Two days before…

The target was still a good distance away from the bridge. Neji had finally found him, moving south, head low and walking with the wind, he seemed to be setting a pace which perfectly timed his arrival in two days. The figure was wrapped in a cowl and cloak, yet this offered no protection from the all-seeing eyes that Neji wielded. Yakushi Kabuto, I'm not sure if I'm surprised or not. The Leaf traitor's information in the Bingo Book had described him as incredibly dangerous, on a level comparable with Kakashi Hatake. The last time Neji had seen him he had marked him as a no-talent loser who was wasting the chunnin examiners' time. He had felt his suspicion had been confirmed when he had bowed out of the preliminaries rather than go forward. Neji knew he had been quite arrogant in those days, but never had he felt so, so blind. .

Neji returned to the here and now before his thoughts drifted too far from his current reality. Yakushi Kabuto, age 23, height: 177cm, Blood type:AB. Slightly farsighted. Medical-nin. Your incredibly dangerous, even battling the 5th Hokage to a standstill three years ago. You demonstrate both incredible signs of loyalty to Orochimaru yet also ulterior motives, even going so far as to heal the heiress of a powerful enemy clan.

The report made by Kiba Inuzuka during the chunnin exams had been logged and recorded in the Bingo Book. The ninja who compiled the black lists in the village were nothing if not thorough. Neji could only imagine some meticulous attendant had checked and rechecked all available reports and accounts of the battle inside the stadium to isolate the actions taken by the ANBU-impersonating traitor. Neji also felt his jaw twitch involuntarily at the thought of those times. A villain had shown more compassion to Hinata than he himself had, even healing the injury that he had inflicted on the gentle girl he was sworn to protect. I was different then. No longer. Neji consoled himself. But has Kabuto changed?

The young jonin was moving slowly away from his target, setting a pace that matched his target's perfectly, keeping him within visual distance at seven hundred fifty nine meters as they both traveled steadily toward the fated bridge. Neji did not like the situation. Having scouted the bridge and the surrounding area in a matter of minutes, (as compared to his teammates who would remain in the vicinity several hours) Neji had moved out several miles north. The odds were not exceptionally high (there was actually no way of even knowing if there was a spy out there or if it was just an Akutski trap) yet a check of the general area in growing concentric circles with the Byakugan would provide some level of security. The white eyes however were beginning to strain. Nearly twenty four hours of non-stop use was starting to take a toll and Neji knew he would have to rest soon. He had been lucky to find his target so quickly. Now, moving back he had to be incredibly careful, covering his trail so as not to disturb the approaching target that there was someone ahead of him.

You still don't make any sense Kabuto, Neji pondered as he dusted another part of his path clean of footprints and broken twigs, You're moving at a speed that will put you at the bridge in precisely two days, and your not covering your trail. Are you that confident in your master's trust? It fit his profile to be sure, but that did not put the Hyugga's mind at ease. To recognize a pattern was one thing, to understand it another. Something about this was making Neji more and more nervous. A slight headache was beginning to develop behind his pale eyes and he knew he should complete his surveillance and return quickly. Only within the relative security of the platoon would he feel safe enough to lower the Byakugan's gaze for a much needed rest. Also, the identity of the spy would help immensely in the preparations to capture him. Yet something held the jonin back. Kabuto's irrational behavior was irritating to the extreme, and Neji felt it adding to the discomfort of the building headache. Why would you leave a trail? Kabuto, even the most ignorant of spies recognizes the need to cover one's tracks. Unless you don't care, or unless-

The next thought made Neji's blood run like ice through his veins. Headache forgotten, Neji quickly turned to the nearest tree, dusted his sandals clean of dirt, and as carefully as he could, walked up its trunk. Once among the branches Neji sent chakra flooding his legs and sprang back south, careful to stay only among the middle strong branches so as not to shake the trees and betray his position. He quickly lost sight of Kabuto as he began to add hundreds of meters to the distance between him and the target. Three kilometers away, Neji deemed the distance satisfactory and halted his movement back toward the bridge. Turning around, and casting his gaze back toward the general direction of Kabuto's apparent path, Neji held his breath and re-concentrated his Byakugan.

Normally the white eyes of the Hyugga clan presented a spherical view of the world at an extended distance, varying with one's level of training, development, and natural inclination toward the bloodline. Yet this fantastic genetic trait provided still another bonus. By channeling the chakra into a concentrated field behind the eyes, the Byakugan's penetrating and telescopic range extended an unbelievable range (albeit limited to a 90 degrees field of vison). Once more Neji could see Kabuto leisurely proceeding in his direction now several kilometers behind, but this was no longer the Leaf-nin's concern. How far back would someone travel? wondered the prodigy, a kilometer? Two?

At five kilometers Neji's eyes began to sting from the strain. He knew he would have to rest after this, it was getting to be to much for even his stamina and skill. Not yet, just a little farther, we must be sure. Neji felt the sweat being absorbed by his forehead protector band, felt it soak all the way through. He also felt the odd curse mark tingle on his flesh, its placement on his brow intimately tied to his Byakugan. At eight kilometers Neji ceased extending his sight. Nothing. There was no one following behind Kabuto. Neji let out the breath he didn't know he'd been holding. He didn't know why, but he suddenly felt a massive wash of relief through his tense body. The thought that Kabuto might be intentionally leading someone, (perhaps the rogue Sannin himself) had been a terrifying prospect to consider. A triple cross, when all things were considered about Kabuto Yakushi, was not outside the realm of possibility.

