Chapter 12: 44,000 Ryo

A.N.: Once again I must apologize for the long wait…my schedule is crazy and likely to stay that way for a while…so, sorry to say it's gonna be slow. But I promise I will not abandon it! I have the whole story in my mind already so it will eventually get written.

Disclaimer: Not my characters.

###

By midafternoon in Suna, the sun was high in the sky and the heat was at its most extreme. People took breaks; they sought shade, they retreated indoors where the thick walls kept everything cooler. Of course there were always some who didn't need to take breaks, because they weren't working that hard to begin with. That first day in the training rooms, while the injured Neji pushed himself almost beyond the limits of what his body would take, Nara-san had just sat on the floor watching, despite being perfectly healthy himself.

"Don't overdo it," he called lazily.

Neji glared at him, breathing hard and feeling the pain all over. "Yes, likewise," he said through gritted teeth.

Nara-san just laughed. He was about the least reactive person Neji had ever met. Even Tenten, who was pretty even-tempered, looked as histrionic as Lee or Gai compared to Nara Shikamaru.

Neji tried a quick spin and suddenly found himself so dizzy he thought he might pass out. For a terrifying moment, he flashed back to Orochimaru and the "desert sickness." He clenched his fists, fighting back the irrational panic that surged up.

Nara-san frowned. "You okay?"

"Of course," Neji said sharply. He took a step back, stumbled slightly, and had to grab the sword racks for balance.

Nara-san was on his feet immediately. "God damn it, Shizune is gonna have my head. Okay, enough for today." He motioned pointedly toward the door. Neji followed him out without a protest. He felt angry at himself for that earlier spike of fear. He still did not know if he could trust anyone in this cursed country, and he would certainly stay vigilant. But a warrior could not allow himself to be spooked by the ghosts of memory.

"No more than an hour a day, at least at first," Nara-san told him. "That's what the doctor said."

Neji did not care what the doctor said. Such a lackadaisical training regimen might be fine for Nara-san and his failure teammates, he thought, but he certainly intended to train far more than that. He was not a lazy layabout like Nara Shikamaru. Unfortunately, he did not have the energy to say the words aloud. He focused on walking the distance to the house and climbing the stairs, before collapsing unceremoniously onto the futon.

"I'll make us some tea," Nara-san said.

###

They had a lunch of tea and rice balls, sitting cross-legged on the window seat. Shikamaru felt drowsy, looking forward to a midafternoon nap.

"Drink plenty of tea," he reminded Neji. "The doctor said not to get dehydrated." The Hyuuga looked annoyed, but he reached for the pot and refilled his cup.

"Shikamaru!" his mother's voice called loudly from downstairs. "Are you up there?" Shikamaru cringed. He had used the excuse of having to look after Neji to get out of not only training, but various chores around the house as well. He had a feeling that was going to change now.

"Yeah, Ma."

His mother's quick staccato footsteps sounded in the hall, and a minute later she marched into the room. Neji got to his feet and made a little bow. Yoshino's eyes widened. Most of Shikamaru's friends would not even have gotten up, let alone been so polite.

She looked Neji up and down in a bemused way. "How are you feeling – Neji, right? You look better."

Neji looked very tense to Shikamaru, but he answered, "I am, thank you."

Yoshino's eyes took in the lunch tray. "Shikamaru, eating in your room is not sanitary. And Neji, I don't know what my son has told you, but we don't keep Pets in this household. I expect you both to come down and eat at the table tonight like normal human beings."

Neji bowed again, deeper this time. "Nara-sans, I apologize profusely for my inexcusable rudeness yesterday. Please forgive me. I will be honored to eat at your table."

Yoshino glanced at Shikamaru, looking as flabbergasted as he felt. "Well…all right. I'll see you both later then."

Neji waited until she had gone before taking his seat again. Shikamaru looked over at him with his eyebrows raised. "Wow…that was…impressive."

"Aren't you taught to respect your elders?"

