunade had been here, but the presence of a guard would have stopped her from doing anything too fantastic. He could picture her now, in his mind's eye, doing the same thing he had, and, under the guise of examining the injury, done what she could to take away the pain. The outward appearance would have remained though, and it was horrifying enough on its own without the dried blood that had dripped down one side of Shino's face. His right cheekbone had been smashed in, and the right eye was heavily ringed with black and green, and it was obvious that Shino had to fight to keep it open as he looked into Kiba's own eyes.
Taking a few deep breathes, Kiba, without turning, spoke harshly to the guard. "Bring me a wet cloth." When the guard hesitated, Kiba rolled his eyes. "What could I do with that? If I wanted to fight my way out of here, I wouldn't need a god damn rag, so just bring it to me before I lose my patience!" The guard, fortunately for him, knew better than to point out that the Inuzuka did not, in fact, have any patience. Instead, he relocked the door, put away the key, and hurried off without looking back.
When he could no longer hear the guard's footsteps, Kiba let his shoulders relax slightly. Releasing his grip on Shino's already bruised chin, Kiba wrapped his arms around the other boy carefully, making sure not to aggravate any cuts or apply pressure on any bruises. Gently, he eased Shino away from the wall, biting his lower lip to keep from crying out when he saw the smear of blood on the wall Shino had been leaning on. The same blood, keeping Shino's thin shirt stuck to his back, covered Kiba's hands and arms, the smell of it flooding his sensitive nose.
Pivoting slightly, Kiba slid behind Shino so that his own back was against the wall, his spine being pressed uncomfortably. Shino, though not completely sitting on him, was twisted so that his back was against Kiba's chest, his head on the Chuunin's shoulder. Kiba could feel the cut on Shino's back opening up, the blood flowing freely onto him. It was all he could do to keep from screaming at the state the other boy was in; he couldn't even tell which injuries were from his frantic run through the forest, and which were from his ex-cellmates.
He did know that if he ever ran into them after they were released; they were going to wish they had never left the safety of their prison cell. "Careful Kiba," he whispered to himself, noting with distress that Shino didn't even appear to notice that he had spoken. Trying not to disturb the Chuunin, but feeling the side affects of sitting like this already, he pushed himself away from the wall slightly, so that he was sitting on more of an angle, before continuing. "Its thoughts like that," he said, "that will land you in one of these cells yourself."
Closing his eyes, and fighting the need to protect his nose from the intoxicating smell of fresh blood, Kiba tried to forget that the body he held so close to his own was so broken. It was hard though, when every tiny move he made was met by a slight whimper of pain from Shino. He was saved from having to listen to this for too long by the return of the guard, who, if he thought anything of his prisoner being coddled, wisely didn't say anything, choosing instead to throw Kiba the cloth through the bars and then turn his back on them under the guise of checking to see if there was anyone else in the corridor.
Holding the wet rag in his left hand, the right one supporting Shino under his ribs, Kiba tried as best he could to clean the blood off of the right side of the Aburame's face without causing him too much added pain. He winced when Shino did, and only biting down furiously on his bottom lip kept him from yelling at the guard for letting the other boy reach this state.
When he had done as much as he could, Kiba let the rag drop to the ground, trying to ignore that red splotch it left on the cement when it rolled away from where it had landed. He found himself as angry with Tsunade as he was with the prison guards; she had been Hokage long enough, she should have known that some prisoners need to be isolated for their own safety. And she could have done more for Shino's pain, she could have told the guards, if they questioned her, the likelihood of which was doubtful, that she would rather have him healthy and coherent for the trial and ensuing execution, so that he understood what was happening and why. There were a million other options, most of which would not have resulted in this.
And then he realized that he was angry with himself as well; an anger mixed with a fair amount of self-disgust. If there were a million other roads that Tsunade could have taken, there were at least twice as many for him, ones that maybe could have kept Shino from throwing away his life like this.
Kiba, and any one else who had ever trained at the Academy, knew that the moment you started to doubt yourself, you were in trouble. But how could he not doubt himself? When the only person he had ever cared about lay dying, yes dying, in a cell, with only execution to look forward to if he survived his injuries, there was no way he couldn't doubt. What ifs kept crowding his mind, different scenarios played themselves out at the back of his consciousness, possibilities that he had missed ran over and over, echoing in his ears, all surrounded by the ever growing fear for Shino's life.
