For the tenth time, Neji repeated in his mind the contents of the backpack, trying to remember the exact order of each item, just like Shikamaru had taught him. Left pocket, medicines and medical supplies. Right pocket, water. Center, the food reserves, another bottle of water, a rope, several kunais, the slingshot, the bed cover they had taken from the last village, and the flat stone Neji had been using as a plate when eating. The Nara told him it wasn't really just a stone, but that it was actually a piece of flint. His clan had used that stone for years to light fires, and that piece had passed from generation to generation to his grandfather, and then to his father. When hitting it with a metal it emitted sparks, which had been very useful for him.
"I don't know why I took it", he said to Neji when he was teaching him the content of the backpack. "I saw it when I was leaving the house, and I simply had to take it. I didn't even think about its use…".
Neji heard the slight affliction in his tone. He was becoming very skilled in recognizing the Nara's state by the small variations of his voice. It wasn't hard to imagine why the boy had taken the stone. The feeling that his home would be destroyed, and that there would be nothing left of his past and his family's history, led him to cling to that object. It was very clear to Neji, but he didn't say it. He didn't want to hurt Shikamaru, bringing back those dark feelings, and he enjoyed when the boy shared his thoughts with him. Besides, the fact that the Nara had given him an ancient relic of his clan, only to help him with the task of eating, seemed like a very disinterested and humble act for him. Neji had never related Shikamaru with either of those two concepts.
The Nara had been working hard to help Neji regain some autonomy, being extremely patient and kind. It had been his idea to show the Hyuuga the content of the backpack, so he could reach for the things by himself. He also proposed that Neji could carry it from time to time, and the Hyuuga accepted immediately. He needed to feel useful, because now he only felt like a burden.
It had been about twenty minutes since Shikamaru had left. He had gone to inspect the area, in search of a better refuge, because the one they had found the previous day was too small. At that moment they had to seattle with it, because a dense rain was starting to fall on them. How long could take Shikamaru to find another place? After how long should he start worrying? If something happened to the Nara while he was out, Neji had no way of knowing.
He shook his head, trying to block those thoughts. To distract himself, he took a big breath and tried to recognize smells. He could still feel the water of the past storm in the air, and the particular scent of wet rocks warming with the morning sun. Mixed with the wet breeze, he felt Shikamaru's perfume coming from the backpack he still held in his hands.
Neji waited, and waited, and waited. Many times he tried to perceive the Nara's chakra, but he felt nothing. That meant the boy was still out of his reach. He was getting impatient, and worrying. It had already been an hour? Or maybe more?
Suddenly, he felt something. His heart jumped at recognizing Shikamaru's chakra. The boy was approaching slowly to the refugee. But there was something that caught Neji's attention. His chakra felt messy, like... disturbed. Something had happened to him? He waited until the Nara was a few steps away and stood up.
"Are you okay?", he asked, not even trying to hide his preoccupation.
"Hey", Shikamaru answered. He sounded calm and relaxed, but Neji could detect something else in his voice. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?".
He was going to answer, when he felt an unmistakable smell coming from the Nara. Neji's breath froze in his throat. He took a step forward.
"Don't lie to me", he said seriously. "I can smell the blood".
Shikamaru went silent for a few seconds, but then he exhaled with resignation. "It's just a scratch".
"How big?", Neji asked, taking another step in the Nara's direction.
"Tiny", Shikamaru replied quickly, walking back to get away from the Hyuuga. "It's okay, really".
The smell of blood was getting more intense, and Shikamaru's chakra was flaming erratically, like he was under a considerable pain. Neji tried to get closer again and extended his arms. "Let me feel it", he said.
"That's not necessary", Shikamaru assured. "It's nothing, I'm fine".
"Please", the Hyuuga implored, with his hands towards him. Shikamaru didn't say anything, though Neji could feel his eyes on his face. After a moment, he exhaled with resignation again.
The Hyuuga heard him approaching, and suddenly he felt Shikamaru sofly taking one of his wrists, and leading his hand to the wound. It was a long, deep cut over his left hip, and a lot of blood was coming out of it. That was definitely not just a scratch.
