The Art of Deception
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Author's Note: This is my most popular story! It's my own personal record! Haha, sorry for my obvious excitement, but it is pretty cool: 90+ reviews for four semi-short chapters? Not baddd... and I won't even mention the number of hits this story is getting. I'm glad you guys all like TAoD. Sound's getting a little evil, aren't they? I'm sorry again about the length of this chapter (or lack of it) but I'm in rather a hurry. After July 9th, I won't be able to update for three weeks. Yes, three weeks. I'm sorry, but I'm going on an extended vacation.
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Scroll V: No Other
Even when your hope is gone,
move along, move along, like I know you do...
--All-American Rejects; Move Along
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The park was lit with the kind of light only a the moon can give; silvery and beautiful, cool and exciting and calming all at once. Trees waved slightly in the soft breeze, stirring Neji and Sakura's hair and tickling their faces. Sakura glanced slightly at Neji and admired not for the first time how handsome he was. The stern lines of his jaw were complimented by a strong neck and broad shoulders. He was extremely tall, towering over her by around a head. She always felt dwarfed by him, and even though she knew she could kick his ass into the mud if she wanted to, she always felt that he wouldn't hesitate to protect her in any way.
It was a good feeling.
The two mingled with the other couples, strolling through the grass and just generally being normal. Even Neji was relaxed, actually smiling at her a couple times when she laughed in the joy of being able to act herself for once. She wasn't normally a party person, and neither was Neji (though she was certainly energetic enough), but for this time alone she felt like she could loosen up and have a good time.
That was a good feeling, too.
Alas, it of course wouldn't last, but she was perfectly in her rights to enjoy it while she could, wasn't she? As the music pounded into a rhythmic dance tune, she turned to Neij with a smile. "Dance with me," she commanded.
The white-eyed Hyuuga raised an eyebrow but nodded, thinking it would, after all, look natural for a couple to be dancing at a party. In fact, it would probably look weird if they didn't. He allowed her to twist so that her back was facing him and sway her hips seductively, moving her arms silkily. Many a male in the vicinity was shuffling slowly closer to her, but Neji was ahead of them all, with hands on her shaking hips and a chin over her shoulder.
The whole place seemed to slow by huge degrees, the music seemingly going much slower, the beat going gradual. They were looking at each other closely, unaware of the other couples around them dancing in a similar fashion, unaware of two cold blue eyes watching every move, unaware of everything but each other. Every toss of the head, every lick of the lips, every guided circling of hips, every breathless touch as abdoments stretched and hearts pounded, was another rule broken, another guarded wall crumbling to the ground. Every motion was another forbidden whisper, another day and night spent dreaming about love and passion and another timeless yearning.
Neji could hardly believe what he was doing. Here he was, dancing like he'd never danced before (contrary to popular belief, he had danced a couple times) with a girl that was supposed to be one of his best friends, his best medic-- indeed, the best medic in Konoha... a girl with startling pink hair and soulful seafoam eyes, with her heart proudly on her sleeve, a girl who was now rubbing against him in a manner that defied any plausible explanation.
Sakura turned so that she was facing him, and every intelligent thought was immediately silenced as the song changed and her arms went around his neck. Now he could actually see those sparkling eyes, the strands of hair that had fallen out from her heated dancing, the flush that was rising into her cheeks from both the dance and the closeness to Konoha's own most-hot-eligible-bachelor.
"We're supposed to be on a mission," he mumbled to her, slightly dumbstruck as they swayed together. Not really knowing or caring what he was doing, he leaned down so that his forehead was touching hers.
"Tsunade-shishou said to act like a couple, right?" she countered innocently, a small smile on her lips. "Well, this is couple-ish."
"Definitely," was all he could manage as their noses touched, the lightest of touches, and yet it sent a shock of electricity and something else, something worse but at the same time infinitely better, down their spines.
From a couple yards away, Sasuke and Kabuto watched with barely-disguised shock. Kabuto tilted his head. "They make a good couple, Sasuke-kun." He merely grinned at the withering look that was passed his way. "I'm serious. They seem to be very into their acting, don't you think?"
"They're on a mission to stop our assassination of the Kage of Lightning," the Uchiha said through gritted teeth, ignoring the females that were batting their eyelashes at him, even in a disguise. "They need to be good actors."
"Almost as if they're not acting..." Kabuto glanced casually at Uchiha Sasuke and raised his eyebrows as he glared at the dancing couple.
"Focus," his rough voice commanded, "on what you are going to do."
"Take out the Hyuuga and knock out the pink girl. Take her to the base and continue with the original mission." He recited it as a lesson well-learned, a book memorized.