When the guard coughed subtly from out in the hall, signaling the end of Kiba's visit, Kiba tightened his arms around Shino before letting go of the boy entirely, dropping a kiss in his singed and matted black hair before disentangling himself from him. Going to stand up, Kiba couldn't hide his relief when Shino grabbed his arm, his nails digging into the scarred skin. He hated to pry him off, but he did so, ruffling Shino's hair as he walked away slowly, not able to tear his eyes away from the doomed Chuunin.
Sliding back out the cell the same way he had entered, Kiba winced when the door clanged shut again and the guard relocked it. By the time the guard had returned the key ring to his belt, Shino had pulled himself back into the corner, the solid concrete wall replacing the crook of Kiba's neck. Reluctantly, Kiba followed the guard out of the prison and back onto the bright sunny streets of Konoha, blinking painfully as the sun hit his eyes, which had grown accustom to the gloom of Shino's cell even in the short time he had been there.
As he parted from the guard, he couldn't resist giving the young man a cold look. "I'll be back tomorrow." He said firmly, and when the guard was about to argue, he silenced him with a look. "I'll come with another note from Tsunade, don't get all worked up. This time though, I don't want to arrive to see him hiding in a corner, sitting on the floor. There had damn well better be at least a mattress in there for him to sleep on tonight. Or I'm holding you personally responsible." And with those lovely parting words, he turned and walked away, his mind still back in the dark corners of Shino's cell, the scent of blood still assaulting his sensitive nose.
I can't stay awake
And I don't know why
I'm slipping away
And I don't know why...
"Hinata-sensei?" Kin's voice was clear and strong, despite the smoke that was filling the air. This was the fourth bridge they had destroyed in six days, and they were all becoming accustomed to the thick, billowing smoke that accompanied the explosion. Hinata herself was inspecting what was left of the bridge, making sure it was sufficiently damaged. The first bridge they had done had required two charges before it had tumbled into the river below.
So far they had been lucky and hadn't run into any enemy shinobi. Unfortunately, Hinata knew it was only a matter of time, considering where they were. Every night when they made camp she made the two Genins practice with their weapons, their jutsus, and their hand to hand combat. After all that, which took around three hours, they would take turns sparring with her. So far, neither of them had been able to land a single blow on her, mainly because they both had heard stories about the Hyuuga Clan and their fearful Bloodlimit. Of course, the stories had mostly been about Neji, which was a nice change from the other stories that usually followed him, but he was the strongest of the Hyuuga Clan, making the Genins unnecessarily wary.
"Hinata-sensei!" Kin shouted it this time, bringing Hinata out of her semi-trance, and she declared the bridge officially out of commission before hurrying over to the kunoichi. Kin was supporting Takumi with one arm around his waist so that he could lean on her. Why this was became painfully clear to Hinata when she saw the wooden stake that had driven itself into the boy's leg. Presumably, the wood had gone flying when the charge had gone off, and Takumi had been unlucky enough to be in its path.
Swearing softly under her breath, Hinata helped Kin to move the boy away from the smoke, setting him down only when there was a soft carpet of grass below her feet. Takumi's face was stoic, but his hands gave him away for in pain, shaking like leaves even as he dug them into the ground around him. She didn't quite understand how this had happened, Takumi was a careful kid, and he listened to her. With every other bridge they had destroyed he had stood well back, on lookout like she had directed him. It was usually him who reminded Kin that she shouldn't get too close when Hinata lit the fuse.
Before, Hinata had wondered why Tsunade had requisitioned them dynamite as opposed to Exploding Notes, she had a feeling this may have had something to do with it. The Notes were known for their high powered explosions, which sent debris flying everywhere. If they had been using Notes instead of dynamite, they would have had to get even further away from the target before it went off, making it more difficult for them to make sure that the bridge had collapsed. That still didn't explain how Takumi had been close enough for the blast to actually do damage to him.
