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. Under interrogation and torture, without the use of jitsus will Neji and Shikamaru be able to rely on each other for survival?

A big THANK YOU goes to my beta for this chapter (underline)kurokumo who is my LJ buddy and writer of many great Shika fics o/ GO READ HER STUFF!

Special thanks to Faraway4today for helping me with the story and getting into the 'mode' of Shika and Neji'scharacters. I send you lots of strawberry marshmellows of happiness!

Ch. 8: The Fight Home part II

No words were exchanged during the hours that passed after the fight with Kubashi. The two companions traveled in guarded silence, both alert for any hint of pursuit. It was sometime during midday when they first heard the sounds of rushing waters. They followed the source, and eventually reached a steep cliff bordering a river. A good fifteen meters below, the river churned violently with white water rapids.

"Let's rest here for a while." Shikamaru suggested. "From here we have a wide view of the forest below."

Neji gladly slumped against a fallen tree with a heavy sigh. Shikamaru noticed the discomfort the Hyuuga expressed. "You wait here, I'll go forage for something." He volunteered. Neji nodded his thanks in reply, then turned to redress his wounds with the remaining bandages.

Unable to find anything in the immediate vicinity, the young ANBU ventured further out in search of edible food. Once he was certain that he was far enough from Neji's prying eyes, Shikamaru allowed his impassive mask to fall. He was physically exhausted, even more so mentally. A dull headache was not helping him, as well as the persistent fear that dwelled behind it. Nausea crept upon Shikamaru suddenly. He gripped the bark of a nearby tree then retched out the stream water he had drank earlier.

Shikamaru breathed deeply to regain his composure. I can't believe I'm being affected like this... I must be sick with something. He rubbed his temples in an effort to will his headache away. I should make myself some bark tea that might settle my stomach... but I have nothing to boil the water in. Damn. The young Nara sighed and resumed his search of edible roots and tubers, which he eventually found with the use of his kunai, as well as few mushrooms.

The food that he did find was barely edible; even the roots were littered with patches of rot. Shikamaru gathered his meager findings and made his way back to the clearing. There, he found Neji dozing against the fallen tree. He's never complained once. The Nara thought with admiration. I'm not sure I could have lasted traveling with those wounds as long as he did.

"Find anything?" Neji inquired without opening his eyes.

Shikamaru shrugged to hide his surprise at Neji's wakefulness, then gestured to the fruits of his labors. "Just some roots and fungus."

With a small grunt, Neji sat up to inspect Shikamaru's findings.

The Nara's eyes softened with concern. "You shouldn't move around; those wounds can reopen again at any sudden movement."

Neji quirked an eyebrow at the young Nara, then moved to sit across from him. "I'm aware of my own body's limitations." He selected a mushroom and bit into it. "I've suffered worse."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. The Hyuuga was being troublesome again. "Either way," the Nara tried to reason. "Try not to push yourself too much. If anything, there should be a safe house somewhere you can rest up."

"Nara." Neji interrupted, fixing Shikamaru with a stare. "It goes without saying that I have far more field experience then you have." His tone was not insulting, but stating fact. "My wounds are neither life threatening nor inhibiting my ability to travel. We cannot afford the luxury of waiting for me to recover. If I can walk I walk. If I can fight I fight. There is no other option for me."

The ANBU fixed Neji with a scowl. "Then what condition are you in?"

Neji wrinkled his nose at the slimy mushroom he was eating. "Many of my wounds are starting to burn with infection. It's to be expected after all the trauma my body's been through."

Shikamaru nodded. "Then we should locate a base for you to recover some strength."

Neji spat out a black mushroom piece, and fixed his companion with a look. "Precious time might be wasted on a base that might never be found. I can still fight even without full rest."

Shikamaru scratched this head and gave the Hyuuga a half smile. "I guess our strategies are different; I'm concerned with defense while you're dead set on creating an offense," the young Nara chuckled.

"So it would seem." Neji returned the smile.

"Still..." Shikamaru picked up a half-rotted roof and absentmindedly pinched off the soggy bits before biting into it with distaste. "By the location and the course this river is flowing, I'm positive that this is the Kohaku river, which leads into the heart of the Fire country. Along it are several hidden bases. We should concentrate on locating one for supplies and a way to contact Konoha."