"I'll have to remember that, next time I screw up. Your parents must be pretty strict, huh?"

Neji seemed to freeze for a moment. Then he said, "My clan is strict about those things." There was a marked undertone of bitterness in his voice. Shikamaru waited, but he did not say anything more.

Well, at least, Shikamaru thought, he wouldn't have to worry about dinner tonight. He would just have to remind his mother that Neji liked his food on the bland side.

###

Now he had to worry about dinner tonight, Neji thought. He sat looking out the window, while Nara-san took the lunch dishes down to the kitchen. He could feel the familiar tension coiled in his gut, the way he had always felt when he had to eat with the Main House elders. It was one reason why he often trained late and ate with his teammates, or simply got something from the kitchen. With his teammates, and even here with Nara-san, he felt on an equal footing. But that would decidedly not be the case with the elder Naras. He was a penniless failure dependent on their charity; no, worse than that, they owned him. They might say they did not keep Pets or slaves or any of that, but on paper, he was their property.

He took a bath before dinner and changed into Nara-san's one semi-modest shirt. Nara-san only washed his hands and face – but then, he had done nothing to break a sweat.

The older Naras were already seated at the dining table when they went in. The table was higher than Neji was accustomed to, and they sat on wooden chairs rather than the low seating cushions of the North Country. Neji bowed low to the Naras and then took a seat. Nara Shikamaru simply ambled around the table and sat down opposite him.

The first course was soup, already waiting in bowls. Neji now had a dilemma. He had not seen them dish out the soup. If they meant to drug him, now would be the time, when they were all here to overpower him. On the other hand, if there was nothing in the soup, and he refused to eat it, he would be giving great offense to his hosts, and he owed them much. He could feel his heart beating harder.

Across the table, Nara Shikamaru looked down at his bowl of soup, then at Neji's, before shooting a quick glance at his mother. Neji tried to decipher what that meant. It might be that Shikamaru was thinking of switching bowls to placate Neji, but was afraid of what his mother might say. Or it might be that they were plotting something, and he was nervous about whether it would work.

Nara Yoshino bowed her head. "Itadakimasu." The men, including Neji, all followed suit. The Naras picked up their spoons and began eating the soup. Neji was surprised to find that they did not slurp their soup noisily, as was customary in the North Country, but sipped it quietly. He lifted a spoon of soup to his lips, and blew on it, buying himself a bit of time while he decided what to do.

He could not live in fear forever. And he could not depend on Nara Shikamaru to taste his food forever. Nara-san wasn't stupid; if he wanted to drug Neji, he would find a way despite the tasting. And perhaps he did not. If they wanted to do anything to him, they had already had many chances while he was ill and helpless. The thought made him shudder, and his hand shook on the spoon. He willed himself to get over it and conduct himself like the warrior he knew he was.

Nara Shikamaru looked up, his dark brown eyes meeting Neji's. For just a second, Neji had the oddest sensation. Many, many people had looked at him in his life. But only now, for the first time, did he feel like someone was actually seeing him. It rattled him, so much so that he swallowed the soup without even thinking. It tasted fine; in fact, it was very good.

"So, Neji," Nara Yoshino said briskly, as they sipped the soup, "tell us a little about your life. What does your father do?"

"He is head of the Hyuuga clan." Each time he said it, the fact that it was not true, would never be true, burned him inside.

Nara Yoshino nodded. "And your mother?"

Neji froze, his mind going blank. He had never known his mother, knew almost nothing about her. Had she been sharp and loud like Yoshino, determined and ambitious like Tenten, timid and weak like Hinata? "My mother is…" He could not think of how to answer the question.

In the end he simply told the truth. "My mother is dead."

The older two Naras looked mildly shocked, while Shikamaru regarded him with a quizzical frown, as if he thought Neji was making it up. Neji found this somewhat ironic, since it was probably the first true thing he had told them about his family.

