Disclaimer: The only things that belong to me are the plot, the original characters, and this particular representation of the Hyuuga and their politics.

Author's Notes: Much love to Kilerkki for beta-ing and to all those who have given feedback or reviews or have just put up with me and the five months it took to get this chapter out.

The first three chapters have been edited—"Head Family" has been changed to "Main Family" because of a change in my personal preference and for clarity in some areas.

Oracle

Chapter Four: Intuition

Neji knows how many buildings are in the Hyuuga compound. He knows the locations and positions of the gates (the Main Family's gate faces to the east, the Branch's to the south), where the gardens are, the clearings for training, the gong, the grave markers, the Ceremony Building (where the Elders meet and where the Hokage is always entertained). But knowing the layout and being able to navigate these grounds without sight are two different things entirely.

He rises when his alarm proclaims the fourth hour of his twenty-seventh day. Neji goes toward his dresser, hands outstretched and searching. His right hand finds it first, and he frowns slightly. He drifted left in the few seconds it had taken him to move. Getting to one of the side gates might prove more difficult than he expected.

Neji feels down the wood furniture, counting the drawers until he finds the ones he needs. He pulls out some clothing, running his hands along the fabric to determine its type. The searching is done meticulously until he is finally able to locate the proper garments. He pays only a passing thought to what colors the clothes are, knowing that it's impossible for him to divine shades by touch. His training clothes are always some variant of white, and if they do not match precisely, he does not care.

After shutting the drawers, Neji changes clothing swiftly, wrapping the bandages over his seal last. He carefully moves in the direction of his door, holding his right hand before him to find his destination. It takes eleven steps from his dresser until his palm runs into the sliding door.

Neji feels left across the door until his fingertips detect the wall. He reaches straight down and finds his carefully placed sandals, picking them up with his left hand. He pauses there, in a crouch, trying to sense if there is anyone in the hallway. What chakra signatures he can feel are stationery or are moving far enough away that they are of no concern to him.

He stands up and uses his free right hand to slide his door open. Wood scrapes softly against wood, and Neji slips out between the panels of wall and door, shutting the door behind him. He turns to the right and begins to move down the hall, right hand skimming across doors and walls. His steps are slow and quiet, and he counts each one, memorizing how long the corridors are and how many doors there are. He refuses to cling to the walls of the Branch for longer than he needs to.

Neji feels the flooring change from wood to tile beneath his bare feet, so he shifts his hand away from the wall, stepping forward carefully until half of a foot is hanging over the edge of the step down to the entrance way. He fixes the number of steps it took to get here in his mind and steps down and forward.

A few seconds later and he is outside, door shut behind him. Neji pauses there, breathing in the thick, moist air. Fog perhaps, judging from how the cold and the damp flood his lungs with every breath. It's not rain, because the flagstones surrounding the area around the door are more chilled than wet. He listens to the pre-dawn stillness, but he cannot hear or sense anyone nearby.

He must get to the Branch Gates before the majority of the clan is awake. Neji knows that from where he is, the gates are to the southeast. There is a path which leads directly there from this side door, paved with smooth stones in shades of gray; he knows that a similar path from the main gate to the Main Family's living area is paved in white.

Neji keeps his sandals in his hand and steps in the direction the path should be. The flagstones are cold, their uniform height unnaturally smooth under his feet. But after a half-dozen steps his feet strike grass, damp from fog or dew, instead of pebbled river stone. He pauses there, feeling his insides begin to twist. Once again, he drifted.

He remains motionless for a handful of seconds, save for his breathing, thinking. Then he pivots to the right, planting his left food on the grass and setting the other on the flagstones. Neji slides his feet over the two surfaces, knowing that the path is nearby. A few shuffled steps and his left toes painfully strike rock. These stones are smooth but unevenly shaped and vary in height.

Neji relaxes slightly and follows the path laid before him. The going is slow and he often finds himself stepping into the wet grass, but he makes his way to the Branch Gate unmolested. Whether or not he will have the same luck on the way back is something Neji decides can be worried about then.

He hears a soft bark coming from up ahead. A heartbeat later and a voice calls quietly, "Neji?"

"It's me." Pausing for a moment, he puts his sandals back on and holds his hands out in front of him and then moves quickly toward Kiba's voice. Walking face-first into the gate is not something Neji particularly wants to do. "Is Shino here?"

"Yes."