Shaking her head to clear it, which also helped to lessen the ringing in her ears, Hinata tried to focus on the task at hand. Namely, getting that piece of wood out of Takumi's leg. Gritting her teeth, Hinata braced herself against the ground with one foot and motioned for Kin to press down above the wound. Even as she yanked on the wood, and tried to block out Takumi's scream as it splintered, leaving slivers behind, she had to wonder why Tsunade had considered her the strongest of the five. Only six days in and she had managed to get one of the Genins seriously wounded…
Quickly, as soon as the main piece was out of Takumi's leg, Hinata grabbed a bottle of water from her pouch. Tearing the top off with her teeth, she emptied it on the gash, hoping to flush all the splinters of wood out of his flesh. She ignored the sharp gasp from the Genin when she ordered Kin to press down harder, and, feeling slightly squeamish, used her own hands to clean the wound further. Pulling out the last sliver, she poured the last of the water over it again, and tossed the bottle aside. Using one hand to help Kin slow the blood flow, Hinata fished in her pouch for a roll of bandage.
She fumbled with it for a moment, trying to find the end. Finally, she took her hand away from Takumi's leg to prepare the bandage. Taking a deep breath, she began to wrap the wound, ignoring the waves of blood that stained the bandage faster than she could wrap it. Hinata pulled the bandage tighter and felt Takumi's muscles contract in pain below her hands. Biting down on her lower lip, she pressed down on the top of the cut, and continued to layer the bandage, rolling it over top of her hand.
When she got to the end of the bandage, she slid her hand out and tugged on the edge to tighten it up and fill the gap her hand had left. Immediately, red soaked through to the top, despite the pressure both Kin and the bandage had on the wound. "Damn this." Hinata muttered, and, not stopping to allow herself time to think about what she was about to do, shoved Kin's hands out of her way, ignoring the girl's questions. Slamming her own hands down in their place, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
Clenching her jaw, she shoved chakra through her hands into Takumi's leg, closing the chakra holes on his upper leg. When she felt her chakra meet resistance, she pushed harder, and only when she could send the chakra no further did she pull away from the Genin. She watched the wound closely through the bandage, resting her hand on top of them. When she pulled her hand away and it was only covered in a few smudges of blood from the cloth, Hinata sighed in relief. "Move your toes." She demanded, and watched Takumi's foot carefully as he did. She allowed herself a grim smile at her accomplishment; she hadn't damaged any muscles then. Feeling the area above the wound for anything unusual, she broke into a full fledged grin.
By closing the chakra holes, and then tightening the entire chakra system in that part of Takumi's leg around the blood vessels, she had been able to divert all but the bare minimum of his blood around the wound and down different paths to its final destinations. A biological work of art really, it was amazing she had even been able to do it at all, let alone successfully.
Unfortunately, they weren't out of the woods yet, not only would she have to keep a close eye on the cut for infection, but she would have to make sure that other parts of the leg weren't dying from lack of blood, or, on the opposite side of the spectrum, an overflow of it. But despite all that, Takumi wouldn't suffer any of the side affects of blood loss, like dizziness or fatigue, so they wouldn't have to turn back, or even take a break until the bleeding slowed.
It was nice to know that, for once, there was something that she could do that no one else could.
Wiping her hands on the grass to clean them, she inspected the bandage. Would it be better to just leave that one on, or to replace it with a fresh one, now that she wouldn't have to worry about him bleeding out in the meantime? Making up her mind quickly, Hinata reached for another bandage roll with one hand, at the same time undoing the fasteners on the old one. Unwrapping it quickly, she pushed it out of her way, leaving it to drip blood on the grass. She smiled again when she saw the wound, with only a small pool of blood on the exposed flesh, keeping it moist. Mentally patting herself on the back, Hinata put the new bandage on, fastening it a little looser this time so that it wouldn't impede the new circulation system she had fashioned for Takumi.
Of course, if this was successful, and she had a feeling it would be, she would either have to do the same to the other leg to balance it out, or rewire the one she had altered now. It was possible that it would actually enhance his muscle performance, once the wound itself healed sufficiently, and in that case she wouldn't hesitate to do the same to his right leg. But it could also have adverse side affects on the rest of his body; perhaps put too much strain on his heart. And maybe the blood vessels she had chosen to carry more blood would be overly stressed, perhaps even burst. Then, she would have to change it back as soon as possible, even if it meant having to go back to Konoha to have Takumi professionally treated. Which ever it was though, it would have to wait until she knew for sure what kind of effect this had on Takumi.
