The Path A Ninja Walks...

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Only The Moon Shall Know Our Secrets...

A/N: WARNING-The character known as Sage Amesawa uses a lot of profanity and colorful language as part of his "colorful" personality. Be prepared if you are sensitive to that. Please note it is not because I condone such manner of speech, and also the character does not mean to use it as a way to be harmful, it is just his personality.

"I think it's time for the changing of the guard..." said Sage as Hana made her return handing him some medicine as well while changing out the damp leaf they had been using across Saseme's forehead to help cool her.

"Her fever doesn't seem to be dropping too much..." Hana sighed, "Will you be okay?" she asked Sage, "I can see if I can find some more herbs..."

"You need to rest to." said Sage, "Atleast let me scout the area before you go off again..." he sighed, "Besides, I think we have plenty...so when I get back, we should try sleeping in shifts."

"Right..." Hana said softly, "Hurry back then."

"Got it."

The boy was off in a cloud of color and all that was left were the two girls.

She sighed. She felt pretty useless at this point...but it was all they could do for now...and she knew it.

"Nn...ngh!" Saseme began to whince.

Was it a night mare?

Pain?
"Saseme..!" Hana gasped as she noticed the Uchiha's girl's eyes finally flutter awake.

"You're okay...thank goodness." she said softly.

"...Hot..." the girl groaned.

"Okay...partly okay." Hana sighed as she peeled away the leaf again, "You're still running too high of a fever...you need to rest still...try to cool down..." she said as she stood, "There's a stream not too far from here, I'll fetch you some cool water and make you a medicine that should help reduce your temperature some..." she said while she helped the girl sit up a bit.

"Sage is scouting the area, he should be back soon...do you think you will be okay for a few minutes while I go gather the ingrediets and the water?"

"Ahh...yeah." Saseme sighed. She was sweltering...but she was conscious enough to be aware of her surroundings.

"All right then." said Hana, "I mean it...I'll be right back, so don't do anything stupid!"

"Fine." Saseme huffed.

Not that she could do much anyway. She was hot...and her head was killing her. The events of the day just kept playing in her mind which didn't really help anything. With a nod, Hana was gone, and the girl sat propped up against the tree. Her dark eyes glanced up to a starry sky, with a moon that shone through the trees.

She blinked as the moon beams calmed her...and she closed her eyes to a distant memory.

XXXXX

A restless sleep stirring the Uchiha girl awake didn't help her circumstances. She sighed.

Was it the night bringing back memories of the day she tries so desperately to forget? Or was it the stirring on the roof that kept her awake at night? Taking the window sne climbed above just to see what was causing the weight shifting motions above her bed...

It was Gaara.

"Gaa-chan? Can you not sleep either?"

"...No." he answered in a voice that was gravel to her ears...This was around a time before things got so bad between them...

"I don't sleep." he stated, "Aside from that...it...gets restless...when the moonis full."

"Oh...right." she responded softy, "The Shukaku...it's...nocturnal, isn't it?"

"That's right..." said the boy, "Why are you awake...Saseme?"

"I just can't seem to sleep..." she responded, "Can I stay up with you?"

"...You're not afraid of me..." he responded to her, "Why?" he questioned this often, "I could kill you...you know."

"I trust in you. Gaa-chan." she said softly, "I know you won't hurt me."

"Do you?" he questioned again, "...I'm a monster...there's no certainty to that claim you make..."

"You're not." she said to him, crawling cautiously close by, "That thing...inside of you...that's the monster...you are just...Gaa-chan."

There was a silence between them. He knew she was there. He felt her. She kept er distance but at the same time she stayed close. She was the only one brave enough to try...

And even though he knew how easily he could hurt her...he never did. That was enough for her to believe in. and this concept simply just...baffled him.

"Saseme...I..."

XXXXX

"Gaa-chan..." Saseme whispered to herself as she looked into the moon. Gasping as a presence took her by surprise...being none other than that of the name she spoke.

"Gaa-chan!" she sat up quickly, "Y-you're so quiet- be careful." she warned, "There are others not far from us and my team is-"

"You never reported." he cut her off, "WE are your true team...remember that." There was a sharpness to his tone that startled her, she was best not pressing him.

"Yes that, I...Sorry." she stated, "S-something came up and-"

"I don't want your excuses." he hissed, sharp eyes gazing over he battered body, "...You are useless to me like this." he said to her, and she whinced once more, "Should you become a hinderance... note that I will kill you..."