Neji opens his mouth to say something but snaps it shut instead when he jams the fingers of his right hand against the wood of the gate. After a second of recovery and a cynical mental comment about how at least he found the gate with his hand instead of his head, Neji slides his fingers over the weather-worn surface and finds the latch.

He steps outside of the compound on his own and then carefully shuts the gate behind him. "Let's go."

"So your knee's all right?" Kiba asks, and Neji can tell from how the voice sounds that the other boy has given up on trying to face him while talking. Neji can hear the words in either case, which is the important thing. It had been necessary for him to keep a hold of the chuunin's shoulder for the entirety of the trip or risk tripping over something or drifting off course. Efficiency was more important than his pride.

"It is functioning well," he answers honestly. Yesterday there was some pain, but the walk this morning proved that the med-nin of Konohagakure knew what they were doing. "Why?" The lack of a limp should be obvious.

"Nee-chan was worried you might not be able to walk again," Kiba says, his tone uncharacteristically somber. "She said—"

"I'm fine," Neji says quietly. He doesn't remember Inuzuka Hana's assistance, but he remembers what Tenten told him about how the veterinarian had worked on repairing his knee, even though her experience with human injuries was limited. "Her efforts stabilized my knee, and Hokage-sama was able to heal it."

"We're here." Shino's voice is decidedly neutral. Neji lets go of Kiba's shoulder, dropping his hand back down to his side.

"All right," Kiba says, his sudden enthusiasm cut short by a loud yawn. "Too early," the Inuzuka mutters before reverting to his energetic tone. "First, me an' Akamaru are gonna teach you to use your nose." Akamaru yips in agreement. "It's pretty easy," Kiba continues. "All you've gotta do is gather a bunch of chakra to your nose and breathe in. The hard part is gonna be to learn to make use of what you're smelling." There is a pause. "Go ahead and try it."

Simple. He never attempted to gather his chakra in such a way. The instructions are vague, but Neji focuses and manipulates his chakra, concentrating it to his nose, taking a breath—

fur steel leaves mint earth oil flowers soap dirtudoncottondewsweat

—and gasps, a sharp intake of air, letting the chakra disperse hastily. Eyes water and he pinches his nostrils shut, trying to stem the flow of mucus draining out of his nose.

Kiba swears and moves to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. Neji bristles at the unsolicited contact. "You all right?"

Neji grunts irritably. His eyes water so badly that his cheeks are damp, the closest he has come to crying in years.

"Sorry," Kiba says and lets go of his shoulder when Neji straightens. "I didn't think you'd react so badly . . ."

Before Neji can reply with something scathing, Shino moves next to him. "Here." Something soft brushes the back of his free hand. He takes it, fingers telling him that it's a wad of bandages before bringing the makeshift tissues to his nose.

It takes several minutes before Neji's nose stops running enough that they can continue. He wipes the tears off his cheeks and tucks the wad of bandages into a pocket for later disposal.

Shino waits a moment more before speaking. "Hold out your hands."

Neji pauses and then does as he is told, palms facing upward, arms parallel to the ground. He almost jerks his hands away when he feels someone else's fingertips settle gently on his palms, but he manages to keep still. Being touched unexpectedly was not something Neji liked when he could see, and now it is worse, another sign of his loss of control over his surroundings.

The Aburame is talking again, forcing Neji to pay attention. "Mold your chakra as if you were going to use the jyuuken," Shino says, "but keep it contained."

This, at least, is familiar. Neji gathers his chakra to his palms, hardly needing to imagine what it looks like. A faint blue fire surrounding his skin, shimmering but under his tight control, waiting to be forced into his opponents' bodies to kill them from within.

But Shino's fingers stay where they are, despite the chakra. Neji pulls his chakra back slightly, not wanting to damage the chuunin's hands.

"Don't," Shino says, his voice just shy of a command. He is silent for several seconds after Neji allows the energy to flow back normally across his palm.

"Can you feel it?"

Neji frowns, but before he can ask what it is he's supposed to feel, Shino's hands move, fingertips lifting away from his palm. But he can still feel Shino's fingers. The sensation itself is an odd one, like his chakra is being compressed, transferring the sensation of touch without the actual physical contact. Odd, but not altogether unfamiliar. It reminds him of the rare times his opponents were within his kaiten when he started the technique: the pressure of something there that shouldn't be, of chakra that is meant to be moving being blocked. Or like his fight against the Oto-nin, where the man's chakra-infused webs dragged Neji to a halt, preventing him from spinning.

