Little Neji opened his tired eyes and felt a strong presence sitting next to him. He expected to see older Neji, but sat up suddenly when he realized there was someone he had never seen before. This person was older than him, and even older than the other Neji. He wore a uniform the color of the deepest blood, and had brownish-red hair. There were dark marks around his eyes, and on the left side of his forehead, the character for the word 'love.'
"Welcome to the desert, Neji," the young man said in a gentle tone.
"Who are you?" little Neji asked.
"My name is Gaara," the young man replied.
But then, before little Neji could move closer, Gaara disappeared from view.
Broken Helix: part IV: Fall
"How did you do that!" Lee asked. "You got Neji to come to his senses for a minute. How?"
Gaara looked up to see Lee in the doorway.
"He wasn't himself," Gaara said. "He doesn't remember me, and he didn't seem to know where he was."
"But you got him to speak to you!" Lee exclaimed. "I only got here in time to hear him ask who you were. What else did he say?"
"That was all," Gaara said.
Gaara waited for Lee to sit down before continuing.
"In Tsunade's message to me she explained that Neji may have had a breakdown," Gaara explained. "I had more than enough of those myself before Shukaku was removed. But being caught in one's mind cannot be a constant state. The body still perceives." He looked to Neji, who was now staring at the ceiling blankly. "Think of it as dreaming. Your mind is somewhere your body is not. But when your body tells you that it is time to wake up, or that something is stimulating it, your mind shifts back to reality."
"But we've tried to make him alert to us," Lee said sadly.
"If he has had a breakdown," Gaara said, "his mind is in a place that he can't escape from so easily. But he must still sleep. And when he wakes up, his mind must take in his body's surroundings in order to bring him back to reality. In other words, when you saw me speaking to him, it was right after he woke up. He started to perceive his surroundings, and he saw me sitting here with him. But his mind caught up and overtook the body again, and now he is as he was before."
Lee looked at Neji for a long time before looking at Gaara seriously again. "Doesn't this mean that he doesn't want to wake up?"
Gaara sensed that Lee was very hurt by the situation. Lee, Tenten, and Gai all looked like they had reached their emotional limits when they brought Neji to his village. Even Tsunade seemed tense in her messages to him, though she tried to remain neutral and calm the whole time.
"Maybe he doesn't know how to wake up," Gaara said finally. "If he knew how, he would. Especially with all of you supporting him."
Lee was still tense, but softened just a bit before Gaara's eyes.
"Thank you," Lee said. "I know you're risking a lot, getting involved with the inner conflicts of our village."
"I would not be alive if your team and Naruto's team hadn't come to save me from the Akatsuki," Gaara said. "You all saved me and my village, and for that I am thankful." He then smiled serenely. "At least that is what I will tell you all to stop you from thanking me every three seconds. I would be doing this anyway."
For once in a very long time, Lee smiled.
"Now, go back to sleep," Gaara said. "You haven't had enough. This is the third time I've had to say this in one morning. Tenten was here ten minutes before you, and Gai ten minutes before her."
"But… have you been sitting with Neji all night?" Lee asked.
"No," Gaara smiled softly. "I have also been standing."
Lee laughed and finally obeyed, heading towards the guest room. There was something about Gaara that put him at ease.
"It's Neji's execution day, isn't it?" Ino said cheerfully.
Hinata looked up from her ice cream as Ino sat across from her and Sakura after ordering ice cream of her own.
"It is…" Hinata said softly.
"So why don't you look more cheerful?" Ino asked.
"Ino!" Sakura said. "That's cruel!"
"It's not cruel at all," Ino said. "An execution day, but no one to execute! It's wonderful!"
Hinata hadn't thought of it this way. She had been so caught up in the fact that Neji was missing.
"So you don't think he's in danger?" Sakura asked.
Ino leaned in and spoke very softly. "Of course not," she whispered. "I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure Gai took him somewhere. Don't you think it's odd that Neji's team left for a mission at the same time he went missing?"
