Chapter Six: Wingman or Friends Are For Distracting Masochists

Neji hadn't been sleeping well as was evident by the large purple bags that marred his generally unmarred skin. Neji had always been on the stand-offish side of the personality spectrum, but now he was simply appalling. The majority of Artsuma Takeda's servants had learned to run screaming with terror upon the disgruntled shinobi's approach. Otherwise they would fall victim to his spasmodic shouting fits and unpleasant glares.

Part of Neji's problem was that he had no leads and, perhaps even more depress, part was that he was completely friendless. No one seemed concerned with his difficulties. Artsuma Takeda merely wanted to be sure that anyone who threatened his family wouldn't get away with it.

Lucky for Neji, his mood was about to lighten considerably, for early that morning, reinforcements arrived in the form of one Rock Lee. It was difficult for Artsuma Takeda to find a servant who wouldn't threaten to quit upon being asked to knock on Neji's door, but the man was persistent particularly because Lee made him feel incredibly uncomfortable.

Lee ignored Neji's usual requests to respect his personal space and embraced Neji when the shinobi arrived in Artsuma Takeda's study. The aforementioned client quickly and somewhat rudely excused himself from their presence and exited with most haste.

"Please let me go, Lee," Neji said tiredly. He was greatly relieved that Lee was finally there.

"Of course, my youthful comrade," Lee said loudly. "The esteemed Hokage regrets that she did not send your team along, but it seems that this mission is far more dangerous than even you know, my friend."

Neji blinked at him. "What does that mean?"

Lee's face took on a look of seriousness Neji had never seen before. He lowered his voice. "What I am about to tell you is S-rank classified. No one else can know, not even the Artsumas."

"Tenten?" Neji asked.

"When we find her, she may know," Lee replied. "It has to do with Lady Kuma and… Orochimaru."

Neji's blood ran cold. "You didn't just say what I thought you did. I need my ears cleaned or something, right?"

"No, my friend," Lee said gravely. "You heard me correctly. Do you know of Orochimaru's family history?"

"He was an orphan at a young age," Neji replied. "Any other relatives were from outside of the village, but the families were estranged. He had no one."

"Yes. Tsunade-sama informed me that before Orochimaru's death, the Research Department of ANBU was looking up his genealogical records and trying to find his existing relatives." Lee began pacing. "After we were certain of his demise, however, the research was essentially halted and used only as a training exercise for new trainees learning how to pick up and continue someone else's research."

"So the research continued, though slowly," Neji reasoned.

"Yes, and just recently, there was a breakthrough," Lee said.

"And?" Neji waited to her what he expected to come out of Lee's mouth. Only them would it be real.

"Although the connection is very, very distant, Kuma is Orochimaru's last living relative."

"And his abilities," Neji said, "has she inherited any of them?"

"That is for us to investigate under Tsunade-sama's orders. Though the fire in which her parents died is something to be highly suspicious of," Lee added. "We have the authority to bring her to Konoha if she has powers that she cannot control."

"I was going to speak with Shou and Kuma today now that they've calmed down a bit," Neji said at last.

"Yes," Lee said, "but first tell me about how Tenten was kidnapped. Gai-sensei and I were most anxious when we were told and Gai-sensei was upset that Tsunade-sama would not permit him to come as well."

Neji nodded and began to narrate the tale, relieved to have an audience that cared properly and reacted the way he did. Lee was indignant and worried as Neji was which perhaps made him feel that he hadn't been overreacting all this time as a nagging little voice in his head had told him constantly.

"I don't have any leads. I should have still been able to find them with my Byukagan, but they disappeared without a trace." Neji sighed with frustration. "I don't know what I'll do if we don't get any leads from Shou and Kuma… probably kill someone," he added darkly.

"My friend, that kind of talk is very un-youthful," Lee said indignantly. "You must snap out of it. I don't want to hit you, but I will if I must!"

Neji looked at Lee, amazed at how serious he was. "Alright, I'm sorry. I'm just frustrated is all. It's been hell here."

"I do not wish to insult you by saying this, Neji," Lee began.

"But," Neji prompted impatiently.

"But perhaps it would be best if you let me do most of the questioning when we talk with Kuma and Shou."

"Why?"

"Well… from the description of how you brought them home," Lee said uncomfortably, "I suspect that they may not like you very much."

