Anyone see Sai in the last chapter? Sort of fell in love with him there.

Chapter 4

Neji woke to something warm being pushed into his mouth. He pulled open his eyelids with great effort; they felt like they'd been glued tight shut.
A hand. Someone's hand was in his mouth. As he watched, it pressed harder past his lips and its skin was pierced by his teeth. He tasted blood, but he also felt a sort of energy flow into him. He came fully awake with such force it felt like he'd been hit by an avalanche.

"What the—?" Neji recoiled, backing away from the hand. He almost fell flat on his back. His arms and legs were bound with chakra resistant rope. It would be no easy feat to escape with these on. He swept back the hair from over his eyes and now he could see the fire-haired girl, unrolling her sleeve to cover up the bite mark on her wrist. Through her apparent exhaustion, he could tell she was annoyed.

"Don't scream, okay? I just healed you. Look at your arm." She said, rolling her eyes and pointing. It was only after she sank to the ground with a tired sigh that he thought it safe to slowly turn his head to look. His arm—he didn't even remember wounding it—was resealing itself. He gulped as the bone straightened out. He could move it without any pain now.

What happened? Why am I here? Neji concentrated, trying to remember what had happened before he blacked out.

He was running through the forest to the farm to meet up with Hinata. The pig, Tonton, was in his arms. Each time he looked down at her, he had to risk a small smile. The pig's name reminded him so much of his teammate's, Tenten.

All of a sudden she squealed softly, urgently, and he stopped as sharply as if a string had pulled him back. Neji did not make a sound. He focused his Byakugan, and then he could see four shinobi coming his way.

"Warn Hinata." Neji said, hastily. He remembered putting Tonton on the ground. He did not watch to see if she went, because by then, they were already on him. They stood in the branches, watching him.

"Four against one?" He called out.

"Only to save time!" The one with the shark grin said that, laughing.

"Too afraid to fight fair?" Neji retorted, without feeling. He was stalling, so that Tonton would have time to reach Hinata. If his cousin made it all the way to the farm, she would probably be taken as well.

"Hey, Sasuke, can I chop him up some?" Suigetsu's sharp teeth spread into a bloodthirsty grin. He accented it by lifted his sword threateningly.

"We need him to be alive, you dolt." The red-haired kunoichi rolled her eyes.

"What did you call me, Karin?" Suigetsu glared at her from across the clearing. "You know, you've been in a real foul mood today. Just because Sasuke doesn't tell you everything, doesn't mean you need to throw a hissy fit about it."

"You're one to talk!" Karin shrieked. "You—"

"That's enough." This time it was the tall orange haired one who spoke. For such a huge guy, his voice was surprisingly gentle. The two ninjas immediately quieted down. Neji wished they hadn't. Their arguing had been an effective way of stretching time, if nothing else.

"How did you find me?" Neji asked, facing Sasuke this time. "I should have seen you coming."

"We got our chakras masked." Suigetsu answered, grinning again. "I thought Sasuke was just being paranoid, but it really did let us sneak right up on you!" The boy doubled over in laughter.

"You knew we were coming? How?" Neji asked. Even before the question was out of his mouth, he knew the answer. It had been the snake that Hinata saw. Sasuke had known they were coming from the very beginning.

"Enough talking." Sasuke said. They were the first words he had spoken. His tone was enough for Neji to draw chakra to his palms and get ready. Hopefully Hinata had gotten far enough away by now…

"Hey!" Karin's voice roused him out of his thoughts. He glared at her coldly, then looked around the clearing. He only saw two other people, the boys from before. He felt himself relax slightly. Hinata wasn't here. She was on her way to Konoha with all luck.

But something was wrong.

"Where is Uchiha?" He asked with all the dignity of a ninja captured and bound by enemies. He still didn't know why he was alive. For some reason, Sasuke had spared him, even let him recover. What did he want? Information? Neji's lip curled. There was no way he would give any information to him.

"Sasuke went off with—" The girl stopped talking when the white-haired boy, Suigetsu, cleared his throat loudly and made a swiping gesture at his throat. "He went to… get food." She corrected clumsily. Neji's eyes narrowed in suspicion. He went off with what?