"Agreed. We should be able to find flares or some other resources."

"Hn." Shikamaru replied.

Silence fell between them as they concentrated on consuming their mediocre rations. For several long minutes, the two young shinobi were left to their own thoughts. Shikamaru mused on all the cloud watching he would need to catch up on, then winced when he realized that after returning home his apartment telephone would be ringing off the hook with his mother yelling at him to be more careful on missions.

Neji contemplated his empty room located in the corner of the Hyuuga estate; then with slight bitterness, wondered if the Main house had noticed his disappearance at all. He watched Shikamaru to distract himself from thinking of home, then the Hyuuga was bothered by another thought.

Neji shifted his feet in discomfort, for several long moments he struggled on voicing a question that troubled him ever since he first noticed Shikamaru picking at his food with apparent little appetite. "I-um, need to know... Shikamaru, how have you been faring?"

Interrupted from his thoughts of his nagging mother, Shikamaru shrugged matter-of-factly. "I'm alright. I get woozy now and then."

Neji sighed. It did not escape him that his partner had paled a bit from the question. "You're a horrible liar Nara."

Shikamaru stared at the food, his appetite gone as well as any attempt at pretense. "It comes and goes. I still see things, flashes of images mostly... they're getting steadily worse."

Neji placed down his half eaten mushroom, his voice quiet. "What sort of feelings do you get from these 'flashes'?"

Shikamaru looked down at his hands, too embarrassed to meet Neji's pale eyes. "I feel... terrified. And guilty." He clenched his hands into fists, his voice leaking frustration. "I-I can't help it, my body freezes up and I can't do anything about it!" The young Nara buried his face into his hands then released a shuddering breath, his soft voice betraying all evidence of being completely drained. "It goes against all logic. What's wrong with me?"

I didn't realize that he was this bad. With a small grunt, the Hyuuga stood up to kneel down beside Shikamaru, who refused to make eye contact. "Listen," the Hyuuga placed a reassuring hand on his companion's shoulder. "We're so close to home, if we can build a raft of some sort we can reach Konoha in less in a day. Until then, we need to hold out."

Shikamaru bowed his head and sighed. "I'm not sure." He looked up to meet Neji's pale eyes. "If anything were to happen to- GASP!" Shikamaru's eyes widened with horror, Neji stared back at him with hollow eye sockets, blood pouring from the edges.

"What's wrong?" Neji asked, his brow furrowing in puzzlement.

Shikamaru scrambled backwards from Neji, terror plastered on his white face. Neji hesitated to approach his comrade, completely unnerved by the sudden change in Shikamaru. The young Nara placed his hands over his head, his body hunched over as he rocked back and forth while muttering to himself. "It's not real, it's not real, it's all in your head, all in your head!"

Seeing the young Nara in such torment felt like a blow to Neji's heart. Shinobi or not, who can do this to someone? He thought angrily. Then, without any further hesitation Neji knelt down to wrap his arms around the trembling young man in an attempt to soothe him. "Calm down Shika, its all right, shhh..."

Shikamaru's body went entirely limp against Neji, his dark eyes stared into the nothingness beyond Neji's face. "Am I... going mad?" he asked in a small voice.

Something's very very wrong if he's hallucinating this bad. Neji brushed loose strands of dark hair from his companion's face. "Shika, tell me exactly what happened when they took you away."

A long pause, then Shikamaru continued in a flat voice. "I looked into Gizan's eye, through it I saw the beginning of this madness."

Sounds like some sort of Sharigan. Neji's mouth pulled into a grim line. If that were so, why does he continue to hallucinate? It doesn't make sense... he broke out of the spell, he should be recovering by now. The Hyuuga hissed in pain when Shikamaru's head shifted onto a particularly sore gash on his arm. He cursed silently. It seems that every cut in my body is becoming infected, as if my body's immune system is down... Neji became ridged with sudden realization. Thats it.

