Complications
by Nilladriel

5: sand

The office windows were all open, and the Fifth's elite ANBU guard (who seemed to serve more as messengers and errand-boys) had dragged in four fans for the Fifth's comfort.

The spinning of the fans' blades was the only sound in the office. Neji took a deep breath and let the air out again slowly, digesting Tsunade's words with an unhappy frown on his face.

A mission all the way to the Great Sand Village, with only Naruto as company?

Neji was not usually one to question orders. But—

"Why me?" he asked. He swore Tsunade was smirking. It was an evil smirk, and slightly smug, but then the smirk disappeared and a more serious expression, feigned or not, set in.

"Officially, it's because Leaf values its ninja and a two-man team is more capable of protecting itself," the Fifth replied. "Unofficially it's because you're a Hyuuga—and one of our best jounin—and we want to show off a bit. And, in the event that Itachi decides to capture the Nine-Tails while he's out of the village, you'll be there to help Naruto fend him off."

It was a perfectly reasonable explanation. The village hadn't been receiving many missions for the past few months, and even those rarely required a particularly high level of skill. It was unlikely that he would be needed anytime soon; he could afford to go, and it was normal for allied ninja villages to occasionally send one of their better ninja over to remind their allies that they were stronger, so there.

But….

Neji stared at Tsunade, who was looking at him with an amused expression. She hadn't dismissed him yet, so he asked, almost despairingly: "What about Sasuke? He and Naruto work well together."

Tsunade's snorted. "While I won't deny they make a better fighting pair, sending Sasuke anywhere with Naruto is out of the question," she said. "Not when the Akatsuki might attempt to capture him at any moment." She eyed him for a moment—clearly she wasn't used to him asking questions. "Is there anything else?"

"No." He pressed his lips together, not quite able to force the frown off his face, and bowed.

As he was leaving the office, he heard the Fifth say, "You shouldn't let personal feelings stop you from accepting missions."

He paused and, after a moment, gave an acknowledging nod, but he didn't reply.

They met up at dawn. Naruto, upon seeing Neji, offered a strained grin. Neji nodded, smiled slightly, and looked away.

He really would have preferred any other mission to this. Even escort duty. Or, worse, patrol duty. But he forced himself to voice an awkward greeting, which was returned. He asked after Sakura, and Naruto asked after Hinata. Both girls were fine, the sky was blue, and the weather was also nice.

And so the tone of the mission was set, the first day being almost completely silent and frustratingly, absolutely, completely boring in that restless, itching, awkward way generally found in hospitals. They ran through Fire Country's thick forests, arms flying behind them, and Neji calculated that at the pace they were going they'd reach Sand in a reasonable three days—if they could keep up their current speed while traveling through desert.

Unsurprisingly, they had ramen for lunch.

The next day was again thick with heat, and although the canopy ensured the morning's cool lasted longer than usual by afternoon Neji's skin was coated with sweat, although he'd chosen his lightest clothes for the mission. His headband felt as if it had glued itself to his forehead, and while he was thankful that it prevented sweat and hair from running into his eyes he was not thankful for the way it clung to his skin, the cloth warm, damp and sticky.

Up ahead, Naruto gave a sudden whoop and stopped.

Landing on a branch near him, Neji saw why. Below them, looking wonderfully sweet and cool, was a small river; it wove around a giant tree and then snaked out of sight. The current didn't look too rapid, and best of all, Neji saw thick, fat fish below the surface.

Naruto, of course, had already stripped down to his boxers and cannon-balled right in. Neji, bemused, watched him from his perch atop the branch.

"You really shouldn't be doing that," he called down, but even as he said the words he was suddenly, abruptly aware of the way he stank, of how the heat seemed to cling to him like a determined leech. But he was also aware that they'd been given a mission, and the sooner they completed it, the better.

Naruto grinned. "We're gonna cross a desert," he pointed out. "Enjoy the water while you can!"

"Naruto—" Neji said, grinding his teeth together, but of course Naruto wasn't listening. If he was, he wasn't showing it. "Naruto, get out," Neji repeated, but again, no result.

He sighed, resigned. He might as well join Naruto, he decided. He put his backpack down and scouted around the area, something Naruto, of course, wouldn't think to do. He set up a few perimeter traps, and only then did he allow himself to go into the water.

It felt like heaven on his skin. Unlike Naruto, who was splashing around and apparently trying to catch fish, Neji just stayed near the shore, sitting on a half-submerged rock and splashing water onto his face and attempting to wash the sweat out of his hair with only water.

