Ricochet

"I seriously hate this place; we should raze it to the ground. We'd be doing the world a favor, honestly."

Prehistoric cesspool.

The Yamanaka heiress grumbled as she crushed another insect the size of her fist and, with tissue, scooped up the carcass and proceeded to dump it outside an open window. Umenouchi Island, located just off the coast of Amegakure, could go to hell for all the blonde cared. The bugs were big, the terrain was swampy, and the people were ornery. The smell of stagnant water permeated the air to the extent that, having been on the island for three weeks now, Ino smelled it in her dreams. She couldn't wait to find out where the stupid Ozuni clan were hiding their stupid forbidden scroll so that she and Neji could destroy it and high tail it out of there. In the other corner of their log cabin, Ino could just barely hear the soft shuffling of items as Neji too got himself ready in full formal wear.

"You want to besiege and slaughter over a few bugs?", he deadpanned as he straightened his hakama. He'd been unusually snappish with her for the past few weeks, ever since their little fallout in the hospital. Ino grunted in response while she kept working at her hair, twisting the long braid in loops as she piled it atop her head and inserted pins to keep it in place. Really, she'd besiege and slaughter, as her partner had so eloquently put it, just for the sake of clean-smelling air and clear water. She hated to think of what the semi-murky water they bathed in was doing to her delicate skin. Impurities. Ick. She felt violated every time the liquid touched her and swore her complexion was losing its usual pink vibrancy. Ino sighed.

"I just wish we were somewhere more civilized instead of this...marsh pit. I don't know how the locals stand it here."

The locals, as Ino called them, consisted of three small towns settled at edges of the island and a clan settlement at the island's center. There couldn't have been more than two thousand people on the entire thing, but the people were notoriously adverse to foreigners and therefore frustratingly tight-lipped. Three weeks into the mission, and Ino still hadn't uncovered a scrap of information concerning the scroll they needed. That only served to fuel her resentment, and she mentally prepared herself to be the charming young maiden from Water Country, as was her cover for the night's events. Even with the difficulty of tracking the scroll, Ino had managed to secure an invite for herself and her partner to an exclusive political conference. She wasn't a professional spy for nothing; though the locals spoke sparsely with her, Ino had prattled on and on spinning lie after lie until she was generally considered harmless, if not irritating, and invited to social gatherings. Her mouth was her tool and the longer she spoke the more her listeners had relaxed their defenses, swallowing up her innocent tales with little to no suspicion. She even got them to believe that her 'attendant' was mute. Fools.

A pretty face and sweet words will get you everywhere.

It was high time the mindwalker got access to the Ozuni compound and tonight she would make her move. Ino pushed one last stick into her high golden crown of hair before giving her reflection a final check and moving away from the mirror. Neji stood by the door ready and waiting, an imposing vision in black and gold robes with his hair neatly tied back in it's customary ponytail and forehead covered with a simple band of fabric. His gaze held a level of impatience she was unaccustomed to coming from him, and Ino found a little comfort in the thought that he must have wanted to get out of Umenouchi Island just as badly as she did. He opened the door for her, already slipping into the behavior of his cover role, and Ino led the way.

Neji walked beside her in the fading evening light, closely enough to show familiarity and far enough to be considered appropriate in the company of an unwed girl. He held a lit lamp in one hand chasing away the oncoming shadows unnecessarily; he could see just fine but appearances had to be maintained as they milled around with civilians who stared as they passed. They reached their destination shortly, a quaint building in need of some repair, and blended into a stream of people pouring in. They found the room hosting the conference and settled in along the wall with the rest of the audience. The speakers began some minutes later, and the old man seated next to Ino found that to be the opportune moment to make passes at her. He cheesed at her with a snaggle tooth smile and Ino could smell the alcohol on his breath. Leave it to her to find the one alcoholic in the room and sit next to him.

"I heard it were some foreigners 'round town, but I didn't know you'd be as young n' pretty as ya are. What's yer name, miss?"