"I'm so sorry," Nara Yoshino said. She rose and quickly began collecting the soup bowls. Neji could feel the two Nara men looking at him. He kept his eyes down.

"So," Shikaku said, breaking the silence, "what have you boys been up to today?"

"I showed him the indoor training areas," Shikamaru said.

"Oh, so you know where they are, eh?" his father said. Neji almost smiled at this dig at Shikamaru's laziness.

"Ha ha," Shikamaru said with his usual look of bored annoyance. "Oh, he was interested in great-grandpop's sword. His father has one like it."

"Really," Shikaku said, sitting up abruptly and giving Neji a piercing look. "That's…interesting." There was a forced casualness to his tone that made Neji take note.

"Where did it come from?" he asked, watching them both for their reactions. Shikamaru just looked mildly curious. But Shikaku hesitated a moment, taking a long drink of his tea or whatever it was in his cup.

"It was made by Goro Nyudo Masamune," he said, not quite looking at Neji.

A sensation like an electric current went through Neji at the name. "So was my father's!" he exclaimed. But – he was pretty certain Masamune was a sword maker of the North Country. How had one of his famous swords made its way down here to Suna?

Neji definitely had his suspicions, but before he could voice them, Nara Yoshino returned with bowls of rice and vegetables, and a pot of something she said was curry. Neji steeled himself. He knew it was going to be ridiculously hot. He took the minimum amount possible to appear polite, and loaded up his plate with rice.

"Oh please, don't be shy," Yoshino said briskly, and dumped another heaping ladle of curry onto his plate. Nara Shikamaru looked like he was trying not to laugh. Screw him, Neji thought. He would eat this even if it killed him.

Apparently without missing a beat, Nara Yoshino resumed her questioning of Neji. "Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

Neji shook his head. "Just cousins." What would Hinata and Hanabi be doing now? Probably eating their dinner in the kitchen. Like him, although for different reasons, Hinata tended to avoid the Main House elders as much as possible. Did they miss him, he wondered? That was doubtful; they had never been close, and after what he had done to Hinata...

"And where exactly in the North Country are you from?"

"Konohagakure…the Hidden Leaf Village."

"I've been there." Nara Shikaku said. "Or close to there. I was in Kumogakure, the Hidden Cloud Village. We destroyed a bridge, during –" He broke off, looking suddenly uncomfortable.

Neji knew what he had been going to say. During the war. "I have no love for the Cloud Village," he hastened to assure them. "They kidnapped my cousin and killed my –" He broke off, remembering almost too late that he had just told them his father was alive. Trying to get himself under control, he took a large bite of curry – a mistake, as it contained a hot pepper. Fire exploded in his mouth. Gasping, choking, he took a gulp of tea. "—my – relatives," he finished.

"Are you all right?" Yoshino asked.

"I told you he's not used to spicy food, Mom."

Yoshino looked vexed. "This isn't that spicy."

"Oh…maybe you ate a pepper," Shikamaru said to Neji, sounding both concerned and amused.

Now that his eyes had stopped watering, Neji could see that the Naras had not in fact eaten the hot peppers, but left them artfully arrayed around the edges of their dishes. Apparently they were only in the food for – show?

"You're not supposed to eat those!" Yoshino exclaimed. "They're only for flavoring."

"Good for you," Nara Shikaku said, mopping his brow. "Gets the blood running, cools you off on a hot night."

Neji helped himself to a little more rice.

###

This time of year, the nights were oppressive. The heat of the day did not dissipate, but stayed in everything. The air felt hot, the ground felt hot… even the mattress that Shikamaru lay on seemed to give off heat. He knew the high temperatures now meant there would be more rain, which was a good thing. But right now everyone was sweltering.

Shikamaru lay on his back, staring up at the ceiling. There was a fan in the room, but all it did was move the hot air about without cooling it off. He really wished he didn't have to wear clothes, but that was a troublesome point that he didn't feel like arguing right now.

