Shadowed Path

I own Yumi and a cat that will enter later. That's it.

This isn't a Hinata-centric story, but she plays a large part in the first half so it may seem that way. This is focused on Sakura and the ruse she's been playing for half her life or more.

I am a little cranky. This chapter therefore may seem somewhat irritable, along with the characters in it.

Neji slipped into the kitchen like an icy breeze. As he entered, Hinata stiffened a little and started poking her fingers together, unable to look directly at him. He gave her a contemptuous glance and then ignored her.

There was someone else in the room—a pink-haired girl he vaguely remembered. It had been a long mission; his memory took almost a second to match the hair and dress with a name. Haruno. Always chasing that bastard Uchiha—no, that stopped a few years ago when he went on that stupid quest to kill his brother. Which they had to drag his sorry butt home from. He snorted softly in disgust.

Through the years, his relationship with Uchiha Sasuke had not warmed, and if they hadn't tried to kill each other yet, well, it would have been hard for Sasuke to make jounin with the entire Hyuuga clan after his blood, and was equally difficult for Neji to pass with half the girls in Konoha—several of which were talented jounin by now—hating him. So they left each other alone. Mostly.

But as he stopped near her shoulder, she didn't even glance up. She was eating her sandwich like a deadened robot, eyes glazed and body slumped. I don't think the silly girl even knows I'm right here. Stupid cherry blossom should go play with dolls; she'll never be anything if she can't even notice someone right next to her.

He shook his head, disgusted but unsurprised. She had been a weak genin and barely made chuunin; he knew there was no way she would ever become a jounin. He glanced over at Hinata, who was watching him with a half-frightened, half-hopeful/welcoming expression.

"Neji-nii-san," she stammered. "H-how was your mission?"

He debated walking out, then settled for a curt shrug. He went to the fridge and looked around. After a few seconds he found some leftover soup, which turned out to be Yumi's special potato stew. He took the tin foil off and stuck it in the microwave.

Hinata looked like she was going to say something, but then closed her mouth. Neji scowled inwardly. His cousin angered him simply by living. The most prominent thorn in his side was that she was the weakest and still he had to serve her, but that wasn't the whole of it. She exuded frailty and seemed on the verge of breaking, as though if he yelled too loudly she might shatter into a thousand pieces and fall around him. An interesting thought, but he would never be able to try it. Which angered him more.

The microwave beeped. He took out the soup and didn't bother with a spoon; Yumi wasn;t there to yell at him and it was more interesting to just drink it anyway.

Sakura had finished eating and her head drooped nearly to the table. She looked like she was in a coma. She had no color except for her hair, which didn't even shine like it used to.

"Sakura-chan," said Hinata softly. "Sakura-chan! Wake up," she urged, pushing her friend's shoulder slightly.

At the touch, Sakura's head snapped up. For an instant there was panic in her eyes, panic and a helpless, caged-animal rage. But then she glanced around once and went back into her half-aware coma, emotion gone from her eyes. Hinata hadn't even noticed, but Neji raised an eyebrow slightly.

What was that for? He watched her as Hinata helped her up, then decided he didn't care and went back to his soup.

Hinata followed Sakura out. "Sakura-chan!" Sakura was unaware. Hinata sighed; she really didn't want to…but it seemed the only way to help her friend.

Crack.

Sakura didn't make a sound; a red handprint showed on her cheek. Hinata yelled "Hey!"

Sakura seemed to jerk awake. "Oh—oh no was I drifting off? Sorry Hinata-chan—ow…" she suddenly rubbed her face, giving her a reproachful look.

"Sorry Sakura-chan." Hinata mumbled. She took Sakura's arm at the door, holding her back. "Sakura-chan I don't think you should go home tonight," she said in a rush.

Sakura blinked. "What?"

"Stay here. You're tired. We can have a sleepover; maybe Ino and TenTen would like to come too."

"Oh Hinata-chan, I'm fine. Really. It's okay, I don't live far away. I'll make it. And I'll go right to bed okay? I promise." Sakura smiled tiredly.

Hinata sighed. She couldn't help it; she wasn't able to stand up to Sakura even though it went against her common sense, intuition, training, and any other thought in her head that Sakura should go home. She was obviously not up to it. "Okay…at least let me go with you."

"No, Hinata-chan. Stay here. Neji-san just got home, you two should talk."

She must be really tired, decided Hinata, if she thinks we're going to talk.

Before she could think of another argument, Sakura slipped out of her weak grip walked out. Her gait was tired and dragging, but at least her head was up now.

Hinata went back inside, but she couldn't stop thinking about her friend. She sat restlessly at the table with Neji, trying to find a comfortable position on the hard chair. Finally Neji got fed up with her squirming and snapped "Just go after her, then!"

Hinata sighed loudly. "I can't. I have to stay here tonight. Hanabi is sick and Yumi needs help." She was quiet and then burst out—well, burst out by her standards since it was still rather quiet— "I wish she'd just stay here!"

Neji shuddered. I hope not. That's exactly what I want, a girly little wannabe ninja living in the same house as me. Well, another one anyway. No thanks.

"Neji-nii-san," said Hinata after a moment. He didn't look up. "Please go after Sakura and make sure she's okay."

Now he looked up, but it was to glare at her. "I'm eating."

The sensible remark seemed to annoy Hinata—something he never thought possible. "I said move it!" she snapped. She grabbed his soup bowl. "I'll warm it up for you when you get back."

He thought about protesting—he had some dignity, after all—but felt his forehead twinge, and he was too surprised by her anger to really say anything. Dammit. Rudely, he shoved away from the table and stalked out.

Once outside, he glared at the ground. Muttering, he decided to just use his Byakugan (sp?) and find her.

