It took me a while but I finally had an idea as to what I wanted to do with this story. Thanks for the reviews once again. Glad people are reading this.

Neji's POV

Darkness. That's all I saw when I opened my eyes. I didn't know where I was. I didn't remember blacking out or anything. Then only thing that ran through my mind was that scene I was forced to watch. I let my eyes rest for a moment and I was soon able to tell I was in a cell. I was laying down on my back on this grimy floor, facing up towards the ceiling. I would have stayed that way if there wasn't a glimmer of hope that my partner was nearby. I was concerned about his condition. It was my fault that it happened, pretty much.

In the cell next to my own, I saw a body on the floor much like my own. He looked to be just sitting up. I moved over to the bars that separated us and whispered, "Shikamaru? Is that you? Are you alright?"

There was a groan and then he saw Shikamaru look back at him. It definitely looked like Shikamaru but something was amiss.

"I'm fine. Just sore…really sore." He grumbled, leaning back against the wall.

"What about you?"

I had let my eyes wander across his body, checking for any additional injuries. Needless to say, his question scared me a bit. Shikamaru wasn't much for small talking…or talking at all really. Too lazy to use his breath was always my guess.

"Fine. I wasn't the one receiving the torture." I added, again looking up over.

"They're coming back. I'm sure they will torture you next to get what they want."

I didn't respond. He knew that. He may not know when but he knew they would come back with a different method.

"Neji, I don't want you to get hurt. You don't have to go through the same treatment as me."

My eyes darted to Shikamaru. What was going on? Shikamaru's voice sounded like he was pleading with him. Like he was concerned…like he…cared?

"Please. Tell me where you hid that stupid orb. We can bargain with them and get out of here."

My eyes narrowed. Shikamaru had to be delusional if he thought that they would just let us go after they got what they wanted. They would surely kill us both.

"Are you insane? They can't be reasoned with. Once they get what they wanted, we are through."

I was a little upset that he would ever suggest that. I couldn't believe that Shikamaru was stooping to just reasoning with the enemy when that would surely not work.

Shikamaru's POV

Does he not see it? What's wrong with him?

I sat in the interrogation room, still tied to the chair with tape now over my mouth. I watched silently, looking at Neji in the floor. The illusion was flawless, I will admit that but I was more than sure Neji would catch on that I wasn't the one he was talking to. That was not him.

I desperately tried to make noise to get Neji's attention. I tried wiggling my chair and hitting my foot against the wood but nothing got him. He was too far gone. This would be a great opportunity for us. If we could get free, It would be a two against one. The chances still weren't great but we could possibly get the jump on Keiji and get away.

I silently looked at Neji, hoping maybe he would notice me and just snap out of it. He just hoped Neji wouldn't tell.

Neji's POV

"You're right. I don't know where my head is. We can't reason with them."

Even with that answer, I was still skeptical. He was avoiding eye contact with me…in fact, he hadn't looked over here since we started talking. What was his problem?

"What did you do with it, though?"

I raised an eyebrow. I was sure Shikamaru saw where I went with the orb.

"What? After you gave it to me?"

"Yeah."

"Wrong. You didn't give it to me."

Shikamaru looked trapped for a moment before his shook his head.

"Yeah. You're right. I don't know what's gotten into me."

"I don't either…cause you did give it to me."

Shikamaru froze, a frown on his face. He knew Neji had caught him. That's when Shikamaru turned to look at him. Those eyes. The lifeless black eyes. That couldn't be Shikamaru.

"I must be confused. That's all. They gave me something after you blacked out. My thoughts have been chaotic ever since."

I started to look around the room and I felt someone. When I looked ahead, I felt eyes on me. No one was there but I felt it. That feeling…those eyes…they directed me to something. A tear in the illusion. I could see a small bit of the interrogation room.

I stood up on shaky legs, pacing the cell a bit. I knew this was fake but I had to play along for a bit.

"I'm sure. I didn't know what happened after I blacked out. I don't even remember how I blacked out." I confessed trying to by myself more time and lure 'Shikamaru' into a false sense of security. I need to feel out just how much chakra I had.

"I think you were injected with something as well. I just wasn't in much of a position to see." 'Shikamaru responded, turning his head away.

That was the opportunity I was looking for. I started to run towards him, silently. "Dispel."

The illusion disintegrated and I aimed several well-placed hits to several of Keiji's chakra holes.

Keiji hadn't had much time to react so he jumped up and was assaulted by my blows.

Keiji reeled and I took that opportunity to release Shikamaru. He stood up shakily and gave me a quick lazy smirk.

"I guess you know me better than I thought. Very clever."

That comment stole my attention more than it should have. It seemed more flattering coming from Shikamaru. It almost made me want to blush but now was not the time.

We immediately descended on Keiji, trying to land a few more blows on him before he regained his composure. Keiji definitely wasn't as powerful without all of his chakra. His fighting ability was sub-par. We were able to not only incapacitate him but also got him into Shikamaru's chair, where we tied him up. It would by us some time.

Shikamaru looked at me and started forming seals. He transformed into a Keiji look-a-like and grabbed me roughly. "Let's go."

Shikamaru's POV

I was surprised. He was able to trick the enemy, and get the jump on him. Maybe Neji wasn't just a fighter as he had thought. Regardless, we needed to get out of there as quickly as possible. The orb was hidden well and if they got back to the village, they could inform the Jounins were it was for them to handle it. I transformed into a Keiji clone and led Neji down the halls, glaring at any ninjas that looked at him while verbally assaulting Neji. We were almost home free when someone said the prisoners were escaping.

"Shit."

We both muttered that as he broke into a run, heading down the halls. We didn't have time to hunt the exit down. It was just luck at this point. Either we would find it or we wouldn't.

We ran and ran, turning down hallways only to find more halls to run. It was like this was a maze.

"You are surrounded. Give up."

Shit. He was right. They were surrounded. It was obvious that the ninja had an excellent grasp on how their base worked.

We had to fight. They wouldn't kill us. That was our only advantage. They had to hold back we didn't.

I slipped my hand into Neji's. I was about to say something but I was shocked. His hands were pretty soft. I know it's sad that my mind wandered only just a simple amount of contact but it was shocking. I shook my less than appropriate thoughts and leaned back, "We have to hold out and fight. They won't kill us for obvious reasons."

"Agreed."

That's it for that chapter. I already have an idea about what will happen next. As soon as I have another day off and such, I'll go ahead and write the next action-packed chapter. Hope you enjoyed it. I'd love to hear from you guys via reviews but just people reading it is good enough for me. Until next chapter.