It took every ounce of Neji's composure not to scream, "I don't give a shit if they don't like me! Tenten's life is at stake!" But he didn't and that was what mattered. Painfully, he swallowed his Hyuga pride and said, "If you think that's best."

Kuma and Shou had certainly been dreading Neji's visit. They very reluctantly opened the door and allowed Lee and Neji to enter the room to which they had been confined. At Neji's urging Artsuma Takeda had kept their return as secret as possible in order to protect Tenten. They didn't think the kidnappers would take to kindly to her not being Kuma.

Neji sat down, annoyed that he seemed to have the only room in the entire mansion with uncomfortable chairs. "You don't mind if I sharpen my weapons while we talk?" Neji asked. "I've been so busy I haven't been taking care of the blades." Shou and Kuma actually did mind, but Neji didn't wait for their reply and pulled out a kunai and a whetstone, ignoring Lee's stern look.

"Actually," Neji said, holding up the kunai so they could see the number "10" engraved on the hilt, "this one isn't mine. It's Tenten's." At Shou's and Kuma's blank looks he added, "The girl who was kidnapped pretending to be you."

"Oh," Kuma said softly, almost inaudibly. Her dark eyes were mesmerized by the shinning blade.

"Would you like to see her picture?" Neji asked, his voice matching her softness.

Kuma nodded slight and watched Neji pull a glossy, but slightly torn photo out of his pocket. It had been taken a long time ago when they were still genin. Gai-sensei had insisted on having a photo of all four of them together. It had been the only time Neji had ever consented to having his picture taken. "That's her on the right," he said, pointing to Tenten. "She's a bit older now, but…" He trailed off.

"She's very pretty," Kuma said.

Neji sighed. "Yes, she is, isn't she?"

"Is that your father?" Shou asked Lee loudly. His male pride demanded that he be part of the conversation.

"No," Lee replied. "That is our mentor, Gai-sensei."

"I know you may not care about your father's business," Neji said, "but we have to find Tenten. That means figuring out who took her and why. We think you can help us."

"Will you answer our questions?" Lee continued as Neji faltered.

Shou and Kuma looked at each other. Shou may not have been terribly moved by Neji's heartfelt actions, but Kuma certainly was. Despite his flaws, Shou truly did love her and he could see the plea for compassion in her eyes. "We'll try," he said at last.

"First we want to hear your story," Lee said. "Why did the two of you elope without telling anyone?"

Shou came up with an answer first. "I imagine that at least you, Neji-san, have figured out what kind of man my father is." Neji nodded to show he did indeed understand and Shou continued, "It was my idea to leave. We ran away and got married in a town not too far from here. Kuma wanted to say goodbye to a few people here before we left forever, but you found us when we came back to do that. That's it really."

Neji was disappointed with the answer. "Lee, do you have any paper?" he asked suddenly.

Lee, who was in the secret (or perhaps not so secret) habit of occasionally writing very bad love poetry about Sakura, reluctantly surrendered the small pad of paper he kept with him at all times for such purposes. Neji masked his disgust as he turned to a black page and did his best to forget the few horrible phrases he had glimpsed ("with feel that balance delicately like a flamingo").

Neji was not an artist my any means, but he could produce a decent enough sketch that its subject was at least recognizable. He shoved the finished sketch of Orochimaru in front of Kuma and Shou. "Have either of you ever seen this man? Not necessarily any time recently either."

They shook their heads. Neji frowned. He had a feeling that Kuma wasn't going to say anything in front of Shou and he was desperate to believe that at least Kuma knew something. Imperceptibly, he nudged Lee with his elbow and made a small motion towards Shou.

Lee understood. "Shou-san, if you would please some with me, there are something things I'd like to talk with you about in private."

Shou looked over at his wife, clearly reluctant to leave her. "Don't worry," Neji told him. "I'll keep an eye on her while you're gone."

"This won't take long?" Shou asked Lee.

"Not at all," Lee replied cheerfully, wondering if he was lying.

Kuma looked at Neji, smiling nervously as Shou and Lee left, the latter quickly improvising to keep the former busy. Neji studied the newlywed for a moment. "Are you afraid of me?" he asked.

"A little," she admitted.