"Kakashi hasn't said anything," Sakura whispered. "And Kurenai would have said something to poor Hinata."
"What if they don't know?" Ino said. "Think about it. The less people that know the better, right? So if anyone is questioned, no one would actually know anything."
Hinata and Sakura looked at each other.
"I hope you're right," Hinata whispered.
"Of course I am!" Ino grinned. "Besides… that's what Shikamaru thinks anyway," she smiled sheepishly.
Hinata suddenly looked at the time. "Oh… I have to go now…" she said softly.
"Where to?" Sakura asked. "Maybe you should stay away from home today? Would you like to stay over?"
"N… no," Hinata said sadly. "There are things I must do."
She quickly got up and left, and Ino looked to Sakura.
"Why do I get the feeling that she really did want to stay with you?" Ino asked.
"I'm not sure," Sakura said, watching Hinata's back. "But I got the same feeling."
Hinata entered the cold study and shut the door behind her. She could already feel the cold, unfeeling eyes mentally undressing her.
"Do not dispair so much," her most hated uncle said in mock sympathy. "When Neji is dead, you will no longer have to suffer this. Won't you be pleased when we find him and kill him?"
Hinata said nothing. She only approached the desk at which he sat. He slid his chair away from the desk and beckoned her closer with a finger. She obeyed and went to him, then slowly sank to her knees in front of him as he undid his pants. When she rose up on her knees, took him in her hand, and lowered her head he stopped her.
"Wait," he said. "Undo your top."
She shut her eyes for a moment, but did as she was told, unzipping the front of her shirt and slidding if off her shoulders, then taking off the layers underneath until she was bare from the waist up. It felt so cold in the room, and she wanted to cover himself from his disgusting gaze.
"Begin now," he commanded.
And it began. She busied her mouth trying to please him, hoping it would end soon. It was as though bitterness and disgust had become an object and was now inside her mouth. She closed her eyes, trying to pretend it was Naruto, but this made her feel even more like a whore.
The deed seemed to take a hellish eternity, and when he was finally spent she felt as though she would vomit, the contents of his release feeling heavy in her stomach and on her tongue. She felt exposed and ashamed and discarded. She wanted to be held and caressed and told it would be okay. She tried to think of Naruto again, but the thought was no longer appealing. She didn't want him to see her with this shame. But deep down, she also knew that it would do no good anyway.
"May I go now…?" she whispered, her eyes on the floor, her arms wrapped around her chest as she knelt there, shivering.
He didn't answer, and when she looked up at him he had a look of anger and disgust like she had never seen.
"Filthy little slut," he muttered. "In love with Neji, even when you thought he was your cousin."
He backhanded her in the face and her head hit the desk. Before she could recover he had pinned her to the floor.
"You're wrong," Hinata cried, trying to get out of his grasp. "He's my cousin! My friend!"
He hit her again… and again… and again. "So the pure and proper Lady Hinata would open her mouth like this to save any friend of hers!" he yelled.
Another hard slap. She tasted blood in her mouth. "N… no! Yes! …NO!" she cried in confusion.
"Would I find you sleeping night after night in the empty home of any friend in danger!" he yelled as he landed another blow to her face. Tears streamed from her eyes. "How many times? How many times has he touched you? Tasted you? Imagine what we could cut off of him for daring to take a daughter of the head family! HOW MANY TIMES!"
"Never!" she cried. "He would never--"
He slapped her again. "Tell me the truth!" He grabbed her shoulders and slammed her back hard against the floor.
"NEVER!" she screamed.
"Don't lie to me you filthy little slut!" He slammed her against the floor again.
"HE DOESN'T WANT ME! HE HAS NEVER LOVED ME!" she cried out, her face red and tears pouring from her.
He let her go, his hands slidding away from her slowly. He lifted his weight from her body and stood, composing himself and sitting in his chair once again. Hinata was curled up into a ball on the floor, crying her eyes out.