He turned his attention back to the other two shinobi. They were around his age, all of them were, and they were sitting a ways off around a small fire. The huge orange-haired one was industriously poking away at the logs, slowly making the fire bigger. He still didn't know that one's name. Suigetsu was lazily flicking invisible specks of dust off of his huge sword, which was balanced on one knee.

Neji tried not to shiver. Between the time that had passed from when he had blacked out and now, dusk had fallen and the day's heat was slowly disappearing.

The girl must have noticed him looking around because she got up and motioned for him to sit by the fire. "You might as well get warmed up."

He regarded her coolly. "Untie me, and I will."

Suigetsu laughed loudly. "When Sasuke comes back, I doubt you'll want to run away. Until then, the ropes stay."

Neji blinked in confusion. What an odd thing to say. Why would I not want to run away?

"Jūgo. Help him." Karin said imperiously. She went to go sit by the fire.

Neji realized that she had been referring to the orange-haired boy, because he stood up from the campfire and walked towards him. Neji tensed up, wishing he had some way of defending himself. Jūgo stopped, holding up his hands. "Easy, I'm not going to hurt you."

Karin sighed in exasperation. "He isn't one of your birds, Jūgo. Just grab him."

After giving him a vaguely apologetic smile, Jūgo grabbed the back of Neji's shirt and lifted him up as if he weighed nothing, carried him to the fire, and put him down gently in comfortable range of the fire, which had begun to crackle cheerfully. Neji tried not to cringe. He just had to bear with this…less than desirable situation until Sasuke came back. If what Suigetsu had said was true, he would be untied then. But the question was, did he want to wait until then? If he tried to leave now, while the odds were only three to one, he'd have a better chance of escaping.

He briefly assessed his situation. Hands bound. Feet bound. Healed arm, still stiff. Small scratches, at least fifteen. Covered in blood, mostly my own. Massive headache. Bruised left shoulder. Burn on right leg. No internal bleeding. No broken bones. No concussion.

All things considered, he was in pretty good shape. If he could just get rid of the ropes on his feet he had a decent chance of getting away.

"When is Sasuke going to get here? I'm starving!" Karin whined, resting her chin in her hands glumly. Neji internally sighed in annoyance. Such complaining would never have been tolerated in any ninja squad, at least not one that he approved of. But then again, nothing about this team was conservative. There was Jūgo, whose gentle demeanor completely contradicted his monstrous strength. Then there was Suigetsu, who seemed to be more shark than boy sometimes. And that sword of his had to be heavier than he was! Also, Karin. Her peculiar style of healing disgusted him, not to mention her blatant disregard for the ninja way of hiding one's emotions. And, of course, there was Sasuke, their leader. Neji had never encountered another team quite like them. If he ever made it back to the village, he would have a lot to tell Tsunade.

Suigetsu looked up from admiring the way his sword caught the firelight and addressed Neji. "So what's up with those eyes anyway?"

"Suigetsu." Jūgo cautioned quietly. He did not look up from the fire.

Suigetsu ignored the comment. "I mean, what's so special about them? They're so creepy. I don't know why Sasuke is so obsessed with them when he already has the Sharingan."

"Hey!" Karin yelled loudly grabbing the front of Suigetsu's shirt threateningly. "You want to tell him everything about Sasuke's plans, idiot?"

Jūgo stood up from the fire looking as if he planned on separating the two, and that was when Neji acted.

This conversation is interesting, but I think it's time for me to leave. Neji scooted closer to the fire as if trying to get warmer. He extended his bound feet slowly into the fire until the ropes singed enough for him to pull free. Chakra resistant they may be, but not flame resistant, he thought with satisfaction. The skin around his ankles and on his feet got a bit burnt as well, but at least now the rope was weak enough for him to pull them apart.

He leapt to his feet, hands still tied behind his back, and aimed a kick at Jūgo. It caught him square in the ribs, and he went flying straight into Karin and Suigetsu. A Hyūga not able to use his hands was severely handicapped, but that didn't mean his taijutsu still wasn't formidable.

Before the three had a chance to untangle themselves for a counterattack, Neji leaped over the fire and ran straight for the darkened cover of trees. He saw a shimmering on the ground, as if he was running over a stream. No, water was flowing out beneath his feet, forming into a pool directly in front of him. Neji stopped. The pool of water shot upwards and formed into Suigetsu. The shark grin never vanished as the boy raised his sword and swung it at Neji.