"Then get on with it."
Kabuto vanished.
Sakura tilted her head towards Neji's. "You know... we really shouldn't be doing this." It was a weak protest, and she didn't have any heart in it, and he knew it.
Neji smirked. "I don't care. Neither should you. Tsunade-sama should have thought of the consequences when she assigned us to this mission."
Sakura's eyes flew open. "Damn her, I bet she already did."
They chuckled lightly together, hands pressed against each other. "She's smarter than she lets on," Neji murmured, watching with a slight sense of triumph as a pink blush skirted across Sakura's cheeks.
"Mm-hm." It was more than he could bear. That simple answer... the way her lips rolled... it was driving him crazy. There was no way he could survive like this without... well...
Sakura squeaked when she felt a small pressure on her lips and opened her eyes.
They immediately closed.
Neji tightened his hold on her, but to the contrary, his kisses grew softer, gentler, as they continued. "I'm sorry," he said roughly as she opened her eyes, slightly dazed.
"For what?" she asked simply. "That was... well..."
He smirked. So he was a good kisser? That was good to know. He tucked a strand of stray pink hair behind her ear. "For not realizing it sooner. I was an idiot."
"No kidding."
He mock-glared at her, and she laughed, kissing him lightly on the cheek. "Joking, sweets, I was joking." Suddenly, he stiffened, and Sakura frowned in concern. "What is it?"
"Someone's watching us. Byakugan." The jutsu was added quietly, and she could vaguely see chakra veins spreading from his eyes as he scanned the crowd. A black shadow streaked over them, but was gone in a matter of seconds."No one remarkable here," he murmured. "But who jumped over us? That was a shinobi leap... where did they go?"
Sakura's eyes widened suddenly, her extra-heightened senses feeling the kunai before she even heard it. "Neji, DUCK!" she shouted, forgetting to use his code name and shoving him down. The weapon sped past them, embedding itself in an unlucky innocent behind them. Several women shrieked, and the crowd went into a frenzy. The music stopped, filling the air with the sounds of screams and pounding feet as everyone ran for cover. More kunais sped through the air, hitting and killing various civilians.
The mulling crowd pressed against the couple, forcing them apart. Neji's Byakugan eyes widened. "Sakura!" he shouted as he saw her being pushed away by the crowd. He growled angrily, eyes now narrowing, and pushed his way through. "Get out of the way, damn it!"
An angry shriek distorted the air. Neji froze. Sakura. "SAKURA!" He ran forward with a new strength, shoving through the crowd.
Sakura's voice rang out again. "Kabuto, you bastard!"
She was standing in front of him, eyes filled with a rage that seemed lethal. The glasses-wearing ninja smirked. "What? I just wanted to interrupt your fun with your new boyfriend. By the way, how did you get him to kiss you like that? Isn't he one of the coldest men of Konoha? Second, I think, only to Sasuke-kun... but you have a habit of falling for the types that don't really care about you, don't you?"
"SHUT UP!" A handful of shuriken tore through Kabuto's clothing, drawing blood and leaving him slightly surprised. "You don't know anything about it!" Her face suddenly contorted as the meaning of his words sunk in. "Where's Sasuke?" she growled.
"He's been here all along, Pink," he taunted, holding up a kunai. "Watching you the whole time. He wants me to take you without injury, you know."
"I don't give a damn about what he thinks," she spat, stepping towards him menacingly. "And I'd prefer talking to the real Kabuto, if you don't mind." She looked up in the trees as the bunshin disappeared. The silver-haired man sighed from his perch on the branch and dropped to the ground in front of her.
"You've changed, haven't you?" he remarked. "I mean, I'd only heard rumors, but... ANBU now, are you? And, ah... a medic? I guess we'll find out how advanced a medic you are when you have to heal your boyfriend's wounds..."
Sakura snapped, her inner self immediately shouting a forceful "kick the bastard's sorry ass!". Charging at her opponent, she didn't sense the person behind her... not with his perfectly-masked chakra. She didn't see him, not when Kabuto was shifting into a defensive position. She realized he was there a second too late, and when she turned, his hand was already at her neck, his thumb at a place she recognized painfully.
"Thank you." That was what he'd said before he had pressed his thumb into her neck, rendering her unconscious and leaving her without love, with a fear of ever loving anyone again. She looked at the person behind her, Mezumi Rai... or Uchiha Sasuke. "S-Sasuke..." She murmured as her vision slowly disappeared. "Don't... don't hurt Neji..."
She didn't see his glare at the mention of the Hyuuga's name; she was already knocked out.