"Dress yourself," he commanded with a hint of satisfaction in his voice. "And get out of my sight."
Hinata quickly grabbed her things and fled from the room. She dressed and ran away, leaping from rooftop to rooftop so that no one would see her, and she made it to Neji's empty apartment. She locked the doors and windows and threw herself onto his bed, crying. Her hated uncle was right. She was nothing but a whore… for giving her body in such a way, and for just now realizing that she was falling so deeply in love with the one she thought was her cousin. The one who could never love her as she loved him. And she couldn't even save his life! She couldn't even find him now!
She felt powerless, dirty, unloved, useless….
…Nothing but a whore.
Another day had passed, and it was now morning again. Gaara sat by Neji's bedside, waiting for that moment when he would wake. No one knew he was here. Temari had scolded him for working too hard as Kazekage, as well as taking this upon himself. But he knew very well that Neji was one of the people who worked so hard to save him. And he wanted to save Neji. He wanted to see Lee, Tenten, and Gai happy. Naruto as well. He knew that Naruto was hurting even without being told.
And slowly, Neji's eyes opened. Gaara leaned in and opened his mouth to speak, but he didn't get a word out. Neji reached up and pulled him into a crushing hug. Gaara could only stand like that, wide-eyed and startled, for a long moment.
"Gaara!" Neji said, clearly forgetting his strength, his voice uncharacteristically childish and fearful. "I thought you were a dream! Please don't go this time! He's going to kill me! He knows I can get out now if you take me!"
"Who?" Gaara asked, still bent somewhat uncomfortably over the bed.
"Neji!" he whispered. "The other one…." His voice dropped so that it was almost inaudible as he whispered into Gaara's ear. "He's going to kill me…."
Just then Temari walked through the door. She stopped and stared at the sight in front of her.
"Abusing your power as Kazekage, I see," she said in an amused tone, staring at her brother. "But honestly Gaara. The leader of the village can't be in a long-term relationship."
Gaara gave a soft smile in response to her, and gently but firmly got free of Neji's grasp. But he still held Neji's hand to keep a physical connection. But Neji seemed to be drifting off into his own world. Quickly, Gaara turned Neji's hand face up. Sand suddenly rushed into the room through the open window. It was a small stream of sand that landed on Neji's hand and onto the bed. Neji stared at it as it touched him.
"You aren't where you think you are," Gaara whispered to him. "You aren't who you think you are." He pointed to Neji's face. "Your eyes can see through any illusion. You just need to remember how to use them. Remember the powers of your clan."
Neji blinked a few times, then slowly started to drift off. His grip on Gaara's hand loosened, and once again, his mind was not where his body was.
"That was at least a few minutes," Temari said. "I'm impressed, Gaara."
"You and Kankurou did the same for me many times," Gaara said as he commanded the sand back outside, leaving no trace of it in the room.
"But we had Granny Chiyo's help back then," she sighed.
"He will come back," Gaara said. "He has too much in this world to live for."
Little Neji felt like crying when Gaara disappeared, but he knew it wouldn't do him any good. He slipped out of bed and went to the mirror. He stared into the reflection, at his white eyes that seemed violet in the light of his room. He stared and stared, but nothing happened. He sighed deeply and sank to his knees.
He thought he heard a soft knock on his door, but decided it was nothing. But it came again, a little louder. Little Neji knew that the only one around was older Neji, but older Neji never waited for permission to enter. He always just seemed to appear. Slowly and quietly, little Neji opened the door to the hallway. There was no one there. He stepped outside and glanced down at both sides of the hall, thinking someone would appear. But still, there was no one. Sighing sadly, he backed into his room again. It was then that he felt someone behind him. He had backed up into someone. Someone who had somehow appeared in his empty room. Slowly, his heart pounding, he turned around.
He screamed.
There was the girl that he thought older Neji had killed. She weezed and coughed up a disgusting river of blood from her mouth. Her skin was turning a sickly shade of grayish-blue, her short hair caked with blood. Her beige jacked was drenched with blood and she stank of it. She reached out a thin, sickly looking hand towards him.