He could tell that the Hyuuga was awake also, rustling and tossing and turning. He rolled over to lie on his side, facing the futon. "Can't sleep?"

There was silence for a moment. Then Neji sat up. "It's too hot," he muttered. "I'll never understand this desert weather."

"What's to understand? It's hot."

A small annoyed sigh came from the futon. Shikamaru pulled up his shirt and wiped the perspiration from his face. "I didn't know your mother was dead."

"Why should you?" Neji said in a weary voice.

Shikamaru shrugged. He had wondered at the time if it was the truth, or if Neji was just trying to seem pitiful to get on Yoshino's good side. He was inclined to believe it, though, just from the halting, painful way Neji had said it. And he had to admit he had never seen Neji try to get on anyone's good side. On the contrary, he seemed to be hell-bent on antagonizing everyone he met.

A sudden thought struck him. "If you don't mind my asking, how did she die?"

"Why do you care?" Neji said, sounding more perplexed than hostile.

"I, ahh, was wondering if…she died in the war."

"Oh. No. She died in childbirth."

"With you?" Shikamaru asked, almost immediately realizing the inanity of the question. "Oh, yeah, obviously, since you don't have any siblings."

"I would rather not talk about this," Neji said.

"Oh…sure." Shikamaru wiped his face again, then got to his feet. "Want to take a walk?"

Predictably, the Hyuuga reacted with suspicion. "Where?"

"Just to cool off. I'm not going to do anything to you."

"You know that I would kill you if you did."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm well aware. Come on." They headed down the steps to the door.

###

Neji had expected to go out across the courtyard, but they went out the front instead, climbing the small hill they had sat on a couple of days ago, and continuing on down the path.

"Watch your step, it's dark tonight," Nara Shikamaru said. This was true; there was only the barest sliver of a moon. It didn't matter to Neji, who had good night vision. The ground under his feet felt warm, which surprised him. After several minutes of walking down along the rocky path, they emerged into a large open area. "This is the beginning of the outdoor training areas, by the way," Shikamaru said.

"We're going to train?"

He could hear the scowl in Shikamaru's voice. "Don't be insane. It's the middle of the night, and hot as hell."

Neji might have made some retort, but he was dumbstruck by the sight of the night sky above and around them. He had seen starry skies before; on a reasonably clear night in Konoha, it was possible to make out several of the constellations and even the planets. But he had never seen anything like this. He was accustomed to seeing bright stars against a dark background. But here, there was no dark background. Every inch was filled with clusters, clouds, and pinpricks of light, some dim and far away, others brilliantly near, so close he could make out a reddish or bluish tinge on some of them.

"Why are there so many stars here?" he breathed in amazement.

Nara-san squinted up at the sky, then turned to gaze at Neji. "That's why it's hotter here," he drawled. "It's the heat from a million burning stars."

Neji was so engrossed in the vast celestial panorama that it took a minute to register. "…What?"

He could hear the smirk in Nara-san's voice. "There's the same amount of stars everywhere. They're in the sky, not in any one country."

"I know that," Neji said huffily. "You just can't see them like this in my village. It's more like a city... there are lots of lights…and buildings…and wires..." He tore his gaze away from the sky to frown at Nara-san. "Anyway, what are we doing here?"

"Follow me." Nara-san led them a little further down the path. "Here." Down below, Neji could see a small stream. "Right now it's only a couple of feet deep," Nara-san told him. "After the rains, it'll be overflowing these banks."

Neji thought that was probably a gross exaggeration, but he followed as Nara-san skillfully stepped his way down the bank to the stream's edge. Nara-san walked along the bank a little way, to where the shadows were deeper. Turning his back to Neji, he stripped off his clothes and slipped into the water. Neji hesitated. He was remembering that other night walk, Kidoumaru's voice saying, Take your clothes off. But Nara-san was not looking at him, and the cool water was inviting. After a moment, he too removed his clothes and got in, staying a good distance away from Nara-san.

