Pretty: Part II

That evening as he prepared for bed, Neji studied his reflection in the bathroom mirror in an attempt to see what everyone else saw. The first thing that drew his attention was the curse mark scrawled across his forehead. Its elegant appearance belied its more cold purpose and for Neji it was the only feature other than his eyes that was worthy of note.

But then he looked at the other features on his face. His nose was rather stubby, he thought, and his skin was ghastly pale. He burned easily if he didn't take the proper precautions. And the hair that framed his face was dry and in need of a good trim. He often pulled it back with his head band and tie because he lacked the imagination and the interest to do anything else with it. However, his skin was clear of blemishes, his lips full and his bone structure soft and prominent, giving him an oddly feminine look.

Neji frowned deeply at the reflection. Did he really look like…a girl to everyone? Genma had called him androgynous and Neji could hardly imagine a scenario where that would be considered a compliment; his current circumstances aside. Perhaps it was his hair. Maybe he should cut it after the mission. He was reluctant to do so in the past because of his father. Hizashi had wanted his son to keep the more traditional look of the Hyugas and it was the only thing that Neji could clearly recall of his father asking of him, other than living up to his responsibilities as a protector of the Main House. But looking at pictures of his father with his strong jaw line and hard features, Hizashi was probably never mistaken for a girl.

Hesitantly, Neji's hands reached up to pull the hair back away from his face. He studied his reflection more intently and noted that with his hair pulled back his overall appearance was even softer—delicate.

With a huff he dropped his hands, letting the hair fall back into place as he resolutely turned away from the mirror. "Ridiculous," he muttered to himself. He was wasting time. He still had to go through the report before morning.

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Imai Yuu is 42 years of age, 5 feet, 7 inches in height and 146 pounds in weight. When he's not making drug deals or cutting up anyone who crosses him, he enjoys Chinese opera, fine dining and knife collecting. He strongly dislikes rude behavior and abhors ninjas.

Neji studied the picture of his target carefully. Based on what Tsunade and Genma said of him, Neji expected the drug lord to look as cruel and ugly as his actions and trade portrayed him to be, but the pictures depicted a man that was affluent, athletic in build and good-natured. Looking at the picture, one would not think the same individual would be capable of cutting out the tongues of snitches and leaving behind the gutted remains of his competitors for their children to find but Neji had long since learned that monsters come in all shapes and sizes.

He went through all the pictures using his skill at reading micro expressions to assess the emotion and circumstances, searching for weaknesses. As far as Neji was concerned, everyone wore their emotions on their sleeve. No matter how much they tried to hide it, there were always tells and Neji's Byakugan could sort them all out.

Leaving the restaurant: Anxious

Arriving at the opera: Happy

Leaving a meeting with dealers: Pissed

Imai was better than most when it came to covering his emotions and to an untrained eye he looks like an emotionless void but Neji could see them easily. He might as well be holding up a sign.

He flipped to the next picture and stopped. It was a close up shot of the lord arriving home in a carriage. The emotion was sadness. Neji made a note to follow up and learn more about the circumstances surrounding that picture. He suspected that this was the weakness he was looking for.

The man's eyes gave it away; the faraway gaze as though he was remembering something from the past and it struck an intimate cord within Neji.

His father had worn that look often towards the end of his life.

Regret.

Neji promptly slammed the file closed not liking where that train of thought was taking him.

~ TBC ~