She wanted to bare her teeth at him for distracting her from the speeches - information is imperative to success, as her father would say - but she hid her displeasure in a bright smile after giving herself a mental pep talk.

Play your part, Ino, just play your part. You are the leading lady and this is your stage. Give a performance worthy of thunderous applause.

"Shinohara, Tsubaki."

"Ooo, such a pretty name too! Now that there ain't your husband, is it?"

She was cringing on the inside. She knew the pathetic steps to a civilian's seduction strategy: give compliments, ask about the marital status, and extend the invitation for a roll in the sheets. It was so rudimentary that Ino wondered how civilian girls fell for such garbage; surely kunoichi weren't the only females with standards? Even Fujiwara in all his crudeness was less repulsive by comparison.

"Heavens, no. This is my attendant. He accompanies me everywhere."

She stressed the emphasis thickly in hopes that the implication sunk into his decrepit little mind.

"Aw, surely that can't be true! A cute little thing like you could slip away from him for a few hours, couldn't ya?"

Bloodlust was not something Ino was known for, but for the second time this year she badly wanted to kill someone. The knowledge that she couldn't -shouldn't, really. It was more a matter of guidelines and protocol- was killing her. While acerbic wit and being manipulative tended to be core parts of her personality, neither characteristic was effective when her target's mind was muddled by intoxication. Perhaps this was cosmic retribution for being a known tease?

Please, Kami, spare me from this hell. Spare me from this hell. Sparemefromthishell.

In her peripheral vision Ino scanned Neji's face. He seemed to be conveniently engrossed in the politician's speech, paying absolutely no mind to her situation and she bit the inside of her lip angrily. This was her own fault. Since she went around telling everyone he was mute, of course he couldn't say anything to make the old pervert back off. Ino decided to try politely ignoring her pest and his thinly veiled innuendo, fixing her eyes in a stare straight ahead and willing her ears to tune out his advances. Undaunted after several more attempts at flirting, the old man soon turned to more physical tactics, his wrinkled, age-spotted hands wandering over her lower leg, thigh, and backside every few minutes. His face lit up in amusement every time her hand discreetly swatted his away.

It was a long two hours. Any pertinent information the speakers disclosed about the Ozuni clan she'd have to get from Neji later, she hadn't had a single free moment to concentrate. As the meeting adjourned Ino made a conscious effort not to bolt out, gracefully rising and making short, ladylike strides as she turned and left. She didn't see her partner stretch out his arm to deliver an imperceptible tap to the pervert's back - effectively exploding his heart in his chest, the body slumping forward as if the man had simply passed out.

Back in the cabin, Ino hurriedly pulled the embellishments out of her hair and worked at removing her formal furisode, trying not to rip it in irritation. If putting one on was hard, getting it off was harder. Across the room Neji had already removed his robes, replaced them with his usual gear, and was politely averting his eyes. He even had his henge in place already, his skin warmed to a russet hue, eyes darkened slightly to a citrine color and hair short. Very short.

"Ugh. Neji, could you come here? I think I made a knot."

"Don't you know the Rope Escape Jutsu?"

What, was Neji PMSing or something? Kami, she was getting sick of his attitude. It was like he was attempting a personal record for the title of Longest Temper Tantrum Held and she was the sole recipient of his irritation. And when he wasn't tossing passive aggressive remarks at her he was...nonverbal. It was as if he really was a mute. He was doing that a lot lately; deviating from the norm. Ino didn't like it. Between that and the odd stares she caught him giving her the past few weeks when he thought she wasn't looking, her nerves were fraying.

"Yes, but this is silk. You have to be gentle with silk. Just come here."

Neji cast her a wary glance, hesitating before he finally stood and walked over to help the kunoichi trapped in her own clothes. It wasn't as if she were playing the coquette and coyly trying to seduce him, if that was what he was thinking. There was indeed a knot in the back of Ino's decorative obi and Neji made light work of it, the fabric going lax in his hands as the kimono itself loosened, the V of the folded material sliding daringly low with nothing to restrain it. Though it was brief, Ino caught the quick movement of Neji's eyes reflected in the mirror as they flicked downward before he backed up, retreating to his corner of the room.