Hinata rocked back on her heels, ignoring the curious looks on both of her students' faces. With any luck, the little altercations she had done would have also diminished the pain Takumi was feeling, and, if the bewildered expression he had was anything to go by, she had been damn efficient in that regard. "I've diverted the blood flow in your leg. You let me know the second it gets numb, hear?" She ordered Takumi, her voice harder than she had intended, but it had the desired effect. The Genin nodded dumbly, and Kin just stared at her Sensei in something that looked a little like awe.
Guiltily, Hinata looked away from the pair. She certainly didn't deserve that admiration; all she had done was fix something she had caused, something that shouldn't have happened in the first place. She couldn't just come out and say so of course, because that would be to admit a mistake, and as soon as she did that, they would cease to see her as someone who could protect them, but someone who was merely human, and when that happened, well, it could only go downhill from there…
Forcing herself to her feet, Hinata grabbed the dirty bandage off the grass, ignoring the bloodstain it left on the ground. Walking over to the river's edge, she looked down at the swirling water so far below. It looked so out of control, in such a hurry to go, where? She watched it for a minute, watching the water forced down its path by the vicious current that had driven it this far. Seeing it like this, she knew the only thing that kept it from leaping up to devour her was gravity; which pressed it down until the last possible moment, but, she also knew that the time would come when it would break away and race free and destroy her. The fact that she was no longer referring to the water was all too clear to her.
The Genins, watching their Sensei stare over the cliff's edge as though in a trance, couldn't even bring themselves to wonder what she was thinking. They had a feeling that whatever it was, they really didn't want to know. Pity how right they were, no one would want to know that the one person they relied on to protect them was being kept sane only by the fact that there were others who needed her, who would suffer if she gave into the pain.
See, she knew something about Orochimaru's plans that no one else did. Something that, the moment she acknowledged it as a real problem, would be come all too real for her handle. But if she didn't acknowledge it, people were going to die, a lot of people, people whom she had known her entire life, people whom she had once relied on herself to survive. It was almost funny, now that she thought of it like that. Almost, but not quite. She couldn't do anything about it, because the minute she did, the people who relied on her would be defenseless, but if she stayed like this, the people she relied on would be dead before they even knew they were fighting for their lives.
I'm trying to make it through each day
I'm falling apart now in every way
I'm finding harder to get by
There's a hole in my heart
And I don't know why
Now I've come to realize...
Neji eyed the threadbare blanket they had been given with distaste. It had been thrown into their cell along with breakfast this morning, and it hadn't moved from where it had landed as neither had been all too eager to touch it before they had to. But it was night time now, and the cell had gotten rather cold. It certainly wasn't heated, and the floor, walls, and ceiling were made of cement. Neji sighed, and reached a gloved hand out to the scrap of cloth hesitantly. Shikamaru watched him nervously, as though he was expecting the blanket to explode as soon as the Anbu touched it. Wrapping his fingers around it, he pulled it towards himself, flinching as dust settled on the floor each time the blanket moved an inch. The thing was absolutely filthy, and trying to get the dust and dirt off of it would only make them dirtier, not to mention their cell. "I hate to say it, but we might be better off freezing to death." Shikamaru said dryly, his face wrinkling in disgust as Neji held the blanket off the ground at arm's length, looking it over. He waved it carefully, coughing as dust flew into his mouth and nose.
"What, are you saying a little dirt is worth than death?" Neji asked, a small smile on his lips as he turned away from the blanket to watch Shikamaru's antics as he tried to avoid the dust that was flying off the gray cloth. For someone so lazy and unmotivated, he sure had a lot of energy sometimes. Well, he supposed it had to go somewhere; it probably just stored up and was unleashed at random intervals. It was pretty amusing though, especially when the only other entertainment was counting the cracks in the walls.
"Speak for yourself, you're wearing black." Shikamaru grumbled, with a pointed look at his gray shorts. Well, they used to be gray. Now they were splattered with dirt, grime, and most of all, blood. His shirt was worse off, not to mention in tatters. Neji glanced at the cut on Shikamaru's chest, wincing when he noticed how bad it looked. They had saved half of their water on the first day to try and clean their wounds, which had been much harder than it had any right to be. They had ended up using one of Neji's gloves as a cloth, dipping it in the water and then wiping away as much dirt as they could from the worst cuts. The rest of the water they had drank, as neither of them was feeling their best after the drugs had completely worn off.
