Greetings, readers.
So. This chapter is another iffy one. I like it, because it's provided me with several scenes for future chapters, but I'm also just not sure of the writing in this one. . . Or maybe I'm doubting, as per usual. XD I'll let you decide.
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LiL sPoIlEd BrAt: Hahaha. He's back in this chapter, but hopefully more tolerable this time around. ;)
Drea1284: Ah, don't be too sure. ;D Which part confused you?
SnowStar145: I just read that! :D Love Tamora Pierce. She's a huge inspiration to this story of mine. Well, I'm glad you're liking it. :)
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Disclaimer: Kishimoto owns everything. Except the words. Those are purely my own.
Volition.
Neji found the mess tent with ease, his quick stride carrying him fast through the entrance.
Anko was there, along with Genma, eating one of her favorite dango treats.
They both looked up when Neji entered, tossing aside the flap and not slowing down his pace.
Behind him, Neji heard the group he'd taken to Rice Hill enter after him, confused.
Neji pushed them from his mind, focusing on Anko.
"Tell me what you know of Pain," Neji began, disregarding a preamble.(1)
Anko's eyes widened considerably, her face paling for some inexplicable reason.
Neji stopped just in front of her, his gaze unwavering and intense.
Anko discerned this as impatience, and stammered out, "He was a war criminal and traitor."
Neji nodded, gesturing quickly for her to continue.
"Well, uh," Anko continued unsurely, "he was classified a war criminal when he turned traitor to the democratic army during the Land of Rain's civil war. He then created his own group, intending to overthrow both the current government and the warring democratic party. He was unsuccessful, and was tried and exiled, almost fifteen years ago."
Neji silently wiped his face with his hand, exhaling loudly.
He wanted to scream, or to throw various breakable things. But he couldn't. He had to maintain his composure.
"What war crimes did he commit?" he inquired, voice flat as he started pacing.
"Genocide . . . and other unlawful murders. He disregarded the taking of political prisoners and usually had them publicly executed."
Neji shook his head, his chest burning with frustration.
"If you don't mind, Commander, what—?"
"Where was he exiled to?" Neji interrupted, cutting across Anko's inquiry.
Anko shrugged.
"One of the islands in the Wave Country, I think. That's all I know, Commander. He hasn't been heard from since."
This wasn't good enough, in Neji's opinion.
There were too many years that were left unaccounted for.
"Could you find out more recent information?" Neji directed to Anko.
Anko bit her lip, thinking.
"Not from here. It's too remote for me to extract information."
Neji pensively looked at the ground, mulling it over.
"Where would you have to travel to retrieve the information you needed?" Neji eventually asked.
Anko's eyes widened slightly.
Genma interceded, the sneer on his face clear.
"You're not actually thinking of sending one of the few skilled captains we have away, are you, Commander?"
Neji's eyes flashed sharply to Genma, in no mood for the older man's disdain.
"I must. This information is vital to the Fire Country's survival."
Genma narrowed his eyes.
"How do you know that what Itachi told you is trustworthy facts?"
Neji flinched.
"What reason would he have to lie?" Neji prompted.
Genma snorted.
"Oh, I don't know," he introduced, his tone slightly sarcastic, "because maybe he wants you to expend your resources, Commander."
Neji blinked, then swallowed.
"Well," he murmured a moment later, "I'm afraid that's just a chance we'll have to take."
Genma grumbled and stood, exiting the tent in obvious frustration.
Neji stole a breath and looked back to Anko.
"I can only give you so many resources, Anko. I'll let you take an assistant or two, but I can't spare any more."
Anko nodded dutifully, face excited and fearful at the same time.
"Pack your things, then. You leave tomorrow."
Genma wandered aimlessly throughout the camp, attempting to rid himself of his temper.
It was foolish what the Commander was doing, going off the mere word of a criminal, their enemy, no less!