"Byakugan."

He looked around again. How odd…he couldn't see any chakra that belonged to Haruno. He frowned. This is impossible. Her footprints go this way and there's no way she ran...I should be able to see her—where is she?

He followed her trail with growing irritation. His annoyance only increased when a big fat raindrop hit him right in the eye just as he looked up. He clenched his teeth and continued, knowing that the rain would increase soon and make tracking Haruno even more of a royal pain. Damn her. Why can't she just realize when she's useless and go home before becoming a burden? Stupid girl.

He tracked her all the way out of Konoha, across one of the many bridges to a forest that no one entered anymore. It wasn't on any maps; no one really wanted to be reminded it was there anymore. The Forest of Shadows wasn't precisely haunted, but it was creepy enough in there that it was generally avoided. The trees were tall and old, giving off an ancient aura that might have been awe-inspiring or serene in any other wood. But here it seemed almost ominous, warning. A dark foreboding song was almost heard like a far-off music that was sensed with the mind but no clearer than white noise, making those near it edgy and uncomfortable. At least half of them were aged and twisted, like tortured souls reaching for the sky in a futile effort to straighten. Some were straight and proud with high branches spread wide, but even those seemed only to be trying to ward off visitors by looming high above one's head.

Neji would never have admitted it to anyone else in his life, but a shiver ran down his spine at the edge. It was an almost palpable energy given off by the trees and the deep shadows between them, raising subconscious alarms in the back of his mind, stirring an old wary instinct that he couldn't identify but couldn't ignore either. Cliché as it was, the Forest of Shadows was creepy.

He stood for about half a minute there, thinking. But the rain decided him; it was falling harder now and the clouds were getting a dangerous green-purple underneath. Whatever she did, she can either handle herself—he smirked; that wasn't too likely—or she can just take whatever comes her way. Stupid little girls are not my responsibility.

Neji refused to even think he might be afraid of the forest. Without a backward glance, he turned away and ran all the way back through Konoha to the Hyuuga household, not even breathing hard when he got there, soaking wet from the growing thunderstorm.

Hinata was waiting, warmed soup in her hands. "Did you find her?" she asked anxiously.

Neji shook his head and took the soup.

"I thought you was some great shinobi," scolded Yumi, popping up and scaring the crap out of him. "Why can't you track one little girl?"

"Lost her trail," he muttered, angry at himself for jumping, at Yumi for making him jump, at Hinata for sending him out after Haruno, at Haruno for being a flake, and at Yumi for existing at all and not only refusing to be daunted by him in any way, but actually intimidating him nine times out of ten that he saw her. Plus he was dripping and getting cold, which didn't make things any better. All in all, he was not a happy boy.

Hinata sighed. "Yumi-san, I'm going to go see to Hanabi…she seemed to be getting better."

"With luck thatbrat will stay sick for a month," muttered Yumi under her breath, but no one heard her.

Outside, lightning flashed in an awesome jagged tear in the sky and thunder drowned out anything else Yumi said. The power flickered, then went out.

Once again, I really meant to tell you Sakura's secret in this chapter! –smacks self- Next chapter I promise! It will be entirely on Sakura's secret!

Oh yeah. I realize that authors who reply to reviewers on the bottom of each chapter are annoying to many readers. I'm sorry, but these people took the time to review, I should take the time to answer their questions. Plus it's really amazing when you realize someone's reading. Even if it's a flame -

So skip to the bottom now 'cause I'm repling, k?

Hao'sAnjul-san:
Thanks I enjoyed writing it! (The chapter too.) That was a fast review! How did you do that?

nonengel-san:
If it makes you uncomfortable I can stop using it...Yumi is supoosed to be scary, and someone will try to cross her eventually. I assure you they regret it. I modeled her off a very formidable person I know...
Thank you! It will get better, thanks for saying so.

joann-san:
OK! Here ya go hope you liked it!

Sasuke Is Mine-san:
Damn. I had hoped to get through this without getting flamed.
I realize that Sasuke is OOC. It adds to the humor. And I warned Sasuke fans at the beginning of the chapter.
In the future, CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is greatly appreciated. "Your story sucks" is not particularly helpful should I wish to improve it.

mad-killer-bunnies-alert-san:
I love your screen name; it rivals Rachel-chan's for originality. Thank you very much! I'm glad you laughed. Especially since this didn't start out as humor; I was going to make it drama/romance.

animEyivvErz-san:
I try not to let people down. Any suggestions or ideas would be great.

Phoe-chan-san:
Well, this is my first time writing humor. My stories are normally very dark, angsty, or sort of bitter. "Illusion" actually wasn't supposed to be funny at all, it was going to be drama. But someone read and told me it was funny. -shrugs- So, it says humor. Thanks for reviewing, though.

understar-san:
Thank you! I'm glad you think it's good, since without your help I wouldn't have known how to post it. Is there an online something or other where I can read the manga?

xx-Tsumi-Chan-xx-san:
Congrats on being free, I share your joy -grumbles: finally...- And even if it was a dare, I like the chicken idea. I'll use it later if I get writer's block. Maybe if...-goes off mumbling ideas-

atrdies-san:
Thanks. -bows- I will continue with it! I do not drop things...unless they're made of glass. Then it seems I can't hold onto them at all. -U

aNiMeaNgEl-san:
Thank you! Here's your update I hope you're still reading.

If anyone is worried, there will be more humor later. I hope. There will be at least one incredibly funny chapter, if for no other reason than to make up for all the more serious ones heading your way.

OK That's all for now! I am leaving for about two weeks now. I will get to a computer if I can, but don't get your hopes up. Sorry, hope y'all are are patient...

-Kage and her cat.