She always saw him; always looked for him. But he never saw her. She's loved him since the first time she ever saw him. Can she find him in time to express her feelings?

fumikomu ze akuseru kakehiki wa nai sa sou dayo

yoru wo nukeru

nejikomu sa saigo ni sashihiki zero sa sou dayo

hibi wo kezuru

kokoro wo sotto hiraite gyutto hiki yosetara

todoku yo kitto tsutau yo motto sa aa!

iki isoide shiboritotte

motsureru ashi dakedo mae yori zutto sou tooku he

ubaitotte tsukandatte

kimi janai nara imi wa nai no sa

dakara haruka kanata

Naruto

Beyond What You See

Chapter Five

Wings of the Broken

Yukika walked around the yard of her home. Tables and chairs were set up all around the garden, colorful balloons tied all around. There were so many people here already, but six year old Yukika was only waiting for two people. She was wearing a pretty no sleeved light blue dress. Her long hair was tied into a ponytail, a thin black sash tied neatly around her neck. The moon shining above illuminated her always pale skin.

The party had started at five and ended at ten. It was eight, and still they hadn't come.

Yukika looked sad. She had hoped they'd come…She was such a fool to think–

"Happy birthday, Yuki!" A voice shouted behind her.

Yukika's eyes instantly perked up. She turned, her dress swirling around. She was faced with an eight year old and a thirteen year old. Both had dark black eyes. The eight year old had blue black hair while the thirteen year old had dark black hair. Both were carrying a box. They were small, but were made with velvet.

But Yukika didn't need their presents to be happy. She just wanted them to come and that was all.

"Sasuke! Itachi!" Yukika ran to them. "I thought you weren't going to come!"

"Please forgive me, Yukika." Itachi said docilely, smiling, "It was my fault we were late."

"Yeah, Dad wouldn't let me come unless Itachi was." Sasuke commented.

"Sasuke!" Itachi said, his smile growing.

Yukika shook her head, "I don't care if you were late. I'm just glad you actually came!"

"Are you kidding me?" Sasuke asked, "We wouldn't miss your birthday for the world!"

"Yukika!" Kiba shook her again. It was early in the morning, only an hour after dawn.

Yukika's beautiful black eyes fluttered open. In a panic, she looked down at her hands. On her hands were beautiful rings, both set in silver. On her right hand, there was a dark blue kyanite in the center in the drop style. Along with this, on either side was one black spinel, round. On her left hand was a one white goshenite gem in the center in the kite style. On either side was a dark red sapphire star, oval style. Instead of the normal, six pointed star on both, there were three tomoe, two on top and one on bottom.

Yukika sighed in relief.

"Yukika?" Kiba questioned.

Yukika looked at him, "H-hey Kiba. When did you get here?"

"Did you get another dart?" Kiba asked.

A light blush, that always appeared crimson or scarlet because of the pale skin tone, spread across the bridge of her nose, "Well…No…Not really…I was practicing last night…And I guess I collapsed in exhaustion…"

Kiba's eyes widened. But then he shook his head, "We'll talk about that later. Right now, you need to come with me; I've been looking for you since dawn. This girl, the said her name was Yanagi Hyuuga. I guess she's related to Hinata; anyway, she's in the hospital!"

Yukika's eyes widened, "What!? Yanagi's in the hospital!! We haven't even gotten missions yet!"

"Come on, we gotta go now."

Kiba pulled Yukika up. The two began to run back to the village.

"Wait a minute, what do you mean we'll talk about it later?"

He'd been sitting in the waiting room since last night. He hadn't expected this. He had been here for Khatereh, but then a stretcher with Yanagi came crashing in.

Ryunosuke held a hand up to his eyes, rubbing his head. She was in surgery. Yanagi Hyuuga was in surgery. He never expected to ever see her even here in this hospital with Neji around. Neji was like the ultimate protector. He was always there for Yanagi, no matter what.