Nara-san dunked his head under the surface and came up with water streaming from his hair. "Go ahead," he urged Neji. "The water's clean – you can even drink it."

Neji wasn't about to try drinking it, but the water did feel good against his skin. At first he stayed vigilant, but as Nara-san wasn't doing anything but relaxing in the water and gazing up at the stars, he began to do the same. It was really quite peaceful here, and he could almost forget his situation.

"Puts it all into perspective, eh?" Nara-san said. "Knowing that you're just one little speck among billions and billions…that all over the universe the same things could be happening…or maybe stranger things, things we can't even imagine."

"That's one way to look at it," Neji said. "But we're stuck on this planet with no way of getting off. So it doesn't really matter how many other planets or stars there are."

Nara-san lifted his head to look at Neji. Neji couldn't read his expression, but he figured now was as good a time as any to ask what he needed to know. "Nara-san, I want to ask you something. Answer me honestly please."

"Sure. But please stop with the 'Nara-san'. Every time you do that I look over my shoulder thinking my father's standing there. Just call me Shikamaru."

It still felt a little strange to Neji, but he supposed it was even stranger for him and Shikamaru to be so formal with each other when the older Naras were using Neji's first name. Still, he could not bring himself to use Shikamaru's first name quite yet. Instead he just asked, "How much did you pay for me?"

There was a long moment of silence, then Shikamaru said, sounding uncomfortable. "Listen, don't worry about that. It doesn't really matter."

"Tell me."

Another long silence, before Shikamaru said, "The final price was 44,000 ryo."

44,000 ryo. So that was the price of a human being, Neji thought. 44,000 ryo. Was it a lot? A little? Neji realized he had no idea. He had not dealt with money much in his life. The paychecks he earned from missions were given directly to his uncle, who supplied him with everything he needed. He rarely went out anywhere, so he hardly ever needed spending money.

"Is 44,000 ryo a lot of money?" he asked. What he meant was, Is it a lot of money to you? Everything was relative.

Shikamaru only shrugged in a dismissive way, as if he didn't want to think about the question.

A thought struck Neji. "What is the price of a horse?"

"Depends on the horse. A good horse, on average, probably about 5,000 ryo. Bo, the one you were riding, he's more like 3,000."

"What about your horse? How much was he?"

"If I sold him now, I could probably get 7 or 8 thousand for him. But he only cost 1,500."

It sounded like Shikamaru was bragging, but Neji wasn't sure about what. "Why?"

"He was too wild," Shikamaru said. "They thought no one could ever ride him. But I saw something in him, so I bought him."

Like you bought me, Neji thought. Aloud, he vowed, "I will pay you back the 44,000 ryo."

"That's not necessary," Shikamaru said, sounding even more uncomfortable than before. "It's not –"

"I want to."

The question hung in the air between them. How?

"Listen," Shikamaru said. "If you want to pay me back, just be nice to my parents, and don't make such a mess in my bathroom again."

Neji felt his cheeks burn in the darkness as he realized what Shikamaru was saying. "How soon am I allowed to go with you on missions?"

"Six months, I think she said."

Six months was a long time to be beholden to someone. Although in a sense he had been beholden all his life, to his uncle. But that was different. They had taken his father from him. They owed him.

Now he owed the Naras, and he didn't much like it. "Are there other ways of making money?"

"You could be a waitress at the ramen shop, I suppose."

Neji hissed out an exasperated breath.

"Okay…well, there are tournaments….You get cash if you win. I can ask Asuma-sensei when the next one will be. He always likes us to enter."

"And you don't want to?" The idea seemed inconceivable to Neji.

"I don't see the point. Just a lot of troublesome exertion."

Neji closed his eyes and slid under the water. He couldn't hear anything under there, which was certainly preferable to listening to Shikamaru's failure philosophy. It was peaceful; the first time he had felt that way since leaving home.