Furious, Genma found himself again at the mess tent and walked inside, dejectedly searching for a distraction.
A woman with brown hair arranged into buns caught his attention.
Genma squinted, analyzing her. He was certain he'd never seen her before, though with the army's size, this was hardly surprising.
Still, she reeked of newness.
Genma smiled wryly and walked over, sitting across the table from her.
"Hello," he greeted slyly.
The woman looked up from the bowl of soup she was consuming, brown eyes registering him faintly.
"Captain Shiranui," the woman responded in turn, expression curious.
"Call me Genma, please. And you are. . . ?"
She smiled, her eyes clever.
"Lieutenant TenTen of Squad Two."
Genma's eyebrows raised, pretending to be surprised.
"A lieutenant? I'm honored to meet you then," Genma said silkily, laying on his charm.
TenTen hid a smile. This was a game she was well aware of. The soldiers liked to use it on both women in the army and civilians.
TenTen considered Genma, thinking it was too bad the man didn't know she already belonged to someone else.
"I could say the same to you," TenTen replied, showing indifference.
Genma smirked.
"Well, now that the Squads are here, I hope we'll see more of each other."
TenTen nodded passively.
"I'm sure we will, Captain. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some drills to go over with one of my charges."
TenTen stood and left the tent, swinging the flap aside as she exited.
Genma leaned back against the table, smiling slightly.
Yes, she would be a nice one to chase.
It was a rare sunny day in Amegakure.
Pain watched emotionlessly as sunlight streamed through the sky, revealing the gray, granite city below.
The sky was a painful blue, almost too much to look at.
"Nagato?"
Pain turned, acknowledging Konan, permitting her to come forward.
She held a slip of paper out to him.
Pain glanced at the seal.
A black raven, circled by a thick sphere of black wax.
This letter was from Itachi.
Konan waited patiently at Pain's side as he broke the seal and read the letter, his impassive expression slowly contorting into displeasure.
"What is it?" Konan asked after waiting a while for Pain to speak.
Pain's gray eyes flashed with anger as he met Konan's stare.
"Itachi has decided to act of his own volition and inform Neji Hyuga of my existence and future plans."
Konan digested this, wary.
Hesitantly, she inquired, "What will you do?"
Pain scowled, glancing at the letter in his hand. Silently, he crushed the paper into a ball.
"I can deal with Itachi later. Right now, I need to focus on what I will do when Neji Hyuga sends his soldiers to gain information about me."
"You predict he'll send people after you?"
"Yes," Pain replied. "I've kept my return from exile and my rise to power too secret. I assume that Neji Hyuga hasn't even heard my name before prior to Itachi mentioning it. The Fire Queen won't know anything either; I was careful to keep her in the dark. Neji Hyuga will be desperate for information, and since it's unreasonable for him to leave the front himself, he will send people in his place. I expect they'll come here eventually, after they inspect the scene of my exile. I'll be forced to deal with them then."
Suddenly, Pain looked at Konan, expectant.
Wordlessly, Konan nodded.
"You know I'd do anything, Nagato," Konan murmured, expression flat.
Pain briefly grasped her hand.
"Yahiko would be proud of you, were he still alive," Pain stated shortly.
He released Konan's hand, standing from his chair.
He left his office, striding out the door, unsure of where he was headed.
Konan stayed behind, glancing curiously out the window.
The wind was blowing steadily outside, moving the low-hanging clouds quickly across the bottom of the blue sky.
They cast long shadows on the city below, though the sun continued to bathe Amegakure in reassuring light.
Slowly, gray eyes lingering on the city, Konan drew the curtains, shutting out the light altogether.
"What's bothering you?"
Neji silently turned to look at his brunette lover.
Her eyebrows were raised expectantly, eyes deciphering his expression.
"Just something Itachi said to me today," Neji replied, not wanting to reveal everything.
TenTen was skeptical.
"You're keeping something from me," she accused.
Neji didn't answer, watching her carefully.