Huh. Even well-mannered Hyuuga are still men.

Gingerly removing the garment, the blonde was dressed in her purple outfit within seconds and pulling on her sandals.

"Is the clan member still in your sights?"

"Nearly all of the island is within my sight."

Ino decided to let that comment slide. To be fair, Neji's scope of vision really did span most of Umenouchi Island - the only blindspot being the Ozuni compound. It was not exactly invisible, he could pinpoint it's location easily enough, more like a large black spot in his Byakugan vision. The two of them suspected the clan had a specialized barrier of sorts surrounding it, but whether it existed to keep others out or keep something in they couldn't be sure. To be cautious for the sake of the mission's success they would split up; Ino would infiltrate and look for the scroll while Neji would carefully observe from the outside, watching with his regular eyesight for the slightest hint of trouble.

"How far from us is she?"

She inquired again about the target, a lone female from the clan who'd been in attendance at the political conference.

"Just beyond the log pile at the forest edge."

"Well then, shall we?"

She gestured at the door and Neji turned his eyes away from wall and nodded.

Under the starless night sky, they crept upon the target as silently as ghosts and Neji caught Ino's body as her spirit abandoned it.

Ino was disturbed to find that, in her borrowed body, once she entered the Ozuni clan's territory she could no longer link minds with Neji. It was a rather foreboding sign if you asked her, and a part of her mind whispered It's a trap. It's a trap. She ignored it. What good would paranoia do here, in the belly of the beast, so to speak?

She walked. Not daring to distract herself by searching her body's memories, Ino wandered around the compound tentatively exploring hallways and peeping into doors. This would go a lot faster, she thought enviously, if I had the help of shadows or ink monsters or summons. Unluckily, she didn't and resigned herself to the task at hand since she couldn't get prior knowledge of where they were keeping the scroll. Her search continued further and further beyond the twists and turns of long hallways and narrow corridors until she came across a door not visibly different from the others, but lightly thrumming with chakra. Bingo. She dispelled the jutsu in one swift handsign and let herself in.

Ino barely got a good look around when she felt a presence drawing close and hand to come right back out, replacing the jutsu on the door and walking away from it like she'd never stopped there. In just moments she nearly collided with someone turning the corner, a male of about her age with a crooked nose. He wore a thin yukata meant to sleep in and stood with his arms crossed, each hand invading the opposite's sleeve.

"What are you doing in this wing of the house, Retsuki?"

Ino rubbed at her neck and gave him a convincingly tired look.

"Just walking. Can't sleep."

His eyes narrowed. "Come, I'll walk you back to your quarters."

She only nodded, following the man as he stepped around her and led the way. She felt him slow down before he finally came to a stop in front of a plain door and looked at her expectantly. Ino cancelled the jutsu.

Back in her body Ino blinked, pushing herself up to an upright position and turning to meet her partner's gaze.

"Well?"

"It's in a treasure room beside some huge tapestry. It's like a maze in there, though. I passed about seven hallways and maybe thirty doors. It's pretty big. I didn't have a chance to find any alternate routes to it before someone got suspicious, so I'm guessing we've got this one shot - straight in, and straight out."

Neji inclined his head slightly in agreement. "I'll go with you."

Ino did a quick henge no jutsu, lightening her hair to a dull white and transforming her eyes to a rusty red color. She inspected her new look, shortening her hair to angled bob before deeming it different enough for her not to be recognized in case things went wrong and someone actually saw her. She was relieved to find that, once Neji had crossed over the territorial boundary with her, she was once again able to communicate telepathically with him.

