Summery: Five years since the attack on Konoha, two geniuses who don't see eye to eye are captured by the Rain during a routine surveillance mission. Without the use of jitsus will Neji and Shikamaru be able to rely on each other for survival?

To find the link to the Rain Nin Character Art: Check out my profile page. Their costumes are a bit to elaborate for me to literate without being confusing (smiles in embaressment).

This Naruto fic isin its pure unbeta'ed form. Special thanks to Faraway4today for helping me with the story and getting into the 'mode' of Shika and Neji's characters. I send you lots of strawberry marshmallows of happiness!

I hold no claim to the Naruto fandom! This Naruto fic isin its pure unbeta'ed form. Special thanks to Faraway4today for helping me with the story and getting into the 'mode' of Shika and Neji's characters. I send you lots of strawberry marshmallows of happiness!

Ch. 2 The Captives

Shikamaru awoke to the worst headache of his life.

The events leading up to his capture came back in a flash. He tried to move and found that his body was sore all over, and bright light penetrated through his closed eyelids to contribute to his already aching head. Shikamaru lifted a hand to his face to shield his eyes. He groaned when his fingers touched tender flesh on his forehead, where a bruise felt to be forming. To add to his list of discomforts, he was cold.

Slowly, the young Anbu opened his eyes then quickly shut them again, wincing as his headache worsened. From what he could tell, he was in a closed room filled with unnatural white light. With eyes still shut, Shikamaru cautiously felt along his body for any damage. He noticed two things: One, he was aching in his chakra force centres, and two, he was not wearing his own clothes.

Cracking an eye open, Shikamaru saw through blurred vision that he was dressed in a plain white shirt and matching loose fitting shorts that were cropped above the knees. Hospital clothes? No wonder he was cold.

Now used to the light, Shikamaru fully opened both eyes and sat up to get his bearings. The first thing he noticed was that he was not alone in the small room. To his left lay an unconscious body similarly dressed as himself.

"Neji!" As fast as his sore body would allow, Shikamaru crawled to the prone figure and gently shook him awake. After a few attempts, the young Hyuuga groaned and covered his sensitive eyes against the light.

"What happened?"

"We've been captured." Shikamaru helped him sit up. "You hurt?"

Neji paused and with eyes tightly shut, felt the six chakra centres up his body. "Yeah, it seems that my centres have been damaged. I cannot muster any chakra."

The young Anbu listed off the six centres starting from his abdomen, noting that a small bruise was forming on those specific areas. "The Root, Navel, Heart, Throat, Brow and Crown. They have all been blocked."

Neji opened his pale eyes and tried to summon the Byakugan, then hissed in pain. "It feels like needles turning inside my body! Only a medical shinobi could block all the centres without fatally wounding us. Why bother keeping us alive?"

"Interrogation." Shikamaru leaned against the wall with arms folded. "That's the only plausible reason that they would let us live."

Neji blinked, remembering the conversation with the Rain shinobi moments before they were captured. "Ah yes, 'Tsunade's Legacy.' They seem to think that it is some sort of weapon against a head family. I've never heard of such a thing."

"Don't count on it." Shikamaru snorted. "I never did either. It seems that the Fifth's reputation as a brilliant medical shinobi precedes her into rumors. How irritating for us."

The young Hyuuga brushed loose strands of long hair from his face. His fingers ghosted over his naked brow where the bird cage seal was now visible. "I wonder what they intend to do with two Leaf nin? Only one of us is needed for interrogating."

"The Rain might be desperate for information." Shikamaru yanked on his hair tie to readjust his mussed ponytail. "The problem is, we don't know anything about this 'legacy.'"

Neji's mouth pulled into a grim line as he looked at the young Nara. "And when they realize that..."

The sentence was left unfinished. It was a well known fact among shinobi that once prisoners have outlived their usefulness, they are permanently silenced to prevent vital information leakage. Since both Shikamaru and Neji were currently trapped in a hidden Rain base, there was little doubt that they will eventually be disposed.