"We have to clean this, and bandage it", Neji said, turning and hurrying towards the backpack. He knelt on the ground and started looking for he water and the medicine. "What happened?".
He heard Shikamaru walking slowly towards him. "Calm down, I'm not gonna bleed to death on the ground. It's not so deep". With a hoarse complaint of pain, he sat next to Neji. "I slipped on the wet rocks and fell down the slope a bit. There were some Zetsus below, strengthened and renewed by the rain. I escaped from them climbing again but one managed to reach me while I was going up". Neji heard him moving next to him, and groaning in pain.
He could have killed himself. In the fall, and in the confrontation with the Zetsus. Luckily he had reacted fast enough and managed to run away, but he might not be so lucky the next time. A horrible premonition where Shikamaru died and he simply stayed there, waiting for him forever, made Neji's heart shrink.
"Kami…", the Hyuuga whispered, squeezing the balm and the water bottle in his hands. Was he shivering? He must be, because Shikamaru reached a hand to softly take his wrist again.
"Hey…", he said in that mild, gentle voice he always used to reassure Neji. "I'm okay, don't worry".
He tried to calm down. This was no moment to let his emotions take control of him. He needed to clean Shikamaru's wound and stop the bleeding. Focusing in the task ahead, he straightened and turned to the Nara.
"Take off your shirt", he ordered. After a few seconds, the younger boy released his wrist and did what he asked, getting rid of his shirt and throwing it aside.
Neji worked carefully in the wound, which was hard not being able to see. First he washed it, and then he applied a good amount of Shikamaru's mother's medicine, like the Nara had done with the cuts in his eyelids weeks ago. Shikamaru's chakra calmed down slowly. Neji could feel his deep breathing very close to his face. They didn't say a word for a long time.
Being extremely careful, he put the long bandage over the wound. The idea that this could be the same bandage he had worn over his eyes assaulted him. Shikamaru leaned closer, to make it easier for him to wrap his body with the long strip. Neji ran his hands around the Nara's waist a couple of times, feeling his warm skin under his fingertips. His cheeks brushed briefly, and he felt the sudden need to bring his face closer to the younger boy's to feel it again. The smell of Shikamaru's sweat mixed with the medicine clouded his mind for a second. After securing the bandage, he slowly withdrew his hands to laid them on his lap.
"Thank you", the Nara said, and Neji knew he was smiling. But that was not enough to make him feel better. The previous fear had not disappeared from his chest yet.
"This can't happen again", he affirmed in a serious tone. "We should not separate. What if something worse had happened? I would never know...".
"Hey, take it easy", Shikamaru tried to calm him down again. "Nothing happened, I'm fine".
"Next time there might not be a second chance. I have to be able to help you", Neji answered firmly. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I want to train".
The Nara said nothing for a little while, and Neji could feel him studying his face. Finally, he exhaled lazily. "Okay. Let's train".
That was not the answer he would expect from the Shikamaru he remembered from the Academy, so Neji couldn't help to suspect something. "Really?", he asked. "And you would train too?".
The Nara clicked his tongue. "Well, you'd be training", he replied. "I'd be more like a… Supervisor".
Neji let out a soft laugh at hearing him. Shikamaru laughed as well, and the fear from the last minutes vanished with the sound.
The next day they woke up early in the morning. The storm had disappeared and the sky was clear. Fortunately, he didn't have to remind Shikamaru of his agreement from the previous day. Once the Nara was completely awake, he went straight to the point.
"Well, let's do this", he said in a positive tone Neji had never heard coming from him back in Konoha. For a second, the boy reminded him a little bit to Naruto, and even to his teammate, Lee, and his sensei, Gai. In the past he had thought it was an exasperating behavior, but now he was somehow encouraged by it. Shikamaru was just trying to motivate him, and Neji knew he needed to avoid falling into sadness and into the feeling of shame towards himself. He was impatient to prove that he was not disabled, and that he could still fight.