It was risky, just breezing into the place via the front door, but also much less suspicious. A clan would expect and prepare for an intruder trying to sneak in from widows and hidden entries, but who would suspect the main entrance? Not the Ozunis, that's who. The foyer was blessedly empty as the pair ventured inside walking along briskly yet catiously. Neji took in every detail of the spaces they passed while Ino navigated the labyrinth with expert percision. Let it never be said the blonde didn't have a good memory. Some distance in Neji haulted, signalling Ino to continue on while he stood guard.

Eight minutes passed and Neji heard someone approaching.

Hurry up, Yamanaka.

I need more time!

We're out of time. Withdraw, now.

Just thirty more seconds. I'm still disarming the protection jutsu around the scroll.

Neji felt deja vu. Hadn't they had almost that exact exchange before? The seconds ticked by and he counted every footstep as the clan member drew closer. At the thirteenth footfall, he summoned his chakra.

Ino's brain was throbbing, not used to the strain of her rarely used Shoukyouseishin no Jutsu. A lot of chakra and concentration went into the mind erasing technique just in it's regular performance; using the jutsu en masse had stretched her limits to the point that she felt proud that she was still conscious and able to walk. If not for her adrenaline rush she knew she probably couldn't. Her henge had been dropped during the action and on the front of her thigh the chakra storage point faded into a faint outline. The cost of covering their tracks was paid in staggering amounts of chakra.

Her attention drifted over to the Hyuuga, locating and assessing the severity of his wounds. He too had been forced to drop his henge in order to focus his chakra solely on combat, his Byakugan still activated despite the fact that some of his more serious injuries ought to have made it hard to concentrate. She shook her head, advancing towards him and knowing that patching him up would zap her energy and force them to make camp somewhere near here. In all honesty, it had to be the twelfth time since she'd worked with Neji that he'd cheated death. They really didn't get paid enough for this.

Neji could see everything, and he didn't like what he saw. The barrier was down, no longer impeding his range of vision and the scroll was damaged, ripped and bloodied but still in their possession. Neji suspected those two facts were related; he did not believe in coincidences. What was more was Ino hadn't made it out unscathed either; he could see that her chakra had mostly evaporated and she hadn't even healed herself yet. She had a nosebleed and a trickle of blood was running out of one of her ears. Even without medical knowledge Neji knew that wasn't a good sign. She had shown the clan unprecedented mercy by wiping their memories of the past few hours; he had been ready to exterminate them.

Even now, outfit soiled in blood and in complete disarray, Ino was extraordinarily gorgeous. Kind. Clever. Grace-

He shut off that runaway train of thought before it could arrive somewhere he didn't want to go. Scoping the area once more to verify the safety level, Neji took a seat on the ground to catch his breath. After several seconds he laid flat on his back, glowering up at the sky. His mind was as weary as his body, and only one bent knee and the tension in his splayed hands indicated that his guard was not completely down, contrary to appearance. He listened to the crunch of gravel under his partner's feet as she came to sit beside him.

Ino sighed and reached her hands out to heal Neji, but he jerked away as if dodging fire arrows.

"Don't", He growled the word at her and Ino stilled, confused. He didn't want her touching him, not right now. Not when he felt like the press of her skin on his would sizzle and scorch in a way he'd never be able to forget. Not when she was leaning over him with those fathomless blue eyes and he was already fighting the urge to pull her down to him.

The mindwalker lowered her eyes at him, her lips thinning into an unhappy line, and proceeded to heal him anyway. Ino would have none of his unreasonable brooding. She'd just have to take the Hyuuga's wrath because she was not going to run the risk of letting him die while she replenished her chakra reserves; you could not heal the dead. Her expression lapsed into something more schooled, professional, and Neji marveled at the quelling look in her eyes. He tried not to notice how much he relaxed under Ino's touch, how he was too used to the feel of her palms caressing him. Her chakra felt like a cool breeze blowing through his body.

He grimaced and looked away. When she was finished with the worst of his injuries, they stood and started a slow pace back towards their cabin. Halfway there, Ino broke the silence.