She gulped.

"Hey, who are you!?" Hana's voice snapped in the distance and a Kunai came flying in, blocked of course by Gaara's protective sand.

"What is that!?" the ginger wondered, though she was too far to see. Just that whatever she hit seemed to disapear into a cloud of some sort.

"Gaa-chan, wait!" Saseme cried, as she stood to try to follow after him.

Wait...did Saseme just say...Gaa-chan?

"Saseme, where are you going!?" Hana called out to her as the girl took off, "I told you not to do anything stupid-you shouldn't be-UGH."

It didn't do much good to talk to a girl who wasn't even sticking around to listen.

"Dammit..." Hana grumbled in frustration, "Sage is really gonna let me have it..."

XXXXX

The journey wasn't easy. Saseme's breaths were short...her body temperature wasn't rising any more but it remained constant on the high side so she truly wasn't up to par...her state didn't matter to her.

I need to calm Gaa-chan down...

Before he does something regretable too soon!

She gave chase to the boy who stopped suddenly in a clearing.

Did he want her to follow him?

He appeared to be waiting for her as she arrived...luring her into the open before sharply tossing an object directly at her. Holding up her hand defensively, she wound up catching it. It was a scroll.

"This is..." Saseme blinked, "...The Heaven Scroll?" she ondered curiously, "Why are you giving this to me?" she asked him. Sure it was the one they needed...but there had to be a catch here. After all...EVERY team needed both scrolls to move forward...

"Won't you need this? Gaa-chan?"

"We've already gathered everything we need." said Gaara, "We can't afford to fail here..." he blinked, "Remember our objective."

"W-Well yes, I know, but-" she stammered a bit, "I can't just waltz back to my team with a Heaven Scroll in hand...they'll get suspicious." she stated.

"...So be clever about it." he hissed back, "Whatever you need to do to minimize suspicion, then do it." he blinked, "Then hurry and meet with us at the tower...we need to move forward."

"...Yes...Gaara." she sighed, arms dropping to her sides.

"Good." he grumbled, "...And Saseme...?"

"Yes?" she blinked...but all that was met back at her was an intense glare.

"Don't make me wait long..." and with that...he was gone again.

The Uchiha girl sighed and gazed heavily into the scroll in her hand.

...Even if she were going to have second thoughts on the plan...Gaara would make certain not to let her out of it.

Either she complied...or she died.

There was no compromise.
What was she to do?

She was just so...hot...and tired...and...stuck.

It all became too much... as she stashed away the scroll, the pressure weighed so heavily on her that even her balance fell unstable and collapsed in the middle of the clearing. The beasts around her grew hungry...

They growled and gathered, helpless prey ley bare on a moon lit platter, and she no longer had the strength or wits to move away.

I could die...

She thought to herself.

That would put an end to my part in...everything...

She didn't try to fight, only closed her eyes, welcoming the beasts to devour her as they gathered and pounced-but fate had other plans for her. For not far was Neji Hyuuga. He and his team had split apart to fan out, and he was simply going his own way when the cries of beasts pulled him to halt, so he could check the vicinity and see how he could safely travel. But what he saw was far more than expected. There had been a gathering, it seemed there was prey in the middle of the circle that they all seemed hungry for...

"Byakugan!" his visual prowess activated so that he could gather a closer look upon what looked to be their next meal and he gasped, "No, Saseme!" he called out and without thought just charged right for the girl, landing between her and the beasts that surrounded her limp body that layed weakly i the moss and scattered leaves, "EIGHT TRIGRAMS PALM ROTATION!" without a thought, he fought to protect her. A swirl of chakra emanating from him circled around them...and every beast that tried to pounce got beat back until there was nothing left.

"Are you mad!?" he snapped at her, " Who just lies about out in the open like that in a place like this!?" His familiar sharp tone spoke like a muffled under water beast against the pounding of her head and the ringing in her ears...yet some how she still recognized him. Her eyes followed.

It seemed the center of that swirl of Chakra was none other than Neji Hyuuga...

She thought to herself.

but what was he doing out here? Alone?

Was she hallucinating?

"Neji...what are you...doing?" she asked in a very weak voice.