"You killed me…" she whispered, her voice eerie and gurgled and frightening. "Why…? Why did you kill me…?"
Neji's voice caught in his throat. He backed up into the wall in the hallway and then bolted down the hall. But she was after him. He looked behind him to see her running… her body crooked and limping, more blood pouring from her. She jerked with every movement and shuddered horribly. It was the most frightening thing little Neji had ever seen.
He burst out into the courtyard and pounded frantically at the wooden door.
"Help!" he cried. "Let me out! Someone help me! Gaara! ANYONE!"
He was afraid to turn around. Afraid to see her standing there. But he felt someone there. He knew he wasn't alone. A cold hand gripped his shoulder and dug its fingers into him painfully.
"Think you're better than me, do you?" an older boy's voice asked.
Before he could yell for help again, little Neji was whirled around to face the new horror. Another boy around the same age as older Neji. He had thick eyebrows and a strange bowl cut. He wore all green, but blood stained his clothing.
"Think you can beat me?" the boy asked, his rage seeming to melt his face until it was disgusting to behold. "You tore down my dreams, but it will not go unpunished."
The older boy appeared to disappear from view for a split second, but Neji knew he was still there when he felt the kick to his chest. He literally went flying back against the gate, slamming into it with such force that he stopped breathing. He swore his ribs were broken. He tried and tried to gasp for air, but he was grabbed by the throat and lifted to his feet. Then the older boy punched him in the face, then the stomach, and anywhere else he could reach. Little Neji couldn't yell, or scream, or cry, or breathe. He couldn't bare this any longer. He just wanted it to end.
Unfortunately, he got his wish. The older boy backed away, and a sharp pain cut through little Neji's insides. He looked down to see the contents of his own body spilling out from his stomach and onto the ground in a pathetic red mass. He didn't have time to think rationally. He only knew that he would die. He looked up to see that the entire courtyard was now a cavern of spider webs. And he was trapped. Unable to even call for help. Far above him, the shadowy figure of a spider laughing down at him. Another sharp pain cut through little Neji's shoulder, and he vaguely realized that it was arrows piercing him.
His vision was going black, his body cold. As everything grew patchy he saw a man moving towards him, dressed in bright red robes. The symbol for fire was on his hat, and when he removed it, there was a young man there, with blonde hair and blue eyes. Little Neji tried to open his mouth to plead for help, but his energy was gone. It hurt to even blink.
"Kill this dropout," the yound man said.
Neji heard these words, and was almost glad that his pain would end. He shut his eyes and waited. His body felt numb, then weightless. The pain was leaving him.
"Still think you're worthy enough to leave this place?" a cold voice asked.
Little Neji opened his eyes to see older Neji stared down at him with a cold smirk. The blood, the pain, the others… they were all gone as if they never existed. He was unharmed.
"Suffer here as you deserve to," older Neji said. He then turned to walk back into the house.
"STOP!" little Neji yelled.
Older Neji stopped, but didn't turn.
"You did all those things!" Little Neji yelled. "You hurt all those people! WHY!"
"It was their fate," older Neji answered simply.
"Shut up! How could you do that to people! How could you treat them like this! I hate you! I HATE YOU!"
And then, there was laughter. Older Neji, his back still to the younger boy, was laughing. The laugh was bitter, eerie, and mocking.
"That's why it never ends!" older Neji said, turning to face the little boy. "You think you're doing the right thing, but together, we can never get out! You are the reason I cannot get out. I am the reason you cannot get out. I make you feel fear and hatred, you make me feel guilt and shame. We will never get out!"
Little Neji stared up at him, something turning in his mind.
"You aren't where you think you are."
"That's why I was hurt when I stabbed you," little Neji whispered.
"You aren't who you think you are."
"That's why the people you hurt haunt me," little Neji said, his voice growing stronger.
