Amaru had been a member of Root for 23 years, after September. Needless to say, he was pretty accustomed to these missions.

Usually, they were a grab-and-bag deal - the kind of thing it only took 1 or 2 members to handle. But this one was different.

This time, they were going after a Hyuuga - and everybody knew that that would take more than a couple of finely tuned Chuunin.

Amaru and his partner, Inaro, would be going on this one alone.

Especially with him being the damned prodigy and all.

"How much is this guy paying us, again?"

Amaru shook his head, motioning to an unconscious Neji - who had been tied facing the far wall. "This one has nothing to do with money, I hear. Apparently, he was planning on assassinating the Hokage - not sure how the hell he planned on going about it, so soon after the coronation and all."

Inaro shrugged without looking up, still focused on the back of Neji's head. "Do you think he can see us?"

Amaru looked up, searching the Hyuuga for signs of conscieness. The lights Root had hung were unbearably bright - the room had after all been used for interrogations, just a few months ago.

"I dunno - pretty sure he's still knocked out."

"Just figured, maybe...." Inaro smiled, walking toward Neji almost soundlessly. "I think I'm going to have some fun with him."

It had been over an hour since they had brought the Hyuuga back to headquarters, and Amaru had figured it'd be alright to treat his partner to a few drinks, for good measure. He was beginning to realize now what kind of a bad idea that was.

"Leave him alone, Inaro."

"No no, I wanna play with him. I wanna hear him scream....."

It was no use, and Amaru really didn't care one way or the other. As soon as Danzou gave the word, they'd be ordered to kill the Hyuuga anyway. "Just clean the fuck up afterwards. I'm not getting in trouble over this."

Amaro shook his head, laughing as he turned to leave the room. Before the door closed behind him, he could already hear his partner with the traitor - this was not uncommon, really; they entered the same cycle every time they had a mission alone, and it usually ended in their assignment dying before the order was given.

Not that it ever got them into trouble.

---

Amaru didn't get 3 feet out the door before his face hit the floor.

"Alright Root-man, what the hell do we have here?"

"INTRU-"

Kiba clamped a hand over Amaru's mouth, his upper lip curled back.

"I'm only going to ask you this once; who the fuck did you take? Which Hyuuga did you take?"

He knew even before the shinobi had opened his mouth, and he dropped the man in a panic. "What the fuck is the matter with you people?!"

Amaru had never anticipated a rouge ninja - least of all an Inuzuka. Root had never had a problem with interruptions before, and the idea of Danzou discovering their failure would be fatal. "The Hyuuga is a traitor, Inuzuka; whatever you have heard- "

Kiba ignored him, using a nearby torch to keep the Jounin away. "Is he in there? Is he in that room?"

The sound of breaking glass, and the smell of fresh blood, confirmed Kiba's suspicions.

The door swung open before Inaro had ever noticed that his partner was gone.

"Fucking scream, you proud son of a bitch!"

Inaro had broken what looked like a bottle of Nara moonshine - that had been the sound, Kiba was sure.

And Neji....oh fuck, Neji.

He had been knocked sideways onto the floor - most of his clothes were either torn or completely gone, and what was left just didn't look right at all.

Red, instead of white.

Black instead of grey.

Dirty, and covered in stolen moonshine and his own blood. Kiba had been right.

Inaro and Amaru never made it to Danzou. Instead, Kiba left them tied to the back wall in Neji's place.

----

He waited until he had made it outside the room, into the darker tunnel, figuring it would be a more calming place to ask Neji-

"What.....why are you.....just, what's going on, Nej?"

Not that he expected much of a response anyway, but it seemed like the right thing to ask.

He had to do something.

But since Neji wasn't going to answer him anyway, Kiba took the opportunity to rip apart Neji's old uniform, using what was left as gauze for his arms and right shoulder.

"...Are you coming on to me, Inuzuka?"

Of all the things he could have said, that was the last thing Kiba had expected. "A little, maybe."

And that was it.

They sat in the tunnel for maybe an hour, before Akamaru finally found them there; laughing.