"You're not supposed to hurt him Suigetsu!" Karin yelled but it was in vain. Neji leaped up, and felt the massive blade slash under his feet. He landed on the flat of the blade and kicked at Suigetsu. Before he could make contact, the boy swung the sword back sharply, catapulting Neji straight into a tree. He had no control of his hands, so Neji was not able to twist away. There was a loud cracking noise as his back impacted the tree trunk and the wood splintered and broke. But before he could slide all the ways down to the ground and probably break his neck, Neji drew chakra to the soles of his feet and stuck himself to the tree. He looked down at Suigetsu, Jūgo, and Karin, his body completely parallel to the ground. Then, he turned around, ran up the tree, and began to leap through the forest and away.

As he ran, he tried to wrap his mind around a plan. They would find him; he couldn't hide. One of them was a chakra sensor, Tsunade had told him that. And judging by the quick and seamless way they had found him earlier today, this was no ordinary chakra sensor. He still didn't know which one of them it was however. He wished he could mask his chakra, as they had done before. But masking one's chakra was no ordinary ability. It must be one that came with the ability to sense and track chakra. If…

Neji saw a pink blur shoot past him. He stopped his flight, only to find himself staring at a small, pink pig dressed in a red jumper. Tonton.

"Tonton." Neji breathed, leaning back heavily against the tree in relief and exhaustion. "Please tell me you found Hinata in time and you came back just to tell me that."

The quiet and high-pitched oink seemed to say, Define 'in time'.

Sasuke led the way to a small town, probably only a few minutes away from the farm Hinata had seen earlier. During the whole time they were going there, she stayed a distance away, head down. Several times she felt his eyes on her, but if she looked up she only saw him walking with his back turned to her.

They stopped at a hill that looked over the town. As far as rural towns went, this one was not that small, made mostly of farmers and craftsmen. Right now the entire town was preparing for the Midsummer's festival, which would be coming up soon. Children ran around helping their parents in putting up decorations and fixing up the town. Hinata felt alienated from such a happy scene. Her cousin was in trouble, and she was afraid of what Sasuke's plans for her might be. How could she celebrate?

She snuck a glance at the boy. Sasuke's eyes were shadowed by his dark hair. It was impossible to see what he thought of the merry going-ons below them.

"Come on." He began to make his way down the hill. Going down it was steep and her feet kept sliding on the loose dirt. By the time she made it down, Sasuke was already walking into a tavern, the only place still open. The rest of the shops had closed early as people began to decorate for the festival. The tavern remained open so that people could get a bite to eat as they worked.

When she stepped inside, Sasuke was already at the counter, bargaining with the tavern keeper. The tables in the place were sparsely occupied by villagers getting in some food and drink before they finished up the day's work. Hinata came to stand a little ways behind him, looking down at her feet. As Sasuke paid the man for some sandwiches, Hinata felt like she was stuck in some dream where everything was wrong and opposite of what it should be. He was her enemy! He had been the one to hurt Naruto so much that the boy had to be bandaged nearly head to toe. He had joined Orochimaru, one of the most despised ninjas to ever have come from Konoha. And now he was planning on destroying her very own village.

Why? Why leave the village, why try to destroy it? When Sasuke had left to join up with Orochimaru, the official reason given to them was that he had done it for power, and revenge. Naruto had left shortly after that, and they hadn't been able to ask him if that was really true. But now Itachi had been killed by Sasuke's own hand. Why was Sasuke trying to destroy Konoha? And how did this link to Madara and Kabuto?

And why are you cooperating with him? The ugly voice inside Hinata whispered. You should be attacking him right now, or trying to escape so that you can get word to Tsunade. Is Neji's life really worth the lives of all the villagers? Hinata quelled the traitorous thoughts, feeling horribly guilty about even thinking of betraying her cousin. Naruto would have never turned his back on the life of a comrade, no matter what. There had to be some way for them both to get out of this without betraying the village.

As they waited for the tavern keeper to make their food, Sasuke sat down on one of the small tables at the window. After a while, Hinata built up her confidence enough to sit down opposite of him. Just come out and ask him, Hinata. He won't kill you here in here…probably.

The girl took a deep breath. "Tell me what you w-want with Neji and me." She said in a faltering voice.