"You don't need to be," Neji told her. "I want you to know that I am on your side. I will protect you. Do you understand, Kuma-san?" She nodded. "Now, tell me what you couldn't say in front of your husband."

Kuma blushed deeply. "I, well, we didn't just leave because of Shou's father," she blurted out. "We were running because they were after me."

"Who?"

"I—can I borrow that paper?" she asked. Neji handed her Lee's notebook and watched as she turned the page and began sketching furiously. A minute or so later, she had produced very realistic drawings of three people. One was a female with a very bushy head of hair, the other two were males, one very boring and non-descript in appearance and the other with a large amount of body art drawn on his face which pained Neji to look at.

"You had an… incident with these people?" Neji asked.

"About a week before Shou and I ran away, they tried to kidnap me in town. I managed to run away long enough to get to a crowded street, but I didn't think they were going to give up. Clearly they didn't. I knew they wanted me specifically. They said their leader needed me because I have some sort of power or something."

"That man I drew before," Neji said, "are you sure you've never seen him?"

"I'm positive. He's creepy-looking. I would remember."

Neji bit his lip, wondering if he should tell her, when a new idea occurred to him. He turned to a new page in Lee's notebook and began sketching again. This time it was a picture of Kabuto. "What about him?"

Kuma frowned. "I… I think so… I remember now. He was this strange man who kept asking me a lot of funny questions about—wait, do I have this weird power that people keep talking about?" She looked panicked and afraid.

"I don't know for sure, but recently, I've just found out that you're the long-lost relative of a former Konoha shinobi," Neji told her. There was no need to reveal the gory details. "You may just have a reserve of untapped chakra, which is the power that allows ninja to perform jutsus. Untapped chakra is extremely potent and grows more powerful the longer it is latent."

"So how do you know if I have this 'chakra' stuff?"

"My clan has a special ability called the Byukagan which allows me to see chakra circulatory systems," Neji said. "If I activate this ability, I should be able to find out."

"I want to know," Kuma said softly, "please."

Neji closed his eyes and stiffened. "Byukagan." Kuma flinched when she saw the veins around his eyes bulge outwards. Neji scanned her chakra circulatory system. The sheer force of her chakra astounded him. There was so much power there. No wonder people were after her. If she ever wanted to develop her potential it would be one hell of an exhausting release. If she wasn't determined enough, her chakra would probably consume and destroy her. She might be better off just having it sealed, he thought.

He let go of the Byukagan and his veins faded back. "Well?"

"You have a lot of chakra," Neji told her honestly. "More than I expected."

"Is that good or bad?" Kuma asked.

"It depends on a lot of factors. Whatever you decide to do with that chakra, you will have to come with me to Konoha." He saw her start to grow fearful. "Nothing bad will happen to you, I promise."

"Thank you."

"This matter will have to wait," he continued. "It's urgent that Lee and I find Tenten before something awful happens. If there's anything else you know, now is the time to tell me. Did they say anything about their leader?"

"They were having an argument about whether it was a boy or a girl. I didn't catch any names though."

"And where did they first attack you?"

Kuma told him the street names quickly. They could hear Lee talking loudly down the hall, returning with Shou. "If you think of anything else, let me know. Don't worry about your chakra. It was pretty dormant so most likely nothing will happen until we get you to Konoha."

"Thank you, Neji-san," Kuma said. "I hope you find Tenten-san soon."

Author's Note: I'm hoping that I didn't end up making Kuma a complete Mary-Sue by the end of this chapter. I'm a bit worried about that, but I thought the plot twist was interesting and decided to go with my gut on this one. Anyway, I hope everyone liked this chapter. I wanted to get in one last good update before I head back to school tomorrow (ugh). But on the brightside that means it's back to random inspiration in the middle of math class when functions are boring, and Sonja and I will probably get back into our joint fic, That's What She Said. One more bit of advertising. I just got a Fiction Press account recently and have posted my first piece. You can find the link to my account in my profile, so if you're interested, please take a look. And one last final thing that's not advertising. I just wanted to thank everyone that reviewed and gave me their support about my mom and her medical troubles. I was having a particularly tough day last time I updated and things are definitely going to get better. But you guys were a really big boost for me when I was feeling a bit down and I wanted to thank you for that. And so I'll end this awfully long Author's Note before I do something stupid (happens). Please review.