Since he had come here, he realized, he had not done the things that were so integral to his life – training and meditating every day. He had been doing all the wrong things. He had tried trusting South Country people; that had been a terrible mistake. He had tried running away; it had not worked. He had tried to end his life. That had not worked either. He needed to get back on the right path, to clear and focus his mind and train his body.

It felt like a door had been opened. He surfaced and took a great gulp of air, seeing the limitless stars all around him.

"What the hell were you doing?" Shikamaru said, sounding agitated.

Neji didn't answer. He had no inclination to share his thoughts with Shikamaru, who would probably not understand anyway.

"Well, okay…we should head back anyway," Shikamaru said. He climbed out of the water, shaking himself like a dog before turning his back to get dressed. Neji stayed in a minute longer, wringing the water from his hair, before getting out. He pulled his clothes on quickly, feeling suddenly vulnerable, although Shikamaru had turned his back and was just staring up at the stars again.

He had a purpose now, Neji thought, as he followed Shikamaru back along the path. He would train every day, and he would enter in the tournaments and then go on missions when he was allowed, until he had paid the Naras back. At least now he knew how much was owed.

###

44,000 ryo. The price of a human life. Shikamaru hated that thought. The idea that he had somehow bought Neji and now owned him was utterly repugnant to him. He did not care if Neji paid the money back; he would have preferred to forget about it altogether and just pretend in his mind that Neji was a particularly troublesome houseguest. Shikamaru had never been poor and he had never been rich. He was comfortable; he made decent money from missions and his family was well-off enough to buy whatever they needed, so he had never thought about money too much. If his savings were now cleaned out, he would just start saving up again.

The dip in the stream had been very refreshing, and they both went to sleep without further discussion, to Shikamaru's relief. He awoke earlier than usual the next morning, already breaking out in a fine sweat because of the heat. Glancing over at the futon, he was startled to see it empty and neatly rolled up. The bathroom door was halfway open, enough to see that no one was inside. For a minute he wondered if Neji had gone to train. He was definitely the type crazy enough to start training at the crack of dawn. Intending to look down onto the courtyard to see if Neji was there, he went to the balcony and found the Hyuuga sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed, still as a statue. He opened his eyes as Shikamaru approached but otherwise didn't move.

"Oh, sorry…didn't mean to disturb you."

Neji got gracefully to his feet and stretched, then came in.

"Meditating?" Shikamaru asked. Neji nodded. "I tried meditating once," Shikamaru said, "but it was too much work."

"Too much work?"

"Yeah, you know, sitting up straight, counting breaths…I'd rather just watch the clouds."

Neji just blinked at him. You didn't have to have the observational powers of a White-Eyes to guess what was going through his mind.

"Well, anyway, since it offends my mom for us to eat up here, how about we go downstairs and get some breakfast."

In the kitchen, he showed Neji where everything was – the rice cooker, the chopsticks, the things for brewing tea. "Feel free to help yourself to anything you want, anytime…cook, grab a snack, make tea, whatever." He hoped this would put an end to his having to prepare and taste everything.

But the Hyuuga was looking a little lost. "You don't have cooks?"

"The cooks work in the big kitchen in the other building, that serves all the shinobi that work here. Sometimes they help out, like on feast days, but mostly my mother does the cooking here. Or my dad or I'll whip up something."

"You?" Neji said in the same tone he had used when Shikamaru told him he was a shinobi.

"Sure. I'll make us some scrambled eggs right now." At the look on Neji's face, he laughed. "You've never cooked anything in your life, have you?"

Neji crossed his arms. "I have more important things to do with my time."

More important than eating? Shikamaru could just imagine what Chouji would say to that. "Okay," he said, "just take a seat and watch, then."

###

Neji sat on a stool in the Naras' kitchen, watching as Shikamaru broke eggs into a bowl, adding a dash of soy sauce – at least he hoped it was just soy sauce – and chopping a few green onions – at least he hoped they were just green onions – into the mix.

"You're not putting any of those peppers in, are you?" he asked suspiciously.