"You might as well go ahead and tell me. I'm sure any of the other soldiers would be happy to tell me what transpired today."
Neji sighed.
"Did it ever occur to you that it's in your better interest not to know everything?"
"No."
Neji rolled his eyes. Of course it hadn't.
Reluctantly, he informed her of Itachi's brief explanation that day at Rice Hill.
When he was finished, TenTen was staring at him, her expression reserved.
"So, you're sending Anko away tomorrow?"
Neji nodded, biting the inside of his cheek.
TenTen absorbed this, saying a moment later in a thoughtful tone, "You know, it's interesting that Itachi revealed this to you at this point in time."
Neji's brow furrowed.
"What do you mean?"
"Well," TenTen said in a rushed exhale, "you've now received reinforcements in the form of the Squads. We're all here together now. Itachi knows the Five Squads are mainly a specialized fighting unit, right? It makes sense that he would try to weed out some of the other captains, to weaken your defense."
Neji was reminded of Genma's opinion earlier; his expression darkened.
"You think he's sending me on a wild goose chase?" Neji challenged.
TenTen pursed her lips, considerate.
"Maybe," she finally released. "Or maybe he's just being his regular irksome self. Still . . . it's something to consider. If he's just handing you lines to confuse you, he's certainly succeeded with that detail you're sending out."
Frustrated, Neji lied down on his bed.
"I know Itachi," Neji insisted to the tent ceiling. "He wouldn't do something like this for no reason at all. What are a few lives to him?"
TenTen easily sat down next to him, absentmindedly picking lint off his tunic.
"It was just a theory," she responded, glancing at his troubled face. "You know him better than I do."
Neji blindly found TenTen's hand and brought it to his lips.
"Neji?" came TenTen's voice, soft and subdued.
Neji met her eyes, intrigued by the tone in her voice.
Her cheeks were flushed, and she refused to meet his eyes.
"What is it?" he answered, bemused.
Irresolutely, TenTen met Neji's eyes, repentant.
"The way I acted this morning. I wanted to apologize. It wasn't right for me to incriminate you like that. You didn't do anything wrong. I was just . . . jealous, I guess. You make me happy, and I didn't want to consider that maybe you only saw me as some sort of . . . object, rather than a person. I should have known better."
TenTen took a breath; Neji kept silent, waiting.
"I guess what I'm trying to say is that I love you . . . probably more than I have a right to."
Neji listened to her speech without a word, not attempting to restrain the small smile that appeared at the corners of his mouth.
"It doesn't make sense for me to feel this way now, in the midst of a war, but I can't help—!"
"TenTen," Neji interrupted.
Determinedly, TenTen continued to speak, ignoring Neji as he sat up.
She was still talking as Neji leaned in, catching her lips with his own, effectively silencing her.
Neji pulled back for half a second to murmur, "I love you too" before kissing her again.
Sasuke perused the intercepted letter quietly, studying the flowing script analytically.
Hanabi hadn't informed him of anything too particular, other than answering the questions he'd asked her and expressing her delight that he'd written her.
Sasuke shifted on his pallet, getting comfortable.
Now he had to figure out how to delve their history without being too conspicuous.
Frustrated, Sasuke folded the letter into a tiny square, preoccupied.
He was tired of the front already.
Everyone was on edge here, acting more cautious and hesitant than their characters would usually allow.
Sasuke hardly cared for this cause anymore, even if half of it was his brother's doing.
In a flash of weakness, Sasuke recalled his fourteen years as a hermit.
He missed it.
Being a recluse, solitude was the fluid constant of life.
Sasuke sent a quick eye around the place he was sharing with seventy other soldiers, not all from Squad Two.
He rolled his eyes.
Yes, he wished for his usual loneliness. There were no obligations to others with loneliness.
Still, Sasuke thought, twirling the small square letter in-between his fingers, it's nice to have something productive to do now, other than just surviving.
