A/N: My sincerest apologies for the delay, what with my job, DeviantArt, and real life in general. I hope this chappie makes up for the long wait.

Special thanks to Lix Lorn the Eeveetrainer for his assistance.

A Fox among the Hounds

Off-duty

All eyes were trained upon him. Angry. Accusing. Swirling blood red.

"Weakling!"

"Filth!"

"You don't even deserve to be in our clan!"

"SHUT UP!" he shouted, lashing out the people surrounding him.

But instead of a solid hit, the person before him simply dispersed into wisps of smoke as did the others. But his ordeal was not over yet; three figures suddenly appeared out of nowhere- a tall blond man, a young silver-haired boy, and a brown-haired girl.

"I should have sent you back to the academy," the blond spoke in a garbled voice. "You are not worthy to be my student."

"But Sensei, I…"

"You're even worse than the devil!" the girl accused, pointing at him. "You just left us to die!"

"No! I swear by my life I would never to that!"

"Of course he's worse than the devil," agreed the boy, "He's a traitor who's robbed us of our lives; he's worse than scum, not even worth spitting on."

And then the red-eyed people from before reappeared, and the taunts and accusations began anew.

"Scoundrel!"

"Murderer!"

"Devil!"

"Monster!"

"Stop it!" He collapsed to his knees. "I SAID STOP IT! NOOOOOOOO!"

"Gah!" Obito Hatake bolted up, panting and covered in a cold sweat. He looked about his surroundings only to see his bedroom swathed in a tranquil darkness.

He turned to the clock on his bedside. It read 2:45 AM.

'Goddammit… Another nightmare…' His eyes moved to a picture beside the clock, and then to an older one beside it. 'Sensei, Kakashi, Rin… I promise I won't let you down this time. This I swear…'

"Ahh… Now this is the life," Kiba sighed contentedly as he lay beneath a tree with Akamaru snuggling up to him. "No missions, no training, no worries… Just us friends, hangin' out this afternoon."

"When you say that, you sound just like Shikamaru," Chouji pointed out between mouthfuls.

"What can I say?" Kiba replied. "Today I don't feel like doing anything…" He trailed off, whistling the remainder of the tune.

"Amen to that," Shikamaru quipped.

It was a special day for Naruto, Kiba, and their friends, since it was their first time to get together again since they were assigned to their teams two months ago.

"Since when did you become Shikamaru's brother?" Naruto asked.

"Ever since I got Obito Hatake for my Jonin-sensei, uh-duh," Kiba shot back, "The guy's practically a slave driver! And to think I thought he was cool."

"At least his methods are effective," Sakura amended, "We're now working better as a team, and we're getting our first C-rank tomorrow."

Naruto could not believe his ears. "So soon?"

Sakura shrugged. "It's Obito-sensei's decision."

"I'm more surprised with how Sasuke decided to work with you," Shino noted. "Why? Because he can be quite mutinous."

"He wasn't that bad to begin with," Naruto said, "It's just that he changed for the worse."

"You mean like that asshole brother of his?" Kiba spat. "I'm just glad he didn't get that far."

The air hung heavy with silence. Everyone knew that the mere mention of Itachi Uchiha was like a stench in the Inuzuka's presence. The canine clan placed loyalty above all other virtues, and what the renegade Uchiha did to his own clan had made him somewhat like a boogieman in their circle.

"Anyway," Naruto piped up, breaking the somber mood, "How 'bout some sparring? I'm tired of loafing around."

Shikamaru's brows furrowed. "And what's wrong with loafing around?"

"Your mom doesn't like it and neither do I," the blond Inuzuka retorted. Beside him, Aomaru barked in agreement.

"Tuh, that's because you're both so troublesome."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Whatever Lazybones." He turned to his other friends. "So how about it? Sparring?"

"Pass," Ino muttered. "No offense, Naruto, but you're an animal in the ring."

"Seconded," Sakura spoke up. "Besides, I'm still aching all over from Obito-sensei's training."