It was something that needed not to be voiced.

The room that served as the two Leaf shinobi's cell was roughly the size of Shikamaru's small studio apartment. The walls possessed no windows, and were painted a sterile white color. The room was unfurnished; the only beds provided were the smooth wooden floors that offered little traction for bare feet. The only object in the room was a bowl of water, which they drank once it was confirmed that the contents were not drugged. They found no sound recording devices or cameras; the only electrical devices were the florescent lights above their heads, which were built directly into the walls to discourage any attempts of tampering. The lights themselves were constructed to be conservative of power, which meant that the cell was located in a secured base that had some use of electricity. Only one firmly sealed door led the way inside or out of the prison.

Both Shikamaru and Neji waited silently against the walls bordering that door. By doing so, they were hoping to surprise their captors and overtake them by sheer force. The only conclusions that they could reach for their captors to imprison them together was either confidence in their security or lack of prison space. They hoped that being imprisoned together would work to their advantage.

They only had to wait an hour before they heard the sound of faint footsteps approaching the entrance. Neji and Shikamaru looked at each other and nodded before the door clicked open.

It was the blue haired shinobi. Before he could step into the room, both Leaf nin struck at the man; Neji attacking his torso and Shikamaru striking the legs.

To their dismay, the Rain nin seemed to have anticipated their attacks, and leapt backwards to avoid their hits. His hand flashed, releasing two needles which hit above Neji's right knee and the other in Shikamaru's left shoulder.

"Tsk tsk, such rude behavior from our guests." The Rain shinobi clicked his tongue as he entered the room. "I was hoping that we could be more civilized in our introductions, but I guess not."

Shikamaru collapsed to the floor, clutching where the needle penetrated his shoulder. His breath caught in his throat, and his brow shone with sweat as he glared up at the blue haired shinobi. "Poison?"

"I am Medical Shinobi Hariyo of the Rain." He smiled sweetly at Shikamaru, his pleasant face masking the malice in his voice. "The poison is not lethal, but it stings a bit, no?"

Neji wasted no time for the poison to take effect up his leg. In a flash, he ducked below Hariyo's waist to strike his abdomen.

Neji's sharp eyes caught a blur of dark motion behind Hariyo before it intercepted him. He was knocked to the ground mere hairbreadths away from reaching his target, his body slammed painfully against a wall. Once the spinning world reeled to a halt, Neji's pale eyes met with round yellow eyes glaring down at him belonging to a stooped shinobi with a nose resembling a hawk beak.

"Feh, two men. How boring Hariyo." The shinobi growled in a nasal voice at Shikamaru, who was still struggling with the poison. "I was looking forward to having some fun with them."

"Settle down Kubashi," A solemn faced Rain nin wearing a shaggy fur wrap entered the cell. He was much older and taller than Hariyo or Kubashi, and had a face covered in disfiguring scars. He glanced at Shikamaru on the floor. "I see that they gave you some trouble Hariyo." He rumbled. "Nothing that you can't handle." He then turned his attention to Neji, his gaze lingering as he seemed to take particular interest in the young Hyuuga. "You shouldn't be too disappointed Kubashi, this one has long hair like a woman's, and a face to match."

Neji felt cold fear grip him at what his captor was implying. His leg burned where the poison had infected, rendering it useless. At his current weakened state with neither the use of his leg or jitsu, the young Hyuuga was outnumbered and at a terrible disadvantage. He had no way to defend himself against three armed shinobi.

Kubashi blinked owl like eyes at Neji then scoffed. "I have no interest in men, I'm not like you or Gizan."

Hariyo smiled at his scarred companion, his eyes holding a strange glint. "I should let you know Kuma, that I need this one intact for now. He possesses the Hyuuga bloodline; It's the only reason why I did not kill him."

The fur wrapped shinobi Kuma snorted.