Carefully, Neji gathered Shikamaru into his arms and stood up to find a suitable place to rest. The Hyuuga found a dry patch of earth under one of the many ancient trees surrounding the clearing. There, he laid Shikamaru to rest with layers of the thick dry moss blanketing his body to keep him warm. Our bodies are stunted from proper chakra flow, he thought. So naturally our immune systems are down... both physically and mentally. Satisfied that Shikamaru was both sound asleep and properly hidden with insulating moss. Neji shifted his gaze towards the branches above before beginning his ascent up a tree. I doubt that the Rain had ever intended on crippling Shikamaru's mind to the extent he is now. The Hyuuga struggled up the moss covered branches for several minutes before reaching the top. Once his head popped through the dense pine needles, he was greeted with an awesome sight.

Beyond the short cliff, a valley laid below. The river leading to Konoha meandered off towards the southeast, its icy glacial waters adding a sharp tinge to the air. White mist shrouded the forest as far as his eyes could see, with the tops of dark pine trees fading in and out from view as the light rain rolled the clouds of mist around the valley.

The natural beauty of the forest was lost upon Neji, who surveyed the valley for any signs of a hidden base along the river bank. His attempts to spot it were in vain, for it was impossible to see through the misty forest grounds. We could raft down the river. Neji turned to read the river below, and found the results to be disheartening. There's no way we can build a raft that could withstand that current. And even if we could build one, it would take two people to man it. Neji sighed, suddenly feeling very hopeless for their situation. I can't even see Konoha from here, we must be a good two or three days away on foot. The young Hyuuga chewed on the bottom of his lip as he contemplated the next course of action. Suddenly, the hairs on the back of his neck raised as he felt hostile eyes upon him.

Neji whipped out a kunai, his pale eyes roamed the surrounding branches for any sign of the intruder. He could not spot the source of his uneasiness, but could feel the distinct presence of unfamiliar chakra heading towards his position.

Shika...I have to draw them away from him! Neji leaped down to the more stable branches below; then charged from branch to branch, weaving and ducking in an attempt to throw the intruder off. Instead, the pursuer held his position close behind his prey.

Realizing that he was at a disadvantage, Neji landed into a clearing bordering the brink of the cliff. Shit, I wasn't able to draw him far enough from Shikamaru. Neji swallowed hard and with kunai poised, waited for his pursuer to reveal himself.

"I must commend your skills of you Leaf shinobi." A tall figure emerged from the shadows of the forest. A goateed nin armed with a giant shurikan strapped to his back looked over Neji's battered form with some degree of contempt. "Tell me, where is your friend?"

"Dead." Neji replied, taking a defensive stance with his back towards the cliff's border. "He was injured during the last fight."

"Hm." Soruyo reached behind his back to pull out his giant shurikan. "I have a hard time believing that; for all I know he may be waiting to ambush me in the forest." Soruyo's hand hesitated from grasping his favorite weapon, then descended to reach into the folds of his vest. The goateed nin smirked as he drew forth a long needle. "I will not delay, I will finish this quickly."

Neji tightened his grip on the kunai. I can't risk getting scratched. I must get the needle out of his hand! Without any hesitation, Neji rushed Soruyo with his kunai raised to attack. Soruyo in turn took a step back to ready himself for defense, his needle at the ready.

With a snarl, Neji struck down to slice through Soruyo's hand, but his infected wounds made his strike sluggish. The Rain nin was able see through the attack and easily smacked the kunai from Neji's grip, which spun out over to the cliff edge into the river far below. Soruyo sneered, then thrust his needle at his opponent.

Neji was just barely able to deflect Soruyo's blow, out of sheer luck the Rain nin's numbed hand lost its grip on the slender needle, and it too spun into the open space beyond the cliff.

Soruyo cursed vehemently at the Hyuuga, then dealt Neji a hefty kick in the gut. Neji allowed the momentum of the blow to throw him to the ground; where he lashed out at the back of Soruyo's right knee.

The attack did little more than cause the Rain nin to falter his balance, which bought enough time for Neji to regain his feet and pull out another kunai. With as much strength as he could muster, he thrust the kunai towards Soruyo's middle.

He was far too slow. Soruyo merely stepped aside to avoid the attack. His target missed, Neji twisted around in an attempt to adjust his course, but stumbled from the force he had put behind his attack. Soruyo unhooked his giant shurikan and in a flash, hit Neji in the head with the flat side before the young Hyuuga had a chance to spin around.