Takara watched in distress as Yuuha stood on her tiptoes. Yanagi was in surgery, and that was all she knew. But she couldn't speak to someone to ask why; she didn't want to speak to any human, except perhaps Yuuha. She didn't mind her; she was different from other humans. But Yanagi had been her class. No matter what, Yanagi was such a sweet girl. She was infectious, and everyone in their class couldn't help but hold Yanagi in a special place in their hearts.
Yuuha stood on her tiptoes, peering anxiously into the operation room. She couldn't believe it. How could they not know!? How could trained, professional Medic Nin not know!? Yanagi was in a rush and dangerous surgery. They couldn't figure out what was wrong. She had internal bleeding alright, but they couldn't figure out where. HOW COULD THEY NOT KNOW!?!? To Yuuha, this was infuriating. Tears welled into her eyes. She had to be alright; she just had to!
Marise paced uselessly back and forth, back and forth. Tears dropped from his cheeks, big eyes blurred. Everything happened too fast, just too fast. Takumi Sensei was getting stitches, Guy Sensei was getting poison pulled out of him, Lee was getting embedded weapons taken out of him, Tenten was also getting stitches, and now Yanagi was in surgery. His arm hung loosely at the side, in a strange position. It was either dislocated or broken; he was too numb to tell. Umika was there too, trying to comfort him.
It was useless, absolutely useless. No matter what she tried, Umika couldn't get Marise to stop pacing. His arm was obviously broken, even she could tell that and she wasn't even studying Medic Nin. He needed to have it fixed, or at least he needed to sit. No matter how she tried to comfort him, Umika couldn't change the fact that Marise's best friend Yanagi was dying.
"Kakashi Sensei!" Kachuu ran into the waiting room, followed by Chikaze, who'd gone to get her. "Is it really true!?"

"Now would I lie to you about something like this?" Chikaze questioned indignantly.

"But…Yanagi…In surgery…How? Why?"

Yukika came into the waiting room, breath heaving, with Kiba.

"Took you long enough." Umika stated.

Yukika glared at her before walking over to Yuuha. "How're you doing?"

"Yuki," Sasuke said, walking up behind her with Khatereh, fully recovered.

Yukika smiled, "Yuuha, you've probably heard of Sasuke Uchiha. Well, you get to meet him in person."

Yuuha turned her wet face to him. She sniffled, "I'm sorry…Mr. Uchiha…I would say hello properly, but my friend's in surgery…"

"So I've heard." Sasuke said softly.

"I also heard she's Neji Hyuuga's younger sister." Khatereh said quietly. "How is he holding up?"

Yuuha shook her head solemnly, "No one knows…When Yanagi got admitted, he went straight to the roof without saying anything other than no one was allowed on the roof…"

Amaterasu was amazed. Every single Genin she'd seen on the day of the Presentation was here. But it also seemed there were other Genin here as well: five boys and three female; three eleven year olds and five twelve year olds. What amazed her was how they all came together. Everyone one who got here first had gone back out to get another. They stuck by each other and talked to each other, for comfort. It seemed everyone was close friends in this class.
Neji sat atop the hospital building roof. He watched the sun, its light scorching him to the heart.

'It's my fault.' Neji thought. 'If she dies, it's my fault. I wasn't strong enough. I can't believe I underestimated my opponent! I should've known; I had the Byakugan!'

Someone cleared their throat behind him. Neji turned, thinking, 'I thought I told them not to disturb me!'

Tetsuya, arms crossed, walked over to Neji. Neji looked at him questioningly.

"Don't remember me, do you, Neji?" Tetsuya raised an eyebrow at him. He was answered with a glare. Tetsuya sighed, "Anyway…What're you doing down here? Shouldn't you be in the waiting room too?"

Neji turned away from him.

"Okay, what's on your mind?" Tetsuya asked.

"I really don't see how it's any of your business." Neji commented.

"Oh, but you see, it is my business." Tetsuya said. "You may not remember me, but I definitely remember you. If I ever knew you, I know that look. What's up?"

"I screwed up." Neji answered bluntly. "I allowed my sister to get hurt. I wasn't strong enough."

Tetsuya almost laughed out right, "Not strong enough? Trust me Neji, you're plenty strong. You've exceeded your expectations and more."