And, there was always Itachi.
Sasuke considered the man who had revealed himself to be his brother.
Sasuke didn't mind doing this task for him, but . . . he couldn't shake the feeling that his elder brother held hidden motives.
Sasuke almost snorted.
Ridiculous. This was a war and Itachi was involved. Of course there were motives.
"I'm just telling you, it's what I saw," Shikamaru muttered, bored as he toyed with a chess piece.
Kiba watched the captain of Squad Four, wondering if he should believe him or not.
They were in the mess tent, enjoying a drink (or two, in Kiba's case) to culminate the stressful day's ending.
Kiba leaned back in his chair, his feet propped up on the table.
He studied Shikamaru's passive expression, skeptical.
"Are you sure it was TenTen? It could have been anyone," Kiba offered, dark eyes squinted in consideration.
Shikamaru shrugged.
"Looked like her. But then again, I don't see a lot of naked women. It might have been someone else. . ."
Kiba glanced at Naruto, who was being unnaturally quiet.
He raised his eyebrows.
"You don't know anything about this, do you?" Kiba inquired.
Naruto's blue eyes darted to meet Kiba's.
He gave a noncommittal jerk of his blonde head.
Kiba drained the rest of his beer, thinking.
Would it truly bother him if his lieutenant was sleeping with Neji?
Kiba wasn't entirely sure.
He had known TenTen for years, far longer than Neji ever had.
She was a strong individual, observant and insightful.
Kiba had been there through the last few months that took TenTen away from Squad Two, staying with her dying father. In fact, he'd kept up regular correspondence with her during that difficult period in her life.
He admired her, if anything, and more than once, he had considered making her more permanent in his life.
Until now, Kiba's thoughts whispered, a note of bitterness in their tone.
Kiba winced.
Jealousy wasn't something he liked to condone, primarily for the irrational behavior that followed.
Kiba snorted.
Jealous of Neji? Ludicrous.
Still. . .
Kiba's thoughts lingered on TenTen, different emotions battling inside of him.
"Not that it matters," Shikamaru said, own thoughts somewhere else completely. "It's not like Neji doesn't deserve some sort of distraction, with all the work he does."
Yes, Kiba agreed. But is that all it is? A distraction? Or something more?
"It doesn't matter," Naruto replied suddenly, firmly. "And we should leave it to them and stay out of their business. Alright?"
The words that exited Naruto's mouth sounded more like a warning than a neutral stance.
Kiba narrowed his eyes.
Could it be Naruto was protecting them from something?
Oh, Kiba remembered. Neji's betrothal to Hanabi.
Kiba shook his head.
If this particular news reached Hiashi's ears back in Konoha, there was no telling what the Hyuga leader would do.
Banish Neji, probably. Stripping him of his last name and status in the city, which would in turn reflect on his position as Commander. His leadership skills would no doubt come to blows with outraged conservatives calling for his dismissal. And Tsunade would have no choice but to comply, her own leadership undergoing questioning.
And TenTen. . .
Kiba inwardly shuddered.
TenTen's reputation would be demolished completely. It was bad enough with her family history, but after a scandal got out, she would be cast out of society without a second glance.
And the worst part is, Kiba mulled over, gritting his teeth, I would be responsible, if I told this to anyone else.
Kiba knew right then he would never be able to forgive himself for that kind of treachery.
This was a complicated piece of information indeed.
"I won't tell," Kiba said, looking at Naruto.
The two glanced at Shikamaru, waiting.
Shikamaru let out a long sigh.
"It's too bothersome for me to tell anyone else. I'll keep my mouth shut, for both their sakes."
Satisfied, Naruto left the mess tent, Shikamaru following suit a few moments later.
Kiba stayed, making up his mind.
(1) If you'll remember, before the war started, Anko was a large asset to Tsunade's committee on foreign policy. She's done a lot of traveling, and she knows a lot about the other countries' histories.
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