"Your eyes can see through any illusion. You just need to remember how to use them. Remember the powers of your clan."
"Show me," little Neji said fiercely to older Neji. "Your power! Show it to me!"
Older Neji laughed bitterly again. "You want to see the power you do not deserve to possess?"
"SHOW ME!"
Older Neji glared down at him, and right in front of little Neji's eyes, a transformation took place. The veins stood out around the older boy's eyes, and his pupils, though still white, became more apparent. But little Neji wasn't afraid. On the contrary, he was amazed, because now the world looked different to him. He and the older boy seemed to be nothing but faint husks. But there were other figures around. Figures with small rivers of blue light flowing through them. Figures that he couldn't see before. He realized that one was holding his hand, and that others hovered around him.
"I know now, what we are," little Neji said to the older boy.
"I know now, who we are," older Neji said to the younger boy.
When older Neji relaxed his eyes, everything went black around them. The estate was fading away into darkness. They were fading with it. But not far from them they saw a light. When they ran to it, they saw it was not a light, but a young man. A young man years older than older Neji. He appeared to be asleep, floating in this space of nothingness… lost peacefully in its blackness. He wore robes of white and had very long, dark hair. His face was so serene and innocent as he slept.
Little Neji took older Neji's hand in his, and before they faded away completely they reached out to the young man glowing in the darkness. And then, they spoke their last….
"Wake up, Neji. Wake up…."
No one saw the flutter of his eyelids when he woke up. Or rather, he felt that he had already been awake, but only now was he becoming conscious. He was sitting up now, his body stiff from lack of training. He was nearly lost in the veil of his own long hair, which covered his face as his head hung foreward.
There was a gentle sensation tickling his scalp, and he felt a brush running through his hair. Jasmine perfume drifted to his nose. Tenten. He felt a gentle squeeze on his hand as someone held it. He looked to the side through the veil of his hair and saw a wise, kind face watching him with warm eyes. Gai. Someone's weight shifted on the other side of the bed as they leaned on it. He shifted his eyes to see the tense, determined expression that refused to ever lose hope. Lee. And over at the window, a proud figure looking out over the village he ruled with tranquility in his features. Gaara.
Gai sighed deeply and stood up, most likely to pace around the room and burn a hole through the floor. But when he stood, his hand was not released. Gai looked down just as Tenten pulled the veil of hair back from the hidden face and saw two shining white eyes staring up at him. Eyes with strength, depth, and caring recognition.
"…Neji?" Gai whispered, tightening his grip on Neji's hand.
The others in the room stopped, but didn't move. They were afraid of another false alarm… another chance to dash their hopes. And at first there was only silence, but then Gai was met with a warm smile.
"…Missed you guys," Neji whispered, feeling as though he had forgotten his own voice.
Before Gaara's eyes, the room shuddered with a thaw and filled with warmth. Gai, Tenten, and Lee were now rejoicing, their arms around Neji, laughing like a bunch of children at play. Gaara was almost afraid of the team's extreme enthusiasm, but when Neji motioned for him to come closer, he couldn't help but feel it also.
"Thank you," Neji said with a smile as he shook Gaara's hand. "For everything."
Someone was pounding on Naruto's door, and he opened it slowly, feeling his head reeling from his headache. He didn't want to see anyone right now. He was too busy reading through old laws and regulations of the Hyuuga clan that were available through older and more restricted sections of the police library. Sakura was too busy to study, so he would do it.
"Whhuuuu…"
"Okay then," Shikamaru said with a raised eyebrow. "I'll take that as a hello of some sort."
Shikamaru stood there with Sai, and they both looked concerned.
"Whaisit…?" Naruto groaned.
"Sai was doing some research for us," Shikamaru said softly. "Wanna let us in?"
"What research?" Naruto said, moving aside for them to enter and closing the door.
"About Hyuuga Neji," Sai responded.
Naruto looked up, surprised. "You did that? You're trying to help?"
"I'm not sure how much help it will be," Sai said, brushing it off.