"Protecting you, you idiot!" he snapped, "What does it look like I'm doing!? Do you WANT to die or something!?" when she didn't grace him with a response, he huffed,"I don't believe this! I have far more important matters to tend to- I don't even know why I bothered to..." The girl was being unresponsive. This was strange to him. Normally by now she would have bit back with...something.

"Saseme?" he called to her. Her head moved in response...

her eyes were on him...

But she was far too out of it.

"...You're delerious...!" he began to stammer a bit, "What should I do!?" he huffed, "I need to meet back with my team...we fanned out and split up to cover more ground but..." he sighed, "Ugh, If I leave her here...I certainly wouldn't hear the end of it from Lee." he mumbled, "More over...if I let her die...it will eat at me..." he clicked his tongue in frustration. He didn't even give himself much time to think. Watching her, weak and helpless on the forest floor like that...he just responded. "Hang on Saseme...I've got some things that can help..." he grumbled, "But you will owe me for this...Got it!?"

Who was she to argue?

She couldn't anyway...not in this state. The boy heaved heavily and carefully placed her onto his back for transport out of the open...somewhere hidden so that he could cool down this fever. She burned so hot he could feel it against his own skin...and that'swith the clothes they wore between them. And his were far thicker.

"You must be out of your mind to think you could even remotely function properly with a fever like this..." he muttered. He bit his tongue to say much else...after all it was only fun when she bit back. Into the night they traveled by shadows, resting in the foliage for cover while he rummaged through his pack for what looked to be a kind of cream. Lifting her headband from her he twirled his finger in it and began smearing it across her forehead, and spotting her heated cheeks. "This is a coolant." he said to her , "It's good for burns and high fevers..." he blinked, "If this doesn't help bring your temperature down...nothing will." he said softly, "After all, nothing beats Hyuuga when it comes to Medicinals..." he sighed as he replaced the cap on the substance and rubbed what remained on his hand before placing his palm to her forehead and holding it there. Her response to it was welcoming, a gentle coo as she arched her head back a bit to feel more of the cooling effect that her body was desperately craving."You rest now..." he said to her in a whisper.

It didn't take long for her to fall asleep. his gentle palm on her head was soothing and the cooling effect acted almost immediately.

As soon as her fever has gone down, I will leave...

he thought to himself, pale eyes narrowed on the face of the sleeping girl whose head now rested in his lap. For once...her face looked to be at peace.

Neji couldn't tell how many hours had passed while the girl slept. He merely kept watching the moon, his hand to her forehead, until he felt her stir. Twitching, he looked down...and the girl's eyes fluttered open.

I feel...rested...

She blinked. She felt much cooler too, back to a normal temperature while her eyes shifted up to her savior.

"So...you're awake then." he said to her.

"...Neji?" she blinked.

"And how are you feeling?" he asked of her.

"...Better..." she grumbled a bit, "But...what are you doing here?" her eyes shifted a bit, "More than that...where even IS here?" she wondered, "How did we get here?"

"All of the questions." he chuckled, "So it seems you truly are back to your clueless state of mind~" he scoffed and she shot a look at him.

"You know...I could ask the same of you." he stated, "What you were doing out in the open like that...especially in your state." he mumbled, "Had I not arrived, surely you would have served for a weak midnight snack to the beasts of the forest."

"Oh, so you rescued me then?" she chuckled with a scoff, "My hero~" she mumbled.

"Hmph...I'm no hero." he said to her.

She looked up at him a while. Eyes narrowed. He said that and yet here he was, with her in his lap of all places...and barely even trying to be snippy. That was strange to her...

She recognized the smell that lingered from the tape that wrapped the hand that held her forehead...

That was the Hyuuga Ointment...

Hinata had given her plenty before...since during her own training, Saseme had a tendancy of burning herself quite often.

"So then...why are you still here?" she wondered.

He scoffed.

"A good question..." he grumbled, "I don't know why I am even bothering to help you..." he sighed, "I just...saw you there...broken and beaten down and- I didn't even think!" he blinked, "It was as though...within that moment...I had no control...and I just leapt to your aide...without a second thought." he blinked, "Which...leaves me to wonder..."

When did it begin?

He thought to himself.

When did I...start...caring...about you?

"Wonder what?" Saseme blinked, "Neji...?"

"Ah-" suddenly her voiced pulled him back from his thoughts and the memories of her that he still carried with him, for whatever reason. He quickly shook it off and responded with "Nothing...so...how are you feeling now?" he asked.