"Then why!?"

"Do you have any idea who you were fighting?" Tetsuya questioned. "That was Shingakushi the Drainer. He has a different sort of chakra. Instead of being able to be released, he draws in others' chakra. He drains them, keeping the energy for himself to use as power for his Taijutsu. But his chakra can be used either way. To draw in, or give out. Before Shujin got to him, believe it or not, he was thought to one day become the greatest Medic Nin of his time. But instead of using his ability to better himself and those around him, he decided to use it for his own gain. Shingakushi likes to feel power. He likes to drain people so that he will be in control of them. He is also renowned for his mystery Taijutsu. They say he alone knows the techniques."

"You sure know a lot about him."

"Neji, you're looking at a person who's fought this group since Shujin received Satsugaisha, Shingakushi, and Tsukurite when they got out of their Academy. They all want power, and that's it. That's all they want, and they'll do practically anything to get it. Don't worry about it."

Neji, his eyes forlorn, stared off into space for awhile, and then he spoke again. "Since Yanagi was one…She was able to talk and walk…Even then, our clan had always referred to her as the Sparrow. Cute, bright, flitting about the compound weightlessly in the sun…As if she truly had wings; she was free. When I watched her in our empty gardens, as the sunrays cast down, I could almost see the little wings she had. She loved to go to the river just outside of the village, where the willows thrive. Sparrows love it in the willows, their protective branches casting their protective barriers down to shield them from danger, to hide them.

"Maybe I kept her too innocent. She was chaste, alright. She was beautiful, even at one, and didn't know it, or understand it. It was like that one Sparrow in each nest that fledges fully, but never grew up enough to fully use them to their full potential. Only to jump off a high branch to find that the wings are insufficient for such a height, and the Sparrow would fall to the ground, crumpling there.

"Yanagi used to love the compound, even with its empty, white, and soundless halls and rooms. She loved her family; she loved our family. But she didn't understand what my father meant by "Branch Family". She never did, until that day. It was the first time she realized what we were, a mere Branch of the willow tree. She realized that the branches weren't for protecting sparrows like her, but to protect the trunk, the Main Branch.

"If they wanted to cut the trunk down, they had to get through the branches first. She became that sparrow, the one who went too high, only to fall crashing to the ground.

"My Uncle was feeling cruel that day. He made Yanagi watch as he put the Cursed Seal on me, as a warning. I couldn't cry out from the pain because Yanagi would be afraid. But it didn't matter anyway. The Sparrow's wings were broken that day. Free no longer, her wings disappeared, and the love of the family shattered for her. She hates being home. She told me once that she'd rather sleep in the streets if Uncle didn't make her come home every night, unless she was on a mission or at a friend's home."

Here, Neji paused. Tetsuya looked at his back, the part that was facing him. 'Believe me, Neji…I have seen what you are talking about…Only to an Eagle and a Falcon…'

Neji continued, "Have you ever seen a caged bird against its will? No matter how hard the bird tries, there is no chance for escape. The captor always keeps a close watch on his birds. Emotions disappear between the iron stone bars. Even for Yanagi."

Mentally, Tetsuya pitied Neji. Because of the Cursed Seal, he'd forgotten. He'd forgotten the two others, besides Yanagi, that were most important to him, even though they were right in front of him. And because Neji forgot, so did Yanagi. She had been too young when it happened to remember something that was never mentioned again.

Itachi sighed contently, stroking Mei Lan's hair. Even as a Shinobi, she had nightmares. This always calmed her down, always made her fall back asleep.

Lacaena quietly entered the room, smiling. She sat next to Itachi, "I see you two are getting along well."

Itachi smiled lightly back at her, "It's like having a child."

"She is a child, remember?"

"I almost forgot." Itachi said. "The way that she uses her Gengo no Etai… It's…Strange that a child of her age could use it so well."

"If you asked Shu Yu, you might get some answers."

Itachi sighed again, "I know."