"Relax, it's just eggs." Shikamaru poured the eggs into a frying pan, then lifted the lid of the rice cooker. "There's some rice left, too," he said, stirring the eggs.

Neji found that he was very hungry, having not eaten much of the previous night's curry, and the eggs proved surprisingly good. "These are…not bad," he said.

Shikamaru looked pleased. He had poured himself some tea along with Neji and now, having drunk half of it, he tossed the rest into the sink and filled his cup with coffee, snagging a plate of dumplings as well on his way back to the table.

"I would like to train again this morning," Neji said.

"We can train in the afternoon," Shikamaru said, helping himself to a dumpling. "We have an errand this morning."

Neji frowned. "What kind of errand?"

"I know you seem to be in love with that ugly shirt of mine – and please, keep it," Shikamaru said, absent-mindedly cutting the dumpling in half and placing one half on Neji's plate, "but I think we should get you some clothes of your own. I have an idea."

Although he would definitely be glad to stop wearing Shikamaru's clothes, Neji felt distinctly uncomfortable, remembering their previous awful trip to the tailor, and last night's conversation. "I will pay you back for that as well," he said.

Shikamaru waved it off. "It will be worth it not to hear you complain about how immodest all my shirts are. Now, I was thinking, we need to show them rather than tell them. We can probably catch Kakashi-sensei if we leave early, since he's always late…"

Neji looked down at the half a dumpling on his plate. He didn't really care for sweets, especially in the morning, but he supposed it would be rude to refuse. He took a reluctant nibble.

It was the most delicious thing he had ever tasted – rich, intense apricot filling, the perfect blend of sweet, tart and salty, and lighter-than-air dumpling. He looked at Shikamaru in astonishment. "What is this?"

"Huh?" Shikamaru said. "Oh, those? Preserved apricot dumplings; my mom made them. You like them?" He cut another, placing half on Neji's plate. Neji wolfed it down, and then, while Shikamaru talked about clothes, took the opportunity to have a third and then a fourth, not even waiting for Shikamaru to taste them first.

###

Neji had really liked the dumplings, Shikamaru thought in bemusement. Who knew? He hadn't even been going to offer it, given the Hyuuga's scathing denunciation of having sweets for breakfast, but it had seemed rude to eat it himself without sharing.

When they arrived at Kakashi's house, as Shikamaru had predicted he was still there in his front yard, lounging on a rock reading the latest installment of "Icha Icha Paradise."

"Good morning, gentlemen," he greeted them. "Mission?"

Shikamaru shook his head. "This is personal, not business. We need to borrow Sai for a little while."

Kakashi chuckled, his eye curving in amusement. "Well, that didn't take you long. You finally get a Pet and now you want two. By next week you'll have a whole harem."

Shikamaru scowled. "Don't be troublesome. I want Sai for his drawing abilities, nothing more."

"He's up on the roof," Kakashi said. Shikamaru looked up to see Sai sitting there with his ever-present sketchbook. Kakashi snapped his fingers and Sai sprang down to stand next to him, staring at them with his opaque black eyes.

"Do you know what the Hyuuga robes look like?" Shikamaru asked him. "Do you think you could draw them?"

"I have seen them once or twice," Sai said, "many years ago in the North Country."

"Hyuuga-san can describe them to you."

Sai looked at Kakashi. "We should be training. Your team will be waiting."

"It's good to keep them guessing," Kakashi said placidly. "You can go help Nara-san's Pet."

Sai nodded, then motioned to Neji to follow him. Neji's expression was stormy; probably he hadn't been too pleased to be called "Nara-san's Pet." Better get used to it, Neji, Shikamaru thought. Your status here is going to be very different from what you're used to in your country. He sighed and seated himself on a rock near Kakashi.

"So how's it going, being a Master?" Kakashi asked.

Master of what? Shikamaru wondered, before he realized. "It's a pain in the ass."

"I'd think it would be the other way around."