"You might want to train, but we would like to enjoy our day off," Kiba added with a hint of disgust.

"I concur," Shino quipped.

"I agree with Kiba and Shino," Chouji spoke between mouthfuls, "It's a great day to relax."

"HAS EVERYONE BEEN INFECTED WITH THE LAZY VIRUS?" screamed the blond. At the statement, Sakura promptly conked him on the head.

"What is wrong with you?" she asked, her fist steaming from where it made contact with the blond's head.

"But I'm borrrrrreddddddddd!" Naruto whined.

"I'll spar with you, Naruto," volunteered Hinata.

"Thanks Hinata!" he beamed, hugging the pale-eyed girl. "You're an angel!"

At the blond's words, Hinata felt that familiar giddiness overcome her once more and her knees began to buckle. Fortunately, Naruto was still holding her as she teetered back. "Whoa! You aright, there, Hinata? Did you have a spell again?"

There was an audible crack amongst the gaggle of Genin as Kiba slapped a palm over his forehead. "I can never understand how someone can be so perceptive and yet so dense…" he muttered under his breath.

"Woof! (trans: Tell me about it.)"

After Hinata regained her composure, both she and Naruto began their spar with Shino as the referee.

"Alright," said the bespectacled boy, "Everyone good and ready?"

His question was answered by nods from both parties.

"Very well then. Begin!"

Naruto kicked things off by transforming Aomaru into his clone form, and both boy and clone lunged for Hinata, who in turn managed to avoid the attack through a quick, swerving maneuver. Quickly activating her Byakugan, she threw a palm strike at him, but missed. Naruto and Aomaru then double-teamed and attacked once more, but the Hyuuga dodged again with a well-timed baseball slide.

"C'mon Hinata, don't hold back!" Ino cheered from the sidelines.

"Yeah! Retaliate!" Sakura added, "Show 'em what us girls can really do!"

Now Hinata was fighting two fights- physically and mentally. While sparring with Naruto really kept her on her toes, she just could not find herself hurting her crush. The very idea was simply unthinkable.

'Hyuugas do not second-guess,' her father had once said. 'It's either do or don't.'

'You're a very talented kunoichi, Hinata,' Asuma had told her. 'However, your performance seems rather suppressed. In a real battle, you'll have to have quick decision-making skills; otherwise your first fight could very well be your last.'

A straight kick from the beast clone sent Hinata flying, snapping her from her thoughts.

"C'mon Hinata, where's that determination?" Naruto called, "You know you're better than this. Fight back!"

"But I-"

"Don't worry about me," said the blond Inuzuka, "You've gotta watch out for your own skin too, ya know?"

Between trying to clashing ideals and defending herself from her friend's attacks, Hinata felt really besieged. Just then, both Naruto and Aomaru suddenly closed in on her and threw a punch and a leg sweep, respectively.

'True strength lies not with the body, but with the heart,' her mother had once said, 'Fight to defend, not to hurt. Remember that, Hinata.'

'Fight to defend,' her conscience chanted, 'Strong but gentle. Remember who you are.'

Without thinking, there was a burst of chakra swirling about the Hyuuga as she blocked off the attacks with a rather crude version of the Kaiten.

"YEAH! YEAH!" Ino hooted, pumping her fists into the air. "NOW THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!"

Hinata herself was amazed. Despite the sketchy execution, her Kaiten was still powerful to throw Naruto and his beast clone back a few meters.

Brushing his cheek with the back of his hand, the blond Inuzuka grinned up at his female teammate. "Good show there, Hinata. Now, let's get dangerous. Tsuuga!"

"WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING TO MY COUSIN?"

All activity from the sidelines to the sparring ring froze, and everyone turned to look at the speaker, a lean, aristocratic boy with flowing brown locks and pale, lavender eyes. His name was Neji Hyuuga, Hinata's cousin, heir to the Hyuuga Clan, and the top Rookie from last year's graduating class.