"Hey, Yuuha…" A slurred voice said. She turned; Shikamaru was standing in the doorway to the waiting room; he was carrying things. Conversations suddenly stopped and everyone quieted down. Irritated, Shikamaru said, "Would you stop staring at me!?!"

He walked over to Yuuha, took her hand and led her to a seat. Pushing her into it, he flopped down in the one next to it. "You need to take a break. Standing outside that door's not going to change the fact that your friend is in there."

"Yeah, but –."

"Ah, no more talking." Shikamaru said, spreading a blanket over Yuuha's cold form. "I said you needed a break. Sleep. You were up all night; you must be tired."

Seeing she was about to protest more, Shikamaru simply took her head softly and laid it on her shoulder, adjusting the blanket again. "Sleep."

Sighing, Yuuha listened and was asleep moments later.

It was several hours later. The doctor finally came into the waiting room. Everyone perked up, except Yuuha, who was still asleep, curled on the seat now, against Shikamaru's shoulder.

The doctor looked distressed. They were able to stabilize her somewhat, but in the middle of the surgery, Yanagi had slipped into a coma.

They were all asking questions at once, berating the doctor, while others shouted at the doctor. Shikamaru, on the other hand, was only concerned with Yuuha. Having grown up with her, he knew by the entire racket everyone else was making she should've awakened by now. How long had she been worried? How many nights had she spent, sleepless? Certainly not just last night. From experience, Shikamaru knew that one night of no sleep could never bring the energetic, sparky little Yamanaka asleep on his shoulder.

'Something must be really wrong.' Shikamaru thought, 'I mean, I haven't seen her worry like this in a long time. Man, this is a drag…'

Yukika looked at her hands, at her rings once again. She smiled; she always liked reminiscing when she first got them. They used to be so small, she remembered, but she always took it to the store to fit her slim fingers. She would never part them, not even with the passage of time.

"Hey, those are pretty." Kiba said awkwardly. After having watched how worried everyone else was, Kiba decided he'd stay with Yukika.

"Yeah." Yukika said quietly. "I received them on my sixth birthday. Each one was given to me by someone very special."

"Really? Who? Do I know them?" Kiba asked.

"Well…one of them isn't around anymore." Yukika commented. "But the other…" Kiba followed Yukika's eyes as she looked over at Sasuke who was talking to Khatereh.

Kiba looked surprised, "You mean Sasuke Uchiha!?"

Yukika nodded.

Kiba sat back, "I didn't know Sasuke associated with others other than when he had to."

Yukika glared at him.

"Sorry, sorry," Kiba said, raising his hands in defense.

"Takumi!" Amaterasu wrapped her arms around him protectively.

"Ow." Takumi winced, his stitches stinging. "Amaya, watch the stitches!"

The two were in his and Guy's patient room.

"How are our students?" Guy asked.

Amaterasu frowned slightly, "Well, we've got Tenten and Lee in the other room. Tenten just got stitches, and Lee got some embedded wounds removed. Relatively, though, they seem to be alright. They'll be up and at em by tomorrow, maybe even this afternoon. Then we have Marise, who refuses to get his arm checked. It looks…Broken or dislocated…And Neji, he refuses to even be fully in the hospital. He's on the roof; Tetsuya's talking with him now, hopefully to get him get checked over."

"And Yanagi?" Takumi questioned.

Amaterasu sighed, sitting glumly into the chair between their beds, "She may be in a coma for awhile."

"She's in a coma!?" Guy said, shocked. Amaterasu nodded.

Tetsuya pushed slightly on a specific spot on Neji's stomach. He winced. Tetsuya, since Neji refused to go inside, was checking him for wounds himself.

"You need to go inside, Neji." Tetsuya said. "You probably have internal bleeding. Your body must be extremely tired as well; Shingakushi is ruthless in sucking someone dry of their energy."

After a long while, Neji finally nodded in agreement.

It was evening. Neji was walking around the hospital, even though he shouldn't seeing as he was just out of surgery. But he was restless; Yanagi, in a coma; he didn't even want to think about it.

But he did.

What was in her dreams? What was so awful that she couldn't even tell him until she was dying?