The Medical Rain shinobi sighed in exasperation. "Either way, I want you and Kubashi to report to Soruyo that the interrogations will be delayed for a few hours, since I seemed to have incapacitated our Anbu prisoner for the moment."

Kubashi chuckled as he left the room. "Ku ku ku. incapacitated eh? You are a sick man Hariyo. I hate to be your prisoner during interrogation."

"Aw, how rude Kubashi." Hariyo followed his companion out the door, and was followed by Kuma who turned to stare at Neji one last time before shutting the door.

The door clicked shut.

Once gone, Neji crawled towards Shikamaru, dragging his lame leg behind him in which the poison had now spread up to his thigh. Shikamaru laid curled up on the floor, his ribs rising and lowering in slow deliberate breaths. Neji's leg burned like fire down to the bone, he could only imagine what Shikamaru was going through with the poison so close to his vitals.

Gently, Neji turned Shikamaru over and saw that the young Anbu was shivering.

"Sh-shit!" Shikamaru's teeth chattered. "One minute I'm b-burning and now this! Its like the d-damn flu!"

"Its leaving your system." Neji looked down at his companion, and seeing no alternative, wrapped his arms around Shikamaru, using his own body heat to aid his companion.

"Th-Thanks Neji."

Hariyo did not return that day. Sometime during the night (or whatNeji assumed to be the night) the lights were shut off, leaving the two prisoners in total darkness. By that time, Shikamaru had fallen asleep in Neji's arms, his body still shivering every now and then from the last traces of poison.

Neji did not sleep; his mind raced with thoughts of escape. Even in his desperation, he logically knew that any attempts would be futile in their current state. Both he and Shikamaru were without either weapons or jitsus; all they possessed were their cunning and hand to hand combat skills.

The corner of Neji's mouth curled wryly at the irony of a thought: that he, the genius Hyuuga prodigy of the Byakugan Jitsu was now very similar to Rock Lee. His former teammate never was able to master any jitsus, and had to rely on his speed and hand to hand combat techniques. For years Neji had berated Lee on his incompetence; at the time he believed that a shinobi who cannot use jitsus is no shinobi at all. Only now can Neji fully appreciate Lee's abilities; which would now be most helpful in their current situation.

Neji stiffened in realization at his own thoughts. He glanced down in the darkness to where Shikamaru laid his head against the Hyuuga's warm chest. Tsunade's voice came to him: "It was not mere field experience which qualified Nara Shikamaru; His skills as a strategist are valuable in high priority missions."

"I see." Neji murmured. I have been relying on the Byakugan far to much. To be an Anbu is to be prepared for any situation, which I am not. Tsunade wanted me to realize this myself.

The young Hyuuga sighed, wondering if it would be that last lesson he would ever receive. Even if he had Rock Lee's exceptional martial arts skills, he doubted it would be enough to challenge the Rain Base's security. The Rain nin seemed to be well prepared for any attempts at escape.

Only three Rain shinobi had revealed themselves so far, with two other nin mentioned: a Soruyo and a Gizan. Of the three Rain nin, only two had displayed their abilities: Hariyo, the medical shinobi of poison and blocking chakra centres; and Kubashi who's speed might rival Lee's.

Neji thought back to Kubashi's earlier statement, "I'm not into men like you or Gizan." He remembered the hollow eyes of Kuma lingering over his body. Neji shuddered and unconsciously tightened his hold on Shikamaru. The young Anbu let out a small whimper of discomfort when his companion did not ease his hold. Neji complied and relaxed his arms enough for Shikamaru to move a little more freely, in which he nestled himself into the Hyuuga's arms.

And thus they waited for their captors to return the next day.

Notes: Chakra Centres are points on the body where chakra originates. There are six points starting from below the navel to top of the head: the Root, Navel, Heart, Throat, Brow and Crown chakras.

If you would like to see character art for the Rain nin, please see the link on my profile page.

Dun Dun DUN! Review please! They fuel my love of fanficing! I shall update soon...