They walked among the rocky paths until they reached a clear area.
"This is a good spot", Shikamaru told him, standing in front of him. "Hidden among the mountains and with enough free land.
Neji took a deep breath, clenching his fists to try his strength. "Let's start, then", he said clearly, and started concentrating his chakra. He took the guard position of the Hyuuga clan, and prepared. "Do it".
Shikamaru didn't approached or talked for a moment. Was he trying to confuse him? Finally, the Nara spoke with a lost tone.
"What?", he asked.
Neji didn't move from his position. "Attack me", he said clearly. "Go ahead".
Shikamaru exhaled in amusement. "I'm not going to attack you", he answered, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"How am I going to learn how to fight like this if I don't fight?", he replied. "Do it, I am ready".
"I don't think this is a good idea. Shouldn't we start with something more... basic…?", the Nara questioned.
Neji knew the truth behind those words: the boy didn't want to attack a blind person, but that was just pity, and he wasn't going to improve with pity.
"I have to start by the hardest part", the Hyuuga insisted. "Do it".
Shikamaru hesitated by a few moments, but after a while he let out a deep breath. "Fine, then here I go, I guess".
Neji's senses sharpened. He could feel Shikamaru's chakra right in front of him, though he couldn't tell his exact position. The presence approached. It came so close that Neji could feel it just inches away from his skin. Was Shikamaru really so close? To protect himself, he threw a blow forward, though his fist didn't hit anything. But he could feel the Nara right there. He was about to try with another blow, when something hit the back of his ankle and made him lose his balance. Feeling his surroundings shaking violently, he landed on the hard ground. When he realized what had just happened, a wave of rage grew inside him.
"Did you just trip me?", he asked furiously to wherever Shikamaru was in that moment.
"Yeah…", the Nara answered calmly somewhere near. "And it was pretty easy".
"How dare you?!", Neji spit with indignation. "That is cheating, and is definitely not fighting". He stood up and kept talking to where he thought the Nara was. "It is dishonorable and coward. Are you not taking this seriously? I can take an attack, a fair attack, and…"
He felt so humiliated and weak for being defeated in such a silly way, so he continued complaining, discharging all his frustration. Suddenly, he heard Shikamaru laughing softly not far away, and seconds later, two hands grabbed his shoulders gently. The Nara turned him slowly so they were facing each other.
"No offense, but you don't even know where I am", Shikamaru told him. It was the crude truth, but the kind way the Nara said it made Neji not feel so bad. "How about we start recognizing the source of the sounds?".
Neji felt him letting go his shoulders and walking away a little. "Can you tell me where I am now?".
Of course he could, it was stupid simple. He had only walked a few steps backwards. "You are in front of me", he answered with a bit of exasperation.
"Good", Shikamaru replied, and Neji heard him walking again. "What about now? Can you turned to where I am?".
He could tell the Nara's voice wasn't coming from ahead anymore. It sounded a little more to the right now. So he turned until he thought they were face to face again.
"Are you sure?", Shikamaru asked. Neji realized immediately what he was doing. The Nara was speaking again to help him correct his direction. Indeed, he didn't sound like he was exactly in front of him, so Neji turned a few more inches. "That's right, well done". Shikamaru started walking again, and the Hyuuga could hear him surrounding him. "And now?".
They repeated this many times. At first it had seemed silly to Neji, but after a while he realized he was improving in telling Shikamaru's position. He could feel his chakra, and with that he could have a general idea of where he was standing. At hearing him speak, he could tell the exact place if he focused enough.
"That went pretty well", the Nara said after about an hour of practicing. "Let's try something else now. Can you tell where I'm looking at?".
What the hell did that mean? He was obviously looking straight to Neji. "You are looking at me", he answered, not understanding the point.
"Good", Shikamaru affirmed. "And now?".
Neji detected the change immediately. The Nara's voice sounded strangely diminished, although it didn't seem to come from another place. After thinking for a moment, he understood what was happening.
"You have turned", he said, expecting to be right. "I am facing your back".