"Neji!" He was broken from his train of thought. Tenten was running towards him, "Neji! It's Yanagi! She's out of the coma!"

Neji looked astonished, "She is?"

"The doctors weren't expecting it, but it happened! Come on!"

The two ran back to Yanagi's room. Neji entered the room. It was empty; everyone had waited for Neji to speak with his sister first.

Shutting the door behind him, Neji sat at the chair beside her bed. It was almost terrifying, seeing your sister connected through wires and tubes to so many strange machines.

Yanagi looked dazed, and wouldn't raise her head to meet Neji's gaze.

"Yanagi," Neji said. She refused to look up. "Yanagi, look at me."

Yanagi's eyes moved up to meet his eyes.

Neji hugged his sister lightly to not hurt her.

"I have to tell you now, don't I." Yanagi whispered.

Neji sat back, "No, you don't have to. But I'd be happier if you did."

Yanagi sighed, "Alright…then…" Yanagi looked at her brother once again, "My dream…It starts off so pleasant…With the Sparrow and the Phoenix. The Phoenix is bright and brilliant, the Sparrow small and sweet. They love each other like siblings, and they play around in the sun together. But the Sparrow gets attacked…And the Phoenix protects her. In my dreams…The Phoenix, he dies. He died, Neji, he died!" Yanagi's eyes welled with tears, but she continued, "It just seemed…So much like it. The fight…It was the same. But I didn't want the Phoenix to die. I had to do something; he was going to kill you! I had to change the outcome of my dream, I had to!"

"You thought I was going to die?" Neji asked.

Yanagi looked away, "The Phoenix died in my dreams."

Neji hugged her again, this time tighter, "Thank you, Yanagi, for caring for me."

Yanagi buried her head into his shoulder, "I'm just glad you're not dead."

An enormous racket came from the waiting room. People were arguing and shouting, screaming and yelling. Neji sat back down, and the two proceeded to look at the door in question. Then they caught a distinct voice.

"She is my niece." A strong, stern voice said over the others, "I demand to see her!"

Hiashi Hyuuga walked into the room, followed by Hinata and Hanabi.

Neji side glanced at his sister. Her look of surprise was instantly replaced with anger, fury, and disgust.

Yanagi's fists clenched, "What do you think you are doing here!?"

Hinata slid behind her father slightly, afraid of the expression found in Yanagi's glare, one of murderous contempt.

"To visit my niece in the hospital, of course." Hiashi answered.

"I don't need any visits from the likes of you!" Yanagi shouted.

"Now, is that anyway to speak to your Uncle?"

"Get the hell out of my room!" Yanagi screamed loud enough for everyone in the waiting room to hear clearly.

"Such crude words to throw at your Uncle. We merely wanted to see if you were alright."

"Get out!" Yanagi's voice was shrill and full of rage.

Her heart monitor went off; her heart beats were too rapid. Two nurses ran in as Yanagi's head began to spin. She fell back, fainting before her head hit the pillow.

"I'm sorry, sir." One nurse said while the other checked Yanagi over. "I'll have to ask you to leave now."

"Yanagi!" Neji said, looking shocked.

He wasn't seeing things. But it didn't seem to be possible either.

Gaara watched as a vine slowly wound out to him. It wrapped gently around his out stretched hand, and Gaara, for some odd reason, felt at ease with it.

Mei Lan felt rested sufficiently. She sighed, pushing her reach of Kusabana and Shokubutsu further out. Her head was beginning to hurt; she was pushing herself to extend further than her long reach already was.

Her eyes suddenly snapped open.

"Kurome!" She screamed, running across the meadow to him.

"What? What is it?"

"I found him!" Mei Lan said enthusiastically, "I found him! I found Gaara! You go tell Master Itachi and Mistress Lacaena!" Mei Lan turned.

"Hold on, where are you going!?" Kurome shouted at her disappearing form.

"I have to go get him!"

"Wait, Mei Lan!" Kurome shouted, "You can't go alone!" But Mei Lan was already gone. "Damn!" Kurome turned quickly, running back to the house.

To Be Continued...