Neji sprinted from the mulling crowd just in time to see the pink-haired girl slump to the ground from a touch by Mezumi Rai... now deactivating his Henge no Jutsu and returning to his original form. "UCHIHA!" he shouted, anger pulsing through his veins.
Sasuke turned around, his face blank and cold, his eyes spinning with the wheels of the Sharingan. "Hyuuga." He smirked. "I hope you don't mind that we cut in on your little dance. Next time, focus more on the mission... not the girl in front of you. Pretty as she is."
And then they were gone.
Gone, just like that.
With her.
With Sakura.
The girl he... he could say it openly now, and he was proud to be able to... the girl he loved.
Neji shook with compressed fury, his fists clenching and unclenching. "Sakura..." he mumbled to himself, falling to his knees. "I have to... get her back..."
He fumbled in his pockets, unrolling the scroll Tsunade had given him. "Tsunade-sama," he said, his voice trembling with his body.
A slight pause, and then her image filled the scroll, the familiar diamond in her forehead, the blonde hair, the cleavage. The familiar sight calmed him, and he took a couple deep breaths. "Neji? What's up?" she asked lazily, a cup of tea appearing next to her mouth and going to her lips.
"Sakura's been captured."
"NANI!" The teacup slammed onto the desk, and there was a sickening cracking sound from her inhumane strength. She choked a bit on her beverage and sat up, coughing slightly. "Nani?" she repeated, her voice slightly hoarse.
He ran a hand through his hair. "Sakura. Has. Been. Captured." he repeated in a monotone, knowing full well that she'd heard. "By Uchiha and Kabuto."
"Sasuke? And Kabuto?" She cursed roundly, using words Neji'd never even knew existed, let alone be allowed to be used in a conversation. "Damn, damn, DAMN! Where'd they go?"
"I don't know," he answered hotly, his grip tightening. "There was a huge crowd of innocents, and I couldn't exactly stab everyone to get through, could I?"
"Neji, calm down," Tsunade snapped, glaring at him. "We're both worried, but it's no reason to get sarcastic. I need you to go after her as best you can. Stay safe, and when you get to the base, stay there. Don't do anything rash. I'm sending in Naruto, Shikamaru, and the Inuzuka boy as a backup team."
"Stay there? But Sak-"
"Hai, Hyuuga, stay there," she repeated sternly, emphasizing it with his surname, "and do not do anything rash. Actually, just don't do anything. Check out the place with Byakugan and avoid all contact."
He glared at the scroll. "Hai, Tsunade-sama."
"Then go now. Shizune, get me Nara, Uzamaki, and Inuzuka. Hurry, Goddammit! And get your fucking pig out of my face!"
Neji rolled the scroll back up and tucked it into his pocket, his rage still burning furiously as he strode towards the hotel. He'd need more weapons. A map. Something. Anything.
He needed her back.
A tumult of emotions rolled into his head as he pressed his fingers to the hidden curse seal. Rage, fear, horror, possessiveness, determination, resolve, uncertainty... a contradiction of interwoven feelings, all rising in him at once. He felt sick as he pushed open the hotel door. The old woman, Nitta-san, gasped at the blood on his outfit, barely visible from his red shirt. "Wh-what happened, Natsuhito-san?" she asked in a hushed voice.
He turned his gaze to her, watching as she cowered. He softened slightly. "My name is Hyuuga Neji, ma'am. I'm a shinobi from Konoha, the Hidden Village of the Leaf, in the Fire Country. I'm here on a mission. There are S-class criminals hiding in your village, planning something, and they've captured my partner, the pink-haired girl you know as Kane. I'll be in need of rations, if you'll be kind enough to provide them."
The old woman brought a hand to her mouth. "Y-you were acting?"
He looked away. "Mostly."
The woman put a comforting hand on his arm. "Hyuuga-san, don't worry. I'm sure you'll get her back. The hotel will be happy to provide food."
He smiled wearily at her. "Arigato. I'll be down in a couple of minutes. When I leave, I suggest you close up and hide in the safest place available."
She nodded and watched with a small amount of relief and sadness as the Hyuuga ran upstairs. Only a couple minutes later, he was back, wearing a pair of black pants, shinobi sandals, a baggy black shirt, and his forehead protector proudly around his forehead. He tightened his metal-plated gloves with his teeth and gladly accepted the food the woman gave him, tucking it into his pack. "If any other Konoha ninja happen to come by, tell them I'm looking for Sakura and the traitor."
The woman nodded. "Good luck, Hyuuga-san!"
"Arigato." Saluting slightly, he leapt into the trees, tracing his love's chakra around the forest.
Not now. I won't lose you now.