Shikamaru shook his head in disgust. He had forgotten what a pervert Kakashi-sensei could be. "Come on. You know the truth, don't you?"

Kakashi nodded, his smirk fading. "I know why you did it. Very noble. But now that you have him, what do you plan to do with him?"

"Set him free when I come of age, of course."

"Again, a noble ideal. Just be careful. These…arrangements have a way of getting complicated."

Shikamaru frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, when you live so closely with another person…emotions are bound to come up. You care too much…he cares too much…about all kinds of things you can't foresee."

Shikamaru snorted derisively. "That's not going to happen. We tolerate each other enough so we don't kill each other, and that's about it. Neither one of us is interested in going down that path." He wondered what had happened between Kakashi and Sai.

"And don't overlook the power of history," Kakashi said, sounding rueful. "You may think it's all over and done with, but the past…not only ours but all the generations before us…makes an indelible mark that can't be erased."

###

Neji watched as Sai erased another line, transforming a fairly standard samurai-type uniform into something more Hyuuga-like. It was hard trying to describe something as mundane as the clothes he usually wore, but Shikamaru had been right – it was easier when you could see it.

"I am not that familiar with the Hyuuga clan and what they wear," Sai said. "It has been more than ten years since I was in the North Country."

Ten years…and he looked about Neji's age, so…"You were taken by the slave traders when you were just seven or eight?"

Sai nodded dispassionately. "I was taken in by Root and trained to be a Pet."

Neji felt a chill pass over him. He tried not to let it show. "Are any members of your clan still alive?"

"I have no idea."

"But you know you're not an Uchiha?" As he said it he realized that, no, of course Sai was not. Although he looked very like the Uchihas, he lacked the trademark reddish eyes.

"I am not," Sai said. "I think Kakashi-sensei bought me because he thought I was. But I don't remember which clan I am from."

Don't remember? Neji could hardly wrap his mind around that thought. Who was he, what was he, if not a Hyuuga? "So…you don't know your last name?"

"I don't even know my first name," Sai said in his emotionless way. "Sai is the name they gave me." He held up the rough sketch. "Is this correct?"

It was not quite right, but Neji found he could not speak. Wordlessly, he nodded. Sai pulled out his brushes and ink and started making the final drawing. As he sketched out the picture with swift, sure brushstrokes, Neji sat still.

That could have been him. If he had not been born a Hyuuga, or if his father and uncle had not been twins, or if his uncle had not felt guilty and taken him in after his father's death…

…he might have ended up like Sai, kidnapped, brainwashed, completely adrift.

He had lost a great deal in the last few weeks. But he still knew his name; he knew who he was. And he could still feel. Sometimes he wished he could not. Maybe it was easier that way.

Sai held up the drawing for Neji's approval. Neji nodded again and Sai ripped the page from the sketchbook and handed it to him. On the page beneath it was another brush painting, of wild tigers. Neji stared at it. In marked contrast to Sai's toneless personality, his painting had a bold beauty; the tigers looked ready to leap off the page.

"That's very good," Neji said. "Was learning to paint part of your Pet training?"

Sai looked surprised, the first real emotion Neji had seen from him. "No…I have always drawn and painted."

So Sai was an artist. That much, at least, he knew. That was something he had always had, would always have. That was something they could not take from him.

And Neji was a warrior. That they could never take from him. And he knew his own mind. And he was a Hyuuga, for better or worse. Even if he never returned to Konoha; even if he never saw his clan again, he was one of them.

Shikamaru strolled around the side of the house, hands in his pockets. He looked at Neji with a strange expression on his face. "Ready to go?"

"Yes," Neji said.

###

A.N.: Wow, 5000 hits! You guys rock! Thanks for reading…and if you had any thoughts or feelings at all about the story, please leave a review! Thanks!

By the way, the swordmaker mentioned in the story, Goro Nyudo Masamune, was a real famous swordmaker. His swords were pretty amazing; you can look him up if you're interested.