Neji was Hiashi Hyuuga's nephew through his twin brother Hizashi. Born into the Branch Family, Neji was destined for a life of servitude to the Main Family which included his uncle, cousins, and the Clan Council. Despite the gender equality movement in Konoha, allowing women to become clan heads as did the Inuzuka, the Hyuuga Clan was a very traditional clan, and only a male Hyuuga could be seen as a legitimate successor; and since Hiashi had no male offspring, he chose Neji, the son of his brother, as his heir.

It was a bold, revolutionary move, cementing the first step of Hiashi's Hyuuga Reform Movement. For decades, the Hyuuga Clan had been segmented into the Main and Branch families, with the Branch Family members sometimes being treated no better than an indentured servant and some of Main Family overstepping their boundaries and abusing their power. With Neji, a Branch Family member, formally inducted into the Main Family, Hiashi aimed to dissolve the division and unite the two families as one.

"Geez Neji, you're such a wet blanket," Naruto grumbled, picking himself up from the ground. "We were just sparring."

"With no adult supervision and using dangerous techniques, no less?" Neji hissed.

"For love of God, quit it with the big brother act, Neji," Naruto shot back, rather exasperated. "I'd rather die than intentionally hurt Hinata, and you know it."

"Ha! He got you there!" Kiba laughed.

Despite the obvious jab, Neji remained as cool as a cucumber. Instead, he smiled very thinly and said, "Then I hope you won't mind if I told you that I saw Obito Hatake making moony eyes at your sister."

Kiba immediately stopped laughing. "What?"

"I'm sorry, let me repeat that. Your. Sensei. Has. A. Crush. On. Your. Sister."

At this point, Kiba had become as pale as a sheet. "I-I think I'm gonna be sick," he muttered lowly. Beside him, Sakura rubbed his back.

Naruto glared at the older Hyuuga. "Thanks a lot for the sleepless nights. You do know that both Kiba and I share the same room."

Neji turned to the blond, still smiling that same, thin smile. "Then payback accomplished."

"Neji, stop baiting them," Hinata chastised lightly, "I agreed to spar with Naruto since no one else would, and I am very much capable of defending myself."

"Very brave and gracious of you, Lady Hinata, but I will not sit quietly when I know that some you are being attacked by some upstart."

"For the last time, it's just a spar!" Naruto all but shouted. "No one was getting hurt."

"Very well, but remember this Naruto- If you hurt my cousin, I will hurt you." He turned to the female Hyuuga. "Anyway, I came here to inform you that there is an important function that requires both our presence. It is imperative that we leave now." His tone was straightforward and authoritative, leaving no room for argument.

Apologizing profusely, Hinata bid her friends goodbye, whilst Neji simply acknowledged them with a curt nod.

"Neji is such a killjoy!" Naruto complained for the nth time that afternoon as he walked home with Kiba, Sakura, and the two ninken. "I know he means well, but he is such a stiff!"

"It's instinct," Sakura explained. "Hinata's like a little sister to him, so it's natural that Neji as the heir and the 'older brother' to protect her."

"That doesn't mean he has to always butt in and ruin all our fun," huffed Naruto.

"You're just mad because you can't spend time with Hinata as much as you want to," Kiba chuckled.

"Haha… Very funny," his brother remarked dryly.

Sakura smirked up at her friend. "Then why are you blushing, hmm?"

"Woof, woof, yip! (trans: Deny all you want, Blondie, but we all know how you really feel about her.)"

Naruto glared at his partner. "And just whose side are you on, Aomaru?"

"Arf, arf! (trans: I can join any side as I please, 'cause you're not the boss of me.)"

"Anyway," Kiba spoke up, "I've been thinkin'… …do you think any of that stuff Neji said was true?"

"What stuff?" Naruto asked, "He's said a lot of stuff."

"You know," said the brunet, "The one about Obito-sensei crushing on Hana." He shivered.

"I wouldn't think too much about it," Naruto replied. "Neji doesn't lie, but he does have a weird, sadistic sense of humor. It's most likely he was just messing with us."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Kiba agreed. "In a village as big as Konoha, what are the chances that Obito-sensei has even met Hana?"