Once that was done, they had spent the rest of their time trying to keep warm and talking. There wasn't much to talk about unfortunately, as most subjects managed to make them even more depressed, and Shikamaru had to be constantly wary of any topic that could remind Neji of Gaara, and thus make him clam up again, and probably find a corner to sulk in. Needless to say, that wouldn't do either of them any good.
Tearing his eyes away from the cut on Shikamaru's chest, Neji's smile faded. "As soon as we get out of here we're going to need to get the cut looked at, so it doesn't get infected." Neither of them bothered to voice the fact that they might not be getting out that easy, it was common knowledge. They had been betting on Shikamaru recovering enough chakra to catch their next visitor with the kage mane, but they had realized early on that there was some kind of chakra dampener on the cell block. It had become painfully obvious when Shikamaru had collapsed trying to test how far he could stretch his shadow.
Shikamaru rolled his eyes, touching the wound gently with one hand. "It's really not that bad Neji. I just need to wash it out, and we can do that with out a medic you know." Neji just raised an eyebrow, and, reaching out with his left hand, poked Shikamaru in the chest. The Jounin flinched, biting his lip. "Okay, okay, so maybe it's a little sore. But we can just continue the mission; we don't need to stop-"
Neji dropped the blanket on the ground, and scooted closer to Shikamaru. "Idiot." He said softly, shaking his head slightly. He sat up straight with a very un-Neji-like smirk on his face and flicked Shikamaru on the forehead. "We'll have plenty of time to stop and get you fixed up before we get to the Hidden Mist. You aren't going to do anyone any good if you drop dead in the middle of a fight. I'd rather not have to deal with the consequences if you died on my watch besides. We both know Tsunade would jump at the chance to take me out of the Anbu, the only reason she doesn't is that she could justify it. Let's not give her the chance, hmm?"
"She wouldn't do something like that Neji, why would-" Shikamaru paused, something dawning on him. "Oh." He looked down, away from Neji, if one wished to be technical. His dark eyes were troubled as he considered a few things. There was the one reason, the painfully obvious one, but there was another as well; one that he wouldn't normally have considered a problem, or even have realized that it had the potential to become a problem. He didn't particularly like to think that it would be a problem to the Godaime, it made her seem like somewhat of a lesser person in his eyes when that was taken into consideration. But, as much as he hated to admit it, it made sense, too much sense really. He looked up at Neji, wincing when his eyes focused on the red gash on the ANBU's face before looking into the blank the white eyes of the Hyuuga clan. "Is that why she only promoted you now then?"
A wry smile twisted Neji's lips. "Funny to think that who you love could have an impact on whether you're promoted or not, isn't it?"
"You loved him?" Shikamaru couldn't keep the surprise out of his voice when he said that. It came out before he could think about what he was saying; immediately, he wished he could take it back.
At first, Neji looked just as shocked as he did, but his expression changed from one of surprise to one of anger in mere seconds. Before Shikamaru could even register what was happening, Neji was hitting him. Hard. The first punch landed on his upper arm, sending shooting pains through his body when his chest wound was aggravated. The second clipped his jaw, and when he looked up, the expressionless white eyes were gone, replaced by the Byakugan. Neji scrambled to his feet, one hand grabbing Shikamaru's t-shirt collar, dragging him up with him. As soon as he was standing steadily, Neji dropped the cloth and, bringing one leg back slightly to put more power behind his next blow, struck out at Shikamaru again, arms and fists a whirlwind, and it was all Shikamaru could do to block every other one.
Throwing one arm up just in time to stop a punch that would have hit him full on in the face, Shikamaru attempted to sweep Neji's feet out from under him by crouching slightly and using his assailant's arm to keep his balance while he whipped one leg around. He had forgotten who he was fighting. Neji sidestepped it easily and used the Jounin's moment off balance to slam him against the cell wall, one arm sliding up under his chin and pressing against his throat.
Neji was breathing heavily, and his white eyes were wild as he stared into Shikamaru's dark ones, Shikamaru trying in vain to breath. He scrabbled at Neji's arm desperately, his tired and shaky hands not able to get a purchase on the ANBU's black glove. The slash across his chest ached, and he knew he would have at least a few new bruises soon. Needless to say, Neji was the last person he had expected to have to protect himself from.