Neji crumpled to the ground without a sound.

"Feh." Soruyo spat on Neji's still form. "Such a waste of effort." He bent over to inspect his spoils, and found the Hyuuga to be out cold. Soruyo snorted with disgust, then refastened the shurikan to his back. "Such a pathetic battle will give me no joy in killing him now," he muttered. The Rain nin hoisted his prisoner over his shoulder. The unconscious Hyuuga twitched and uttered a small groan.

"Hm, almost forgot..." Soruyo stuck his hand inside his vest to withdraw the one remaining poisoned needle. He held out Neji's arm to jab the paralyzing needle in, a presence behind him drew his attention away.

"What the--!" Soruyo turned around in time for a tree branch to collide into his face. The Rain nin reeled back from the blow, stepping dangerously close to the brink of the cliff. Once he regained his momentum, Soruyo spotted the source of the attack.

Armed with only a broken tree branch, Shikamaru stood his ground. His eyes held the light of a wild beast, half crazed with desperation and rage. "Let him go!" he growled.

"Che, I was wondering where you were!" Soruyo released his grip on the unconscious Hyuuga to feel his bruised jaw, the other hand still retained its grip on the long needle. Neji's prone body remained limply draped over his captor's shoulder.

"I'm warning you " Shikamaru took a step towards Soruyo, "put him down!"

And I'm warning you little leaf," Soruyo allowed Neji to slip off his shoulder a bit towards the empty space beyond the cliff; aimed to fall down to the frothing rapids below, "I will let him drop if you get any closer."

Shikamaru froze. His eyes darted frantically from Neji to the needle in Soruyo's hand. It was no idle threat.

Noting his opponent's agitation, Soruyo decided to use it to his advantage. "Then again, now that I have found you, I don't need this Hyuuga anymore." Soruyo allowed Neji to slip a little more, and smirked when Shikamaru's eyes widened with fear. "Would you weep if I let him drop?"

Shikamaru had enough. With an enraged battle cry he threw his kunai at Soruyo, who ducked from the missile's path and knocked it down with the back of his free hand. With the added weight of his prisoner on his shoulder, Soruyo had to adjust his center of gravity as Shikamaru's blurred hands aimed to throw another kunai.

It was a feint. Shikamaru had already thrown his last kunai at Soruyo; he had counted on Soruyo to underestimate his mental stability and it had worked to his advantage. As planned, Soruyo instinctively ducked to avoid the nonexistent weapon, his one free hand splayed out to catch the invisible kunai. As soon as Shikamaru had committed the folly, he rushed towards Soruyo with his branch ready. The Rain nin noticed the trap a moment too late, and pulled his other hand over his face to protect himself from the oncoming blow. It was the hand that held the poisoned needle, a weapon he was not used to holding properly.

Shikamaru aimed to hit the defending hand and, like a hammer to nail, the needle tip sunk sidelong into the Rain nin's cheek. Soruyo arched his head back to screech in pain, dropping an unconscious Neji close to the edge of the cliff in the process. Above him, his former captor clawed desperately at the needle as the concentrated paralyzing poison reached his brain. During his distraction, Soruyo tripped over Neji's body and, weighted by his own shurikan lost his balance and fell backwards to disappear forever over the edge.

Neji's prone form had been pushed farther towards the edge when Soruyo tripped over him. Shikamaru had been completely focused on his enemy's descent that he did not realize until too late that Neji was slipping over the cliff.

"Neji!" Shikamaru lunged down to catch a hold of the Hyuuga, but was unable to get a firm grip. The Nara could only gape as Neji slipped out of his fingers to fall down to the river. "NO!" Shikamaru reached out further in a futile attempt to catch Neji's arm which resulted in him losing his balance.

Before he could fully register what happened, Shikamaru felt himself fall over the edge. Panic overtook him as he groped thin air while he too plunged down headfirst to the frothing river. Shikamaru closed his eyes and waited for the icy impact of the water below.

Sorry 'bout the cutoff mah peeps! I needed a breather before I go into the next chapter, which stems from a real near-drowning experience when I was 13 on the Deshutes River in Oregon. It will be veryintense writing for me!

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