"Yes!", Shikamaru exclaimed, and his enthusiasm made Neji feel way better with himself. "And what about now?". This time he hesitated about the answer, so the Nara spoke again to help him. "Take your time", he said.
That was enough for Neji to decipher it. "You turned left", he finally said.
"Exactly!", Shikamaru replied, and he sounded sincerely happy. "Good job".
They continued with this training for long hours. At the end of the day Neji's ear had improve with the practice, and he could tell the Nara's exact position, no matter where he was.
"So this means you can tell where an enemy is and where he's facing by hearing his voice", Shikamaru said. "This has a good side and a bad side. The good side is that we only need to make enemies talk, and I'm very good at that. The bad side is that it will only be useful to fight people, because Zetsus are not really the talking type. But we'll work on a solution for that. I think it went really good for the first day. You deserve to rest".
They returned to their tiny refugee, because according to Shikamaru it was about to get too dark to find another one. The next day they would move again, and practice a little more. Neji felt that, with Shikamaru's help and a lot of effort, he could maybe still be a decent fighter.
Three days later, Neji's hearing was much sharper. On the one hand, he wanted to run into enemies to test his improvement, but at the same time he knew he was not yet ready to fight and defend himself. They were walking by the mountain slope when Shikamaru ended the silence.
"Fuck", he said a few steps ahead of Neji.
"What?", the Hyuuga asked, almost crashing against him.
Shikamaru clicked his tongue. "It seems that the mountains end here. Ahead everything is flat terrain". Neji was about to ask what would they do now, when the Nara spoke again. "Wait, I see a village! It's not too far away, let's go check it".
They went down the mountain carefully. Shikamaru took Neji's hand to help him keep his balance, and after a while they were at ground level. The Hyuuga tried to perceive other people's chakras, but apparently there was no one around. They walked for about an hour until they reached the village.
According to Shikamaru, it was also devastated and abandoned. Neji could tell by the smell that is was rotten like the previous one they had visited. They walked through the streets for a little while, but apparently there was nothing that wasn't covered by the green moss.
"Wait", Shikamaru said at some point. "That place looks clean, though the doors are open".
The Nara directed him until they reached the place. They climbed a few small steps and entered.
"Waw, this is pretty cool", Shikamaru told him. "Looks like a samurai dojo". Neji couldn't do more that wait while the Nara inspected the place, so he simply heard him while the boy took a look around. "It seems that someone got here before us and took everything useful. There are weapon racks, but they are empty. Still, we can stay here for the night".
Neji sat on the wooden floor, while Shikamaru kept registering the place. "Hey, looks like they left something", the Nara said not far from him. "Man, this is awesome!".
His enthusiasm made Neji curious. "What is it?", he asked.
"A bō", Shikamaru answered.
The Hyuuga lifted his eyebrows. It didn't seem like a very useful weapon for him. "A bō?", he repeated. "Yes, that is awesome".
Shikamaru recognized the ironic tone, and let out a soft laugh. "C'mon, this is a great weapon", he said approaching to the Hyuuga.
"You are not serious", Neji replied. "A bō is not even a real weapon. It is just a stick for training".
"First, it is a real weapon", the Nara replied, standing in front of him. "And second, it is the perfect weapon for you".
He felt a bit offended by that comment. Even though he couldn't see, he couldn't help to roll his eyes. "Right", he said with sarcasm. "A cane for a blind person. How appropriate".
"Well", Shikamaru continued. "There is a reason why blind people use canes, you know".
Just the idea of using something that resembled a cane made Neji feel even more disabled.
"I do not need a weapon", he said proudly from his spot in the floor. "My hands are my weapons".
"But you wouldn't use it as a weapon", Shikamaru clarified. "That'd be what the enemy would think, but you would actually be using it to recognize your surroundings. Come". Neji couldn't see him, but he knew the Nara was extending his hand to him to help him get up. He hesitated, not convinced at all with the idea. He took too long, so Shikamaru insisted. "C'mon, just try it won't kill you".