There was a faint click behind Neji, and the sudden feeling of their chakra flowing back to them full force. With a gasp, Neji clutched at his chest with both hands, freeing Shikamaru. They both fell to their knees on the floor, breathing heavily for very different reasons. Shikamaru touched one hand to his throat carefully, wincing when his fingers brushed against the sore skin. He shuddered involuntarily, who knew what might have happened next if it weren't for… well, whatever it was.
He dared a glance at Neji, who was grappling at his chest as though he was trying to reach right through to his heart. Obviously in pain, the Hyuuga's eyes had returned to normal, and his mouth was hanging open as he tried to gulp up air. Shikamaru felt no sympathy. Perhaps he shouldn't have said what he had, but trying to kill him in return… It didn't exactly add up in his mind.
Apparently the Hyuuga had been driven further over the edge than he had let on. Maybe he didn't have as much control as they all thought. It wouldn't be the first time that a shinobi had lost it, or come so close that they could taste the madness, it wouldn't be the last. Shikamaru knew that there were shinobi he knew personally, that he had worked with from time to time, who had lost themselves, had spent years in a darkness so complete that it had taken a miracle to bring them back. He also knew that it was only a matter of time before those same shinobi lost it again, before their minds let go of their carefully crafted sanity, in favor of the alluring carelessness that would hold on that much tighter the second time around.
It seemed that Neji was one of them.
Who knew how long he had?
Maybe he was already gone.
A scream cut through the heavy silence just in time to keep it from crushing Shikamaru. He felt his own chest tighten and it was all he could do to keep from raising his own voice to match the Hyuuga's. The pain was both great and terrible, washing over him in floods, coursing through every nerve he had, and some he hadn't known were there. It was sharp and aching at the same time, and he wanted nothing more than for it to stop. In that moment, he would have given anything that was asked of him for the pain to cease; his family, his friends, his country.
When it finally stopped, it left them both gasping for breath, unable to believe they were still alive. It had been the feeling of all the chakra that had been leeched out of them since their arrival being forced back into their bodies all at once. Shikamaru's entire body was tingling, only aggravating the cut on his chest. Once he was able to lift his head without nearly passing out, he looked around the cell for some idea of what had happened.
What he did see was far better than that; their cell door was wide open, and a thin ray of sunlight stretched from the door that had previously shut them off from the rest of the world. Whatever despair he had been feeling was gone, replaced by elation. He could even forget how close to death he had come at his partner's hand. Getting to his feet slowly; and still stumbling when he tried to take step towards the open door; Shikamaru could feel his spirits rising.
Neji, hearing Shikamaru's clumsy footsteps, turned slightly to watch the Jounin's progress across the room. Seeing the open cell door, he too stood up, wincing as an echo of the earlier pain shot up his left leg. Favoring it ever so slightly, he quickly overtook Shikamaru, and without even a backward glance, started working his way down the aisle, and finally, through the door way and into the sunlight.
I'm slipping away…
a/n: Okay… I'm ashamed, I really am. A whole month without updating. Damn. Well, I hope this chapter helped to make up for that even a little, which, I'm guessing, it didn't… Uh, right. –sigh– I am sooooo sorry it took me so long, and if this helps any, when I actually got down to it, it only took me a few hours… –sigh– Who am I kidding? This is pathetic. I'll try not to let it take so long next time, I swear.
Starry096: Thanks! I know, isn't he fun? I love writing him! Be sure to let me know if I'm doing it right.
Lady Samurai: You'll find out soon! I think… My timeline kind of died a while ago. –sob–
D-Scribe: I know I've been ignoring them, it's bad… --;; I'll try to work on that, thanks for reminding me!
Dameus: Sorry?
Angstluver: Glad you liked it!
Bunch-o-Nuts: That's the point! And uh, sorry it took so long again… -shamed- You'll find out eventually!
Hujin: It's not a matter of forgiving anymore really… We come into their story when it's already halfway through. I'll try to clear that up a bit soon, maybe a flashback?
Esther: Hee hee… I just couldn't bring myself to torture them. Okay, that's a total lie. This will turn out to be torture too, but a different kind of torture. A much different kind. –grins–
Fuhrer: Thanks so much! It's good to know my writing's been effective/decent!
Smoking Panda: -grins- Naruto'll be back soon enough… Well, actually, like I said, the timeline suffered horribly before finally dying, so that isn't exactly a guarantee… -sigh-