"Hinata told me that the jyuuken requires the user to shove outward with her chakra," Shino explains. Neji bites down the urge to point out that the Hyuuga fighting style is a little more complicated than that. "From what I've seen of your kaiten, it is the same. You shove a large amount of chakra away from you, adding the spin to aid the deflection of weapons."

The words come slowly to Neji as the idea works in his mind. "A continual projection of chakra?" It can work, he realizes, almost surprised. He knows he can contain his chakra within a certain radius. Expanding that radius and finding and maintaining the right density of chakra—too dense and it will slow him down, too light and it won't provide enough pressure for him to discern his surroundings—will be the difficult parts. If he can get the balance right, he will be able to 'feel' anything solid, any object, around him.

"I have twenty-seven days to learn," Neji says.

The dawn light is just barely warming his exposed skin as he walks barefoot over the river stones. Their earlier chill is gone, but they are still not warm. Neji's concentration is focused on his mental path, but not so focused that he loses the sense of his surroundings completely.

Neji pauses, sandals in his hand right, as he senses the approach of another's chakra signature. He turns his head to the right to face the person attempting to be subtle and failing. The masking of the person's presence is incomplete; Neji can't identify who it belongs to, but he can detect the person just the same. "I know you're there," Neji says, and he doesn't bother keeping the edge out of his voice. He will not tolerate any attempts to make him into a fool.

"Temper, Neji-kun."

"Hiroki-sama." The younger man bows, and not only for the sake of propriety. It's time for him to find out if the puzzle he is putting together is the right one. "Would you allow me to accompany you?"

Neji can almost hear the smile in the Elder's voice. "Do you know where I'm heading?" He hears the quiet slap-slap of flexible sandals as the Elder steps onto the stones with him.

"I think I do, Hiroki-sama," Neji replies. He waits for a moment, and when it becomes clear that Hiroki doesn't plan on taking his arm, Neji continues his slow progress toward the Branch House.

"And what is my destination?"

The Elder laughs when Neji tells him the right answer.

On Neji's twenty-fourth day left of life, Lee and Tenten show up at the clearing. Tenten is still on crutches, but the two of them demand the right to help out their teammate.

Neji points out that they are no longer his teammates, as his jounin commission was resigned by his clan and he is no longer a ninja for the village.

Lee points out that they are his friends and will do anything to give Neji a chance to live.

The next morning they go to a different clearing because the first one is too small to fit them all.

Neji takes a long time preparing to meet the Elders on the evening of his twenty-first day. While he doesn't consider himself a vain person, he knows that many things depend on how this night turns out. It is equal parts his meticulousness and his difficulty in attiring himself in the ceremonial clothing that cause him to spend so long dressing.

He prepares by himself in the silence of his room; Hiroki has not spoken to him since their encounter six days ago. They could not risk it.

There is little activity in this part of the Branch House, as most of the members are eating dinner. Missing the meal does not bother Neji because gives him the opportunity to exit his room without running into anyone. He makes his way, undisturbed, to the building where the Elders and the Head hold their councils.

Neji wears his sandals. Appearances matter with these formal occasions, and arriving with dirty feet will lessen his already low chances. He spent the last six days memorizing this path enough to be able to walk it without hesitation.

The night wind is warm against his face, a residue of the sun's heat preventing it from cooling this early. In two months the nights in Hi no Kuni will be warm enough that residents will sleep with every window open in the hopes of catching a whisper of a breeze. Neji decides it is for the best that he never liked the oppressive heat of summer in the first place.

The silent lie causes the monster in his abdomen to stir again. Neji focuses what concentration he can spare to rein the beast in and hold it fast. He can't afford to let the feeling take him over, not now, not tonight.

By the time Neji reaches the meeting place, he is in control of himself and waits patiently outside the door. On the other side is a small rustle of old voices, the words indistinct for the most part. He doesn't try to catch the words any more than he tries to catch the murmurs of the wind, knowing they will call him in when they are ready for him.

It doesn't take long for the voices to settle into place. He reminds himself not to tense at the silence.

A few heartbeats later and the familiar sound of a door sliding open greets his ears. Neji walks through the new gap, the door sliding back into place the instant he is out of the threshold.

Five steps forward, and then Neji carefully kneels on the floor before the Elders and Head of his clan.

It is time for the pieces of the puzzle to fall together or to fall apart.

To Be Continued

in

Chapter Five: Fulcrum