"Got one!" Naruto crowed. Neji glanced at him; he was holding up a huge, brown-and-silver mottled fish.

"Is that lunch?" he asked.

"Yepp," Naruto said, throwing the fish carelessly onto the shore, where it flopped a little pathetically and stared up at Neji with begging black eyes. Neji ignored it.

He got out of the water and dried off, and then started a fire to cook the fish while Naruto tried to catch more, apparently very hungry.

He sat and watched, waiting for the fire to get hot enough while absentmindedly gutting and preparing the fish. The catch-pile gradually got bigger and bigger, until Neji started to believe that Naruto was fishing more for the sake of it than for food.

"That's enough fish, Naruto," he said. Naruto pouted but climbed out of the water, shaking his head wildly so that his hair and water droplets flew about.

"That felt good," he proclaimed. Neji nodded and handed him a fish; it was hot on his fingers—too hot, actually—and watched as Naruto promptly gobbled it down, probably eating as much of the bone as of the meat.

Neji was no stranger to Naruto's appetite, which Lee had once described as "healthy," earning him twin disbelieving glances from his teammates. But it was always a little alarming to see Naruto eat when he was really, truly hungry.

Alright. More than a little alarming.

Neji clutched his portion possessively, inched away, and set about eating in a calm, dignified matter. Silence reigned, and while the sunlight danced on the river water in an absolutely charming way, it was also an ever-present heat that made even the grass and ground warm to the touch. At least swimming in the river had fought off the day's heat—for half an hour or so, anyway.

Fifteen minutes later they set off again, revitalized. They moved faster, so that the wind bit at their cheeks and wrecked havoc with their hair.

They stopped a few hours after dark, at where the forest started to melt into the desert.

Here, the trees abruptly stopped. Scrubs and grasses extended past the horizon, where the black of night swallowed them up. The moon glowed. Neji, very carefully, avoided looking at it.

While they were still officially in Fire Country, realistically speaking they were between Wind and Fire's borders, in the gray area where criminals tended to gather and patrols were few.

"We're not making a fire," Neji said, before Naruto could go off in search of wood. Naruto turned and frowned.

"Since when were you in charge of the mission?"

"I'm your senior," Neji reminded him, raising an eyebrow.

"What's that have to do with anything?" Naruto replied, crossing his arms.

Neji quirked his lips. "It means that, by default, I am in charge. A fire would attract attention," he added, tone becoming less amused and more serious. "While attention is not something we cannot afford, it is something I'd rather avoid."

"Doesn't mean you can go 'round ordering me like that," Naruto said; his frown, if possible, was deepening.

"If you'd rather—" Neji began, and abruptly stopped. No. He was not going to have this escalate into a fight. Not now.

"I'm not ordering you around," he said finally, about as slow and calm as a pot about to boil over. "I just don't think a fire is a very good idea right now."

"Right," Naruto said, equally slowly. "I guess we can just put our bedrolls under that tree and eat a nice, cold dinner."

They did.

Naruto glared at Neji while he ate. Neji ignored him, simply tugging his bedroll closer to the shadows and crawling in.

"There's people approaching," Naruto said.

He was right; the two slowed down to a walk, Naruto coaxing water from his bottle as they went.

"They might be escorts," Neji said, raising a hand to shield his sharp eyes from the harsh glare of the sun. "They're definitely escorts," he confirmed in a low murmur, dropping his hand. He'd fought alongside Sand-nin before; they'd worn simple, almost painfully practical clothes, and the ninja approaching were dressed better, somehow. Their clothes just looked newer, and Neji spied a few ornaments and bracelets.

Also, he'd never known anyone who kept their head-plates that shiny.

"Escorts?" Naruto said, and squinted. "What do we need escorts for?"

Neji raised and lowered a shoulder. "We are messengers from Leaf," he said simply. "It's only polite."

"Oh," Naruto said. He sounded unimpressed and puzzled.

Neji bowed in greeting when the Sand-nin approached. Naruto followed his example hastily.

There were three Sand-nin in all; one jounin and two chuunin. They gave Neji's blank, white eyes a long stare, and Neji stared back. When they saw Naruto, the jounin smiled slightly in recognition.

"The Kazekage will be glad to see you," he said, and led the two to Sand. Thankfully, they moved at a fairly rapid pace, and with company it seemed as if the walls of Sand rose up in no time at all. Naruto gave a whoop of delight when he saw them, prompting an odd look from one of the chuunin accompanying them.