Neji had drawn his vision back to two kilometer when the breeze picked up, blowing a few leaves and twigs toward his eyes, a slight turning of his head to the left was all he needed to let the loose foliage bounce harmlessness off his cheek. That was how Neji found himself looking into the eyes of a predator. Sharp, serpentine, animal like, the eyes froze the leaf-nin like a rodent under a cobra's spell. Neji had long believed that the eyes of a creature contained the reflection of its being; and what the young prodigy now witnessed was the antithesis of his existence. No reason, no purpose, no order. Just insanity personified. Milliseconds crawled like minutes and for a brief second, Neji Hyugga almost went mad. His vision snapped back then, continuing to withdraw, no longer taking in the eyes but the whole picture. There was a body, a person, two hundred meters to the left of Kabuto's path, traveling parallel the medic nin's route toward the bridge. Neji felt his heart stammer. The person's garb, stance, outline and eyes; Neji knew exactly who this one was. Knew his worst fears confirmed then. And then, amazingly, Neji realized that his worst fears did not come anywhere close to the nightmare he was now witnessing.

Two hours later.

Tenten was used to seeing Neji confident, cool, and collected. She had seen him in other states as well. In the early days he had worn arrogance like armor. Contempt had always been present in his words when he addressed his teammates, and even after working together for a year it had only been by their first chunnin examines that they had achieved anything resembling respect between the three of them. Following those exams Neji had (thankfully) continued to change. Suddenly respect, courtesy, even a distant friendliness had been added to his repertoire of expression. Gone for the most part (he was still a Hyugga) was the raw arrogance, and the deeply ingrained pessimism concerning fate. Yet, even as the team grew closer, Neji's character always remained true to his nature. Very little surprised him (easy to understand given his abilities), and very little disturbed him. He did not suffer from flashes of indecision or bursts of irrationality. Most of his emotional stress was usually generated by Lee's constant challenges or argumentative confrontations over some questionable pearl of Gai's wisdom (Tenten had never fully analyzed it, but she was almost positive that most of his limited expressions of friendship were demonstrated in these stupid squabbles). Just his way of reaching out, she had supposed.

But now Tenten was seeing a Neji with which she was almost entirely unfamiliar with. Concern and worry were radiating off of the Hyugga, and he was making no attempt to hide it. That was bad. If he wants us to see he's concerned it means two things. He's too worried to conceal it, or he wants us to be worried. Tenten bit her lower lip in frustration. This wasn't good at all. "Tenten, Gai-sensei and Neji have been talking for some time now, how serious do you think it is?"

Lee's voice was hushed as he landed beside his teammate on the tree branch some eight meters away from where the two jonin had been holding a hushed council for what was now approaching ten minutes. How should I know Lee!? She nearly snapped, only just in time realizing how the tension was affecting her. Just calm down Tenten, we need to be calm, especially in those situations which are most frustrating. "I'm not sure Lee, but I'd bet pretty bad."

Gai suddenly ceased conversing and glanced in their direction. "I think we're about to find out," she murmured to no one in particular.

It was true, Might Gai played favorites amongst his students. Lee, by far, received the most attention of his original genin squad. Gai could, to some extent, justify it by saying that it was Lee who had needed the most attention, but in truth, it was their similarity which had drawn Gai to dote almost unceasingly on his young protégé. Yet Neji had rarely needed help. Gai had of course taught him the basics, as well as a few taijutsu tricks. And of course, even though Neji practiced almost exclusively Gentle Fist didn't mean that Gai's workout routines hadn't created one of the strongest, fastest, and youngest jonin in Konoha since the time of the Third World War. It was no small point of pride that Gai had also produced the only jonin ranked shinobi from amidst his small group of friends. Well, produced might not be the appropriate word, more like, oversaw, Gai mentally corrected himself. Neji was more than capable. He was self-taught. Gai had only to sit back really and watch his development. There seemed to be no challenge he did not easily engage and overcome. Unlike his other students, Gai had never worried if Neji would be incapable of handling a mission. Which was why this new event was most disconcerting.

As Gai turned his glance toward Lee and Tenten he reflected on Neji's tense report. It is not at all like we thought. What the Sannin is. Its chakra network is duel. Parasitic. No wonder the 5th Hokage couldn't deal serious damage to him. He, it-Sensei, I am at an utter loss.

Now Gai had to make a choice. It was an ambush just not the one that the Leaf had feared. Akatsuki wasn't going to ambush them, it was Orochimaru who was planning to ambush the Akatsuki. Kabuto's nonchalant approach made it clear he wanted to be followed, and the rogue Sannin would only come out of his den if he felt he had something important to do. Well, now was the terrible moment of truth. Gai could scrub the mission. That was the safe move. Two jonin supported by high level chunnin, were no a match for a Sannin. Especially if what Neji said was true, they didn't even have the benefit of fighting something that was human. Yet "give up, and, "go home," weren't phrases in Gai lexicon. The teacher set his jaw fixedly. He was a leaf-nin of Konoha, and if he couldn't accomplish this mission, he wasn't worthy to call Kakashi his rival. Such a thought was unthinkable and Gai used it as a firewall. Despite the presence of the leader of Sound, he still had one distinct advantage. They didn't know his team was here. It was unlikely he could kill Orochimaru… but capturing Kabuto… Gai knew that a well timed ambush from his team could bring the medic-nin down quickly. The question was, could they outpace the snake lord? Slowly, a plan began to form behind the giant eyebrows of Might Gai. He would not quit this mission, he still had a few aces up his sleeve.

"Neji, if this, thing, that Orochimaru has become is parasitic, does that mean its harming the host?"

"Sensei, its likely that his chakra network is not-" here the Hyugga paused, looking thoughtful, "what are we planning sensei?"

In another 10 minutes they had hashed out the outlines of a plan so crazy, it might have worked.