"Regardless of how much help it is, it will be a point of interest for you," Shikamaru said. "I'm not sure we should be telling you this. In fact, if Tsunade found out we know, we could all face some troublesome punishment for it."
"Will it save Neji's life?" Naruto asked.
"No," Sai said plainly. "But it does provide a motive for some people in the Hyuuga clan to take his life."
"Tell me," Naruto said as they all sat down at his table.
Shikamaru looked to Sai, looking incredibly uneasy. "Ummm, Naruto… it's like this…."
"If Neji continues living," Sai broke in, "there will always be the chance that he can change the Hyuuga clan to his liking."
"We already know he's an influence," Naruto said.
"He's more than that," Sai explained. "You didn't realize it, Naruto, but while Neji was in the hospital, there were times when it was guarded by an extremely high number of ANBU members."
"ANBU?" Naruto said, his eys wide. "Why? Did Tsunade want to make sure the Hyuugas didn't harm him?"
"It was, and is, imperative that no one harm him," Sai said. "Furthermore, he was never declared missing after his recent disappearance."
"What!" Naruto yelled.
"That is because he isn't missing," Sai said. "Tsunade knows where he is. She just isn't acknowledging it. He was most likely sent somewhere to be cured."
"That's good news," Naruto said, exhaling.
"You'd think so, but there is more," Shikamaru said, leaning back in the chair.
"At first I only found it odd that so many people's lives were changed by events surrounding one person," Sai went on. "And in noticing this, I also came to realize that it wasn't just his friends who were so concerned. Recovering Neji has become a top priority of ANBU. Even higher than recovering Sasuke, locating Orochimaru, or discovering the plans of the Akatsuki."
Naruto almost fell out of his chair. He stared at Sai and Shikamaru. "Your information must be wrong, Sai. I know you mean well, but--"
"Someone got hold of information about Neji that was so important and potentially dangerous to them that they thought it necessary to kill him."
"There is nothing about Neji that would give anyone reason to kill him!" Naruto said firmly.
"When I tell you what it is, Naruto," Sai said seriously, "even you might consider it."
Naruto fell silent for a while. "What the hell did you hear!"
"First things first," Shikamaru said. "The Hyuuga family tree in our records has been changed. There is evidence that Neji is not Hyuuga Hizashi's son. Meaning that he is not Hinata's cousin, and not close to the head family in relation whatsoever. This puts him even lower on the chain in the Hyuuga clan, and the elitists in the clan see it as one more reason to hate him, and one more reason why he should have no influence over his clan."
"Who are his parents?" Naruto asked. "What does this have to do with saving him?"
"The details of his parents are unclear at the moment," Shikamaru said. "The point is that many people in the clan already fear and hate him for being the most powerful person in the clan while he is still a lowly branch member from some unknown family."
"I still don't see this as any reason to kill him," Naruto said, looking annoyed.
"This just fuels motive," Shikamaru said. "If he were a head family member, the information Sai found wouldn't be a problem."
"You were right, Naruto," Sai said. "Neji most likely didn't try to kill himself. It's my belief now that somehow, someone made an attempt on his life and tried to make it look like suicide. When it didn't work, they tried to tarnish his reputation, making him seem unfit to carry out his duties as a ninja. But no matter what, the main objective is to get him out of the way for good."
"Enough already!" Naruto yelled, standing up. "What did you find out!"
Shikamaru suddenly looked nervous. "Okay, Naruto, this is troublesome, but you can't tell anyone, alright?"
"I swear if you two don't tell me what it is right now…."
Sai sat there and watched as Shikamaru stood and put a hand on Naruto's shoulder. He gently told him what Sai had said. The information about Neji that made him so important and dangerous. Slowly, Naruto's agitation melted away and grew into a look of pain, confusion, and sadness. He slowly sat down, his body tense.
"So that's it…" he said softly.
And he was too ashamed to say that Sai was right. For a split second, he had thought of killing Neji himself.
---To Be Continued---