-In an open-air bar in downtown Konoha-

"…blah, blah, blah, and that's why you'll never see me play Sensei to a buncha little hellions- Are you drooling, Cap'n?" asked a young man with spiky brown hair.

"Mmhmm," Obito Hatake replied rather blankly.

"I'll take care of this," said a third man. "Hey Obito, she's looking back at you."

"Really?" Obito quickly snapped out of his daze. "Asuma, Tenzou, hide me! Quick!" But upon seeing the mirth etched on his friends' faces, he frowned, making him look like the Uchiha that he once was. "Real hilarious, you guys."

"All in good fun," Asuma remarked good-naturedly. "Seriously, this is the millionth time we've caught you fantasizing about that Inu-"

"Shh! Not so loud!" Obito whispered, "She might hear us."

"She's like, nine years younger than you. How do you even know her?" Tenzou asked.

Obito glumly stared at his half-filled cup. "Remember that back-up mission a few years back?" Tenzou nodded. "Well, she was one of the original ninja sent to round up those bandits."

Tenzou hooted with laughter. "Now I remember, she was a fresh Chuunin back then, it was her first time leading a team, and they got ambushed. Then when she thanked you, you replied with, 'Don't eat the yellow snow.' Where'd that even come from?"

Flustered from the embarrassing incident, Obito covered his face with his hands. "God, she must think I'm such a spaz."

Tenzou patted his downcast friend's back. "Don't worry, she doesn't."

The former Uchiha felt his spirits soar with hope. "Really?"

"Naw," Tenzou replied, "She just thinks the entire ANBU is composed of spazzes."

Obito glared at him.

"Anyway there's something else I want to know," Tenzou continued, directing his attention to Asuma. "How did you know what exactly was bothering the Cap'n?"

Asuma took a long drag from his cigarette before answering. "That, my friend, is a trade secret."

"You have a girlfriend, don't you?" Obito commented rather dryly.

"No!" said the bearded man, his tone defensive. "Whatever gave you that idea, and besides I thought you were our focus for tonight?"

Obito nearly spat out his drink. "Wait, what?"

"You're not weaseling yourself out of this one, pal. If you want the lady, you'd better make the move."

"But what about Rin? Bless her soul, I can't just forget about her."

"Rin died so you could live," reminded Tenzou. "So why not honor her memory and enjoy life?"

"Tenzou's right," said Asuma, "It's high time you let go of the past and embrace the present."

Obito was touched by his Rin's selflessness. Even in death, she always put her friends before herself. "You guys are right," he declared. "It's time to move on." He got up and made his way to the Inuzuka girl.

"Hey," he greeted.

"Hey yourself," she greeted back.

"Do you think we did the right thing?" Tenzou asked as he and Asuma observed Obito and the Inuzuka from a distance.

"I'm pretty sure we did," Asuma replied as Obito and the Inuzuka gradually warmed up to each other and began to engage in an animated conversation. "He deserves his patch of heaven, and I think he just found it."

Tenzou held up his cup. "A toast, to Obito's happiness."

Asuma brought up his cup as well. "Banzai!"

A/N: Yeah… Nothing much in this chapter, since it's pretty much a transition chapter to the next arc. On the other hand, Neji and Tenzou/Yamato make an early appearance along with a hint of NaruHina. What's up with that?

P.S. Brownie points to those who could list the pop culture references scattered throughout this chapter.

N & B's Explanation Corner

Neji's personality.

The original AFatH!Neji seemed too nice for my taste, so I tweaked the Revised!Neji by combining the traits of AFatH!Neji and Canon!Neji. He's a bit of a jerk like Canon!Neji, but he has a good heart. You just gotta dig real deep.

The Obito-Tenzou-Asuma trio.

Obito and Tenzou would have known each other the way Canon!Kakashi and Canon!Tenzou would have known each other. As for Asuma, since he's older than the other two, I thought he could balance them out as the "big brother" of the group. Plus, trios are just fun to work with.

Thanks for reading!