The Hyuuga let out a resigned exhalation, and finally extended his hand. Shikamaru took it and help him up. Then, he gave him the bō and surrounded his hand with his, grabbing the weapon firmly to show him how to use it. He moved it slowly across the floor.
"See?", he asked. "The enemy will think you're using the bō to strike from a safe distance, because at being blind you are weak in a melee fight. But you'd only be using it to scan the place, and if the enemy gets close you have your Gentle Fist, which is the real big deal".
Neji pursed his lips, still not liking the idea. "Please", Shikamaru insisted in an imploring voice. "Just give it a shot".
They spent the rest of the day practicing with the bō. It wasn't as bad as Neji had imagined after all. He could actually picture himself using it in a battle, though he was having a hard time accepting it. He had never needed a weapon before, because his hands were more lethal than any sword, so he had always felt a slight contempt for them. He used to consider that people who used weapons were not really that strong, because they needed something to compensate for their physical weaknesses. It was Tenten's case. Without her ability to summon weapons, she was not a very dangerous opponent. At remembering her, he felt bad for having understated her battle style for so long. After all, she was one of the few women in the village who could handle weapons so well, and that was something to admire. At that moment, he wished he hadn't been so hard on her in the past. She had been a very good friend, and he missed her very much.
With the passing of the hours, Neji began to feel more confident in handling the bō. But he was still havin a tough time manipulating it. It was hard to handle something he couldn't see.
"It is pointless", he said to Shikamaru, who was finishing eating, sitting in the floor. "I can not even balance it in my hand. If I had my eyes I could do it".
"You just need more practice", the Nara answered, standing up and approaching to him. Shikamaru stood behind Neji, and put his hand on his. He made him extend his arm in front of him, firmly grabbing the bō like he had done before. Shikamaru helped him finding the right balance, gently holding his hand around the hard stick. When he thought the Hyuuga had it, he would let his hand go, but Neji could only maintain it for a few seconds before it started staggering.
They repeated this many times. It was amazing how patient Shikamaru was with him. He was always encouraging him, and he stood behind him all the time, helping him when he needed it. Neji was surprised about how comfortable he felt in that position. He could feel the Nara's body against his back, and his warm breath in his ear. The soft touch of the boy's hand over his was somehow comforting and pleasant. It was almost intimate, and for some reason he found himself wishing the moment would never end.
A little latter, they settled on the floor to sleep. But Neji still wanted to practice, so after a while, he gently released Shikamaru's hand - they had never stopped holding hands to sleep - and groped for the bō to continue training. He still couldn't balance it perfectly, but he was getting closer.
He dropped the weapon many times, but the Nara didn't seem to have woken up. So he continued for a long while, until Shikamaru's voice startled him.
"Could you please go back to sleep?", he said with a drowsy voice. "You can continue practicing tomorrow".
It was true, he had all the time of his life to learn how to use the bō properly. So he let the weapon in the floor and got back to lie down next to the Nara. Shikamaru took his hand again, like it was the most natural thing in the world.
"I was thinking", the younger boy whispered next to him. "Tomorrow we could look for some trees so that you try to climb them. That's always useful when there are Zetsus nearby. Would you like that?".
Neji felt his heart warming at the proposal. Shikamaru was being so nice to him, and he was touched by the fact that the the boy was always trying to find ways to help him improve. Unconsciously, he squeezed the Nara's hand and smiled.
"I would", he whispered back.
"Good", Shikamaru replied softly. "Then we need to rest. Go back to sleep".
Feeling a sudden avalanche of affection and gratitude to the Nara and to everything he was doing for him, Neji snuggled against him, resting his face on his shoulder. "Good night", he whispered.
He felt Shikamaru gently stroking the back of his hand with his thumb. "Good night", the Nara answered, and Neji couldn't help to smile again.
Hi there everybody!
I'm really sorry for the long wait. My parents were visiting so I couldn't find time to write. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and that you have started the year happily and with your loved ones.
Thank you all for the love and support! ^^