There weren't many people out; there wouldn't be, not until night and its welcome cool had set in. However, Neji saw faces appear at windows as they passed by, and some ninja appeared at rooftops and gave them lazy salutes. Naruto grinned and waved at these ninja; Neji did too, when he recognized them.

The Kazekage's tower was as empty as the streets outside, with the not-quite-silence typical of a building full of offices. There were hallways full of closed doors, and once a ragged-looking shinobi passed by, obviously heading out after giving a report.

The room they finally found themselves in was a meeting room of some sort. Their escorts bowed and left, after promising to secure suitable accommodations for the two of them. Neji murmured a word of thanks. Once they were gone, he looked around the room.

A circular table dominated the center. There were no windows and only two doors. It made Neji's skin itch. He felt closed in and trapped. In Leaf, the rooms almost always had windows, in order to ensure the wind could come in and circulate the air.

Here the wind carried sand with it, and so windows tended to be small—or not there at all. It was a very geometric village, Neji had realized, full of angles that spoke of careful planning. Quite unalike Leaf's haphazard, mismatched buildings, where pipes and wires snaked everywhere.

A blonde kunoichi entered the room. "Temari!" Naruto said, and half-ran as he went to greet her.

Temari grinned at him. "Long time no see," she said. The two blonds clasped hands. "You, too, Neji," she added, looking up.

Neji thought about bowing, but decided that would be too formal. He gave her a small smile instead. "It has been a long time," he said.

"We have so much to catch up on," Naruto said, radiating energy, as if they hadn't just ran through miles and miles and miles of hot, scorching desert. Neji couldn't help but smile and shake his head at that, feeling his heart warm.

"We will," Temari promised. She turned, and a familiar red-head stepped into the room.

"Gaara!" Naruto said, and then: "Holy shit, you've grown taller."

Gaara's lips twitched. "You haven't," he said.

"Hey, don't be like that…!"

Somehow or other, they ended up in the Kazekage's personal kitchen.

Gaara and his two siblings, it seemed, shared an apartment. It wasn't a very grandiose apartment, though it was likely bigger than most.

Gaara didn't want to live alone, Temari had explained quietly when she'd seen Naruto's questioning look.

Ah, Neji thought, and shared a glance with Naruto.

There was a kind grandmother who came by every week or so to drop off warm dinners. Her visits were always appreciated, Temari said, because Temari, despite being a girl, barely managed not to burn everything and Kankuro was only barely decent at cooking.

Gaara just… didn't want to cook.

No one bothered to try and make him.

Probably no one had ever forced Gaara to do anything, Neji thought.

"Kankuro's out right now," Temari said, pulling open the fridge, "but I'm sure there's something in here that I can heat up—"

"Nah," Naruto said, "you don't have to. Neji's an awesome cook! I bet he wouldn't mind making something for us."

Neji almost protested, but then Naruto turned and smiled.

Neji immediately gave in. "I could," he said, standing up.

Temari promptly burst out laughing.

Gaara looked at her, looking bemused and puzzled. When it became clear that she wasn't about to stop, he pushed her gently out of the way and peered at the fridge's contents. "We have vegetables," he volunteered in a monotone, "and lizard."

Neji paused slightly. Lizard…? he thought.

Oh, well. He'd made stranger meals, as shinobi couldn't afford to be picky on the battlefield.

Behind them, Naruto was bending concernedly over Temari, who still hadn't stopped laughing and was wheezing and gasping in a rather worrying way.

Dinner was actually quite good, even if the meat felt a little, well, strange. Neji'd done the best he could, anyway.

After they were done eating, Neji excused himself. Gaara and Naruto, he reasoned, would probably want some time alone.

Outside, night had finally fallen. It was cool. Cold, in fact.

He really needed a shower, but somehow the thought had slipped his mind—until now. He could feel sand everywhere on him, caught in his clothes and hair, and while he'd never been particularly vain he was aware that he probably looked as if he'd just walked through a sandstorm. And his hair was probably a greasy mess.

A door opened and closed. He heard the click of heels against the stone floor of the balcony.

"You're staying in that building over there," Temari said, stepping to his side and pointing. "Normally we don't keep foreign ninja so close to us, even allies, but you're special guests."

Neji looked. The building she'd pointed out was sand-colored, exactly like the rest of the village. It had small windows, exactly like the rest of the village.

He hoped the inside, at least, was a little less uniform.