He turned his attention away from the window and fixed his eyes on hers. His expression was unfathomable. She noticed his eyes were void of any trace of the Sharingan; now they were a dark black. She, too, had dissolved her Byakugan before they had entered the town. It was mostly out of habit. Having the bulging veins on her face usually unnerved civilians.

His reply took Hinata completely by surprise. "The Hyūga clan and the Uchiha clan have a lot in common. We both outlive the making of Konoha by centuries. The Sharingan and the Byakugan are both two of the great dōjutsu, the ocular bloodline techniques." He said this in a calm, quiet voice. "Imagine…if their powers were combined. I could do anything."

Hinata found it especially hard to form words. "Th-that's i-impossible." She squeaked.

"There are many things Orochimaru researched." Was all Sasuke said. Hinata wondered if he was bluffing. Was there really a way to combine the Sharingan and the Byakugan?

Hinata bit her lip. If such a way existed, it couldn't need more than one Byakugan user, right? Sasuke didn't need both her and Neji. "Set Neji free. I-I'll do whatever it is you n-need me to do." She said quietly, looking down at her lap. Would he say yes?

Sasuke didn't say anything, because the tavern keeper chose that moment to come over with their food. He handed them a bag of sandwiches. "For the lovely couple." The tavern keeper smiled. Sasuke made an almost amused noise in the back of his throat.

Hinata turned bright red. "W-we aren't—!" Before she could finish correcting the man's mistake, Sasuke grabbed her elbow and pulled her out of her chair. With the other hand he was holding the bag of food. He led them both out of the tavern, where dropped Hinata's arm and began to walk briskly away. The tavern door closed on the man's loud chuckling.

Hinata waited a long while before starting after him. The cool wind felt soothing on her burning cheeks. She took a moment to calm down.

Light was fading fast, and Hinata took a final deep breath and hurried quickly after Sasuke so that she wouldn't lose sight of him.

From the corner of his eye, Sasuke watched as Hinata stumbled towards him. The girl was weak. It was a wonder she was still a ninja. She got nervous too easily. She had fallen for the illusion of her supposedly dead comrade like a gullible child. And yet…

And yet she was willing to sacrifice herself for her cousin. She didn't even know how he was planning on harvesting the Byakugan's power. For all she knew, it could be horribly painful, or mutilating, or even fatal. But the girl was willing to go through with it.

Speaking of which, Sasuke still had to find out how Orochimaru had done it, combining the Sharingan and the Byakugan. When he had still been with Madara, Kabuto had pulled him aside and told him about it. But he had not told him the specific procedures.

After that, he had admittedly become obsessed with the Byakugan. It had so much that the Sharingan lacked. The power to see the chakra pathways, the ability to see over long distances and through solid objects. The Sharingan was many things, but it was not long distance. Not like the Byakugan was.

"Bring back a member of the Hyūga clan. Then I will give you the Byakugan's powers." That was what Kabuto had told him. He did not trust the man, not by a long shot. He had somehow gotten hold of Orochimaru's powers, and was beginning to resemble the deceased sannin more and more. But if he tries anything funny, I'll see it coming with the Sharingan, Sasuke told himself.

He turned his attention back to Hinata. Her face was still slightly flushed from before. Had the comment angered her? Or just embarrassed her? He knew now that her heart was devoted to Naruto. Not that I care.

"So?" Hinata said, finally having caught up with him. "Do you let Neji go or not?"

Sasuke felt his mouth twist into a sneer. The girl didn't know what she was asking. "I will." He would let her Neji go back to the village, but not completely. He figured that if Hinata was willing to do anything for Neji, Neji had to be willing to do anything for Hinata in turn. Such bonds after all were usually mutual. He could have Neji infiltrate the Konoha system, bring back useful information that he could use to weaken the village from the inside. Neji would refuse to do it at first, of course, but when he learned that Hinata's life was on the line…

Oblivious to his plans, Hinata let out a sigh of relief. The two of them walked back to the clearing in silence.

Sorry for the lateness. I was away for most of the week, you see. I'm happy that this chapter is longer. Getting some of the plot worked out slowly. Hope it all makes sense. Thanks for everyone who reviewed last time, and if you didn't review last time, you still hae the chance to do it for this chapter! Yay!