"Pretty good I think." she said to him while lifting herself from his lap.

"Ah...good..." he said.

He sounded almost disappointed when her weight from his lap was lifted-Then confused to why-

So he shifted to relief.

"Then you should be able to make it back to your team on your own." he stated as he stood and dusted himself off.

"Yeah...she said softly, back to him, "...Thank you."

"...Sure." he responded curtly, as he too faced the opposite direction...but before she could be off he stopped and turned to call her name, "Saseme!"

"Yes?" she called back, gasping as she was startled by this suddenly serious expression he showed in his pale eyes that...normally looked right through her. Only this time...they seemed to see only her.

"...Be careful." was all he said, and soon was gone into the night.

"Yeah..." she said softly, watching him go off in the distance, "...You too."

She patted at the mass in her clothes where she had stashed the scroll, gifted to her by Gaara. It was still there...

So it wasn't a dream...

She thought to herself.

Her meeting with Gaara was real...and so was that long secluded moment with Neji. She sighed shakily. How was she going to disguise her having this scroll in the first place? Or the fact that her heart fluttered when Neji looked at her like that?

More so...that he cared enough to stay with her until she was well enough again. Her eyes shifted up into the sky...no one but the moon saw these moments of shifting emotions between her and her heart...

And it was best to stay that way...

XXXXX

"You did what!?" Sage's voice came out in a hiss so as not to raise a ruckus for the sleeping genin not too far from them...

Or any of the predators in the forest for that matter.

"Don't look at me man you know she's stubborn!" Hana scoffed defensively, "I told her to stay put and she didn't listen, she moved too fast for me and went after the enemy and-"

"Is STILL not back in case you haven't noticed!" the boy huffed, "You were supposed to be on guard...the guard doesn't leave what they are guarding ALONE, you dumb bitch!" he huffed, "That's just-a bad guard!"

"Well I'm sorry, she said-"

"That doesn't matter right now..." the boy grumbled as he pinched the bridge of his nose, "We have to find her- she's in no position to-"

"To what? Go after an enemy who had a scroll we needed?" a heaven scroll fell between Hana and Sage who both blinked in confusion before looking up to greet Saseme who, suddenly looked better than ever.
"Saseme!" they beamed happily and ran to greet her.

"Holy shit- you bad ass BITCH~!" Sage beamed and kissed the heaven scroll now in his hand, "HOW!?"

"I told you..." she said softly, "That enemy ninja that I went after...he had it...so I took it." she shrugged.

"Yeah but...your fever..." Hana was flabberghasted.

More than that I could have sworn Saseme called that guy Gaa-chan...

she blinked.

She seemed to know him...did he just...GIVE it to her?

She wondered.

And how did she get better so quickly!?

"Well...admittedly...I had a little help." Saseme stated, "I uh...ran into Neji out there...and he helped me take him down." she stated, "It was thanks to his medicine that I'm all good again too, so..."

She was lying through her teeth...but hopefully the run in with Neji would work well enough as a validated excuse.

"Really?" Hana blinked curiously, "And he didn't like...try to fight you for it?"

"Nah." Saseme shrugged, "Turns out that he already had that scroll...and since I didn't have the Earth Scroll on me, he didn't see much of a point exhausting himself for no reward."

"Yeah...that sure sounds like that Neji guy, all right." Sage laughed.

Though Hana seemed less than convinced...

This just all seemed far too convienient...

She eyed Saseme...it was truethough, she definitely did seem better at least.

"You know what this means, right!?" said Sage, "This means we can start heading out toward the tower in the morning!" he stated, "So we should get some rest now...recoop our energy and save our strength...it's only gonna get tougher from here."

"Right..." Saseme nodded, and Hana had no choice but to agree.

Little did they know...they weren't alone. For in the shadows...another enemy lurked.

"Found you~" Dosu snickered as he caught that the groups of both Uchiha's stayed rather close to each other, "All right...just as Orochimaru ordered...we strike at day break." he stated, "And remember...our target is the Uchiha..."

"Either one?" asked the Kunoichi that stood watching from his side.

"That's right." said Dosu, "Primarily he wants Sasuke...but in a pickle...the girl will do too..."

"Yeah, but if either of the others get in our way...it's okay if we take them out, right?" asked the third member.

"Of course..." said Dosu.

To Be Continued