"You don't talk a lot, do you," Temari said.

Neji's lips twitched. "No," he agreed, looking at her.

"Huh," Temari said, and shook her head slightly. "And here I thought you'd be less of an icy bastard."

She didn't seem to have meant any offense, so Neji raised an eyebrow and only nodded.

An awkward silence descended, but Neji had never minded them much. He just looked out at the village, enjoying the night's cold and the blanket of stars above, which cast an odd sort of luminescence that made the sandy buildings look almost blue.

"It's not as colorful as Leaf," Temari said, turning her gaze to the view as well, "but I think Sand Village is quite beautiful, don't you think?"

"Hm," Neji said. "It is." He noted the touch of pride in her voice with some amusement. "Why are you out here?"

"Because Naruto and Gaara are busy talking inside—well, Naruto's talking, anyway—and I thought I'd join you out here and give them privacy," Temari said, sounding annoyed. "I'm sorry I didn't know you're allergic to conversation."

"It's been a long day," Neji said, in a not-quite-apologetic tone.

"In the desert, all days are long," Temari said. "Are you heading back tomorrow?"

"No," Neji said. After a bit he added, "We've been instructed to carry back the Kazekage's reply."

"That'll take a while. Mind getting a letter to Shikamaru too?" she asked.

Neji shook his head.

Silence fell again, this time a shade more comfortable. Naruto's voice could be heard, muffled by the wall, with occasional pauses so that he could breath, and perhaps even so Gaara could reply in his quiet way.

"What is it?" he asked; Temari was studying him, and the weight of her gaze hadn't gone unnoticed.

"Nothing." There was another pause, lasting nearly a minute. "By the way," Temari asked, suddenly smirking, "mind if I ask you something?"

Judging by her expression, Neji thought he probably would mind. But before he could reply, the door slammed open, causing both Temari and Neji to whirl around in surprise, Temari reaching for a giant fan that wasn't there.

Naruto, not noticing their startled reactions at all, bounded up to them. "Ready to go?" he asked Neji. "Gaara says we have a really big apartment and we have it all to ourselves. Want to walk us there?" Naruto added, turning to Temari.

"Sure," Temari said easily. "Where's Gaara?"

"He said he had some work to take care off," Naruto said, shrugging. Temari nodded at this.

"Let's go, then." She jumped over the rail and landed on the street below.

Neji and Naruto retrieved their bags and then followed her example.

Temari left as soon as she had shown them their temporary apartment. Naruto immediately claimed the shower, leaving Neji to check the rooms for anything suspicious, not because he truly thought he had to but because it was better than just sitting and waiting for Naruto to finish.

Gaara was right; the apartment was spacious. Neji chose a bedroom and put his bag down. Although rather bare, the bed in the corner was big, and there was enough space to do simple exercises.

"Neji!" Naruto called. "Shower's free!"

"You don't have to yell," Neji said, and entered the bathroom, towel in hand. He saw Naruto make a face at him just before he closed the door.

He looked at his reflection with a frown. As he'd guessed, his hair was an absolute mess. And he'd tanned, except for his nose, which just looked burnt.

The shower-water was freezing, but Neji didn't mind. He worked as fast as he could, aware that the people of the Sand valued water, seeing as they lived in the middle of a desert.

He could hear Naruto singing some song or other as he banged about in the kitchen, even through the spray of the shower. Neji shook his head slightly at that and reached for the shampoo he'd packed.

Less than five minutes later he was out, wrapping a towel around his waist. He felt refreshed, his skin pleasantly damp and cool. He squeezed water out from his hair with his hands. It wasn't completely clean, but he'd done the best he could.

"Oi, Neji!" Naruto yelled, apparently standing right outside the bathroom. Neji snorted to himself, not bothering to answer. He lo—respected the other ninja, but sometimes he was just obnoxiously loud.

"I made ramen!" Naruto continued, completely undeterred by the lack of response. "You want some?"

Neji pulled the door open. "We just had dinner," he pointed out, before turning to grab another towel and using it to rub his hair dry.

Naruto didn't reply. Neji didn't notice until the silence began to weigh on him. "Naruto?"

"Ah—um," Naruto said, sounding suspiciously like he was choking. "Do… I'll—ramen!"

Completely baffled, Neji turned around, a question on the tip of his tongue, but Naruto had already dashed off to the kitchen.

He adjusted the towel around his waist with a sigh and headed to his bedroom for a change of clothes.

Naruto, he thought, could also be obnoxiously confusing at times.