"I had it under control, I didn't need your help. I don't need-"

Suddenly bitter, he grabbed her shoulder and roughly turned her back to face him, taking a step closer to her in the process.

"Me? Yes, you do."

Somehow, with him looking at her that fervently she couldn't deny it. She couldn't stop her eyes from roaming over the angles of his face, along his jawline and settling on his lips before she tore her gaze away.

Against his will Neji noticed how her eyes darkened momentarily before she moved away, noticed that her eyes often darkened from clear afternoon skies to a deep azure color whenever he was in close proximity. He fought the urge to step into her space again; to make her look at him like that again. Then he curled his hands into tight fists at his sides and willed himself to ignore her, him, this. This...thing between them that shouldn't even exist. This thing that knocked his world off kilter, scrambling his emotions and disorienting his logic. She was like a poison coursing through his veins, spreading, conquering.

Control, he ordered himself, control.

"Oh Lee, you opened the Gates again, didn't you?"

The brunette frowned, her eyebrows meeting worriedly as she ran a hand over her former teammate's forehead. She'd heard he returned from a mission in pretty bad shape and, having no family, Tenten hated the thought that he'd have no visitors. Nobody deserved to be alone like that.

"Every time you do that it shortens your life."

She supposed it was the lesser of two evils, to shorten his own lifespan in order to survive battle, but Tenten still couldn't say for sure if it was woth it. The assurance of living to see another day was tempered by the knowledge that you were numbering those days remaining. Being granted the inhuman strength and speed to crush enemies almost without resistance, only to heavily damage your own body in return. She remembered their sensei, both as he was in their gennin days and his condition as he left Konoha for the last time. When they were young he was a man made of solid muscles, bulging and intimidating like he was carved from stone. At just thirty-two years old, Gai had been aging inside out. His once strong, pliable biceps had warped into hardened scar tissue and his calloused, gentle hands had been gnarled and contorted from constant abuse. And only a med-nin could know what shape his heart must have been in after years of the strain from his extreme taijutsu techniques.

"Tenten?"

Her head turned sharply to the voice that interrupted her internal monologue. She didn't know who she'd expected to see, but she didn't expect it to be Haruno Sakura. Tenten removed her hand from Lee's forehead and primly straightened her posture.

"Are visiting hours over?"

The pinkette's eyes widened briefly before shaking her head, shaking out whatever thought had given her pause.

"Oh, no. Nothing like that. I didn't know anyone was visiting him, I just...I felt a lot of chakra coming from this room. I just came to see what happened."

Sakura's boots clicked quietly as she came to Lee's bedside, skilled hands hovering over his body as she ran diagnostics. Her head tilted ever so slighty as she finished up, biting part of her bottom lip with a look of puzzlement clear on her face.

"He's fine. Nothing abnormal."

Tenten relaxed. Lee had to be fine, it wasn't a choice. She and Neji couldn't handle any more loss in their lives, not this soon.

"Thank you for taking care of him."

"It's no problem. This is why I chose this training." Sakura smiled wide, placing a hand on Tenten's shoulder. Then she stiffened, the expression dropping from her lips immediately and replaced by surprise. Tenten noticed.

"What?"

Sakura opened her mouth, then closed it and Tenten felt a warming sensation as the medic's chakra entered her body, probing. The feeling vanished suddenly when Sakura removed her hand.

"It wasn't him, it was you." Relief crept into her voice, happy to have solved the puzzle. The smile returned.

"Me?"

"Yeah, you. Why didn't you tell me you were pregnant?"

A / N : FYI, if your ears and nose are bleeding at the same time, that can be a serious sign of brain trauma. Somehow I'm a little disappointed with this chapter, idk why. I may have rushed it a bit. But anyway, this punctual update is thanks to Shourin, who kindly pleaded that I not torture you all with my procrastination. Thanks are also owed to Sasina, one of my original fans. If not for her encouragement in my first ventures of Naruto fanfiction, I might not have been still hanging around here after 4 years :)