An hour almost passed without much luck of getting out of the manor. Sasuke had gone through each lock picking object he had on him plus the hair pins Ino and Tenten offered. Shikamaru and Lee had only managed to get two boards off the windows but there were four others that were lined in a way that still made it impossible of anyone to get through, even someone of Sakura and Naruto's build.

"Am I the only one who gets the feeling that this place wanted us to be here?" Ino asked around as she stood up from her seat upon the dusty staircase, having taken up a seat there with Sakura and Naruto after first half hour ticked by.

"Taking up the Hyuga's way of thinking, Ino? All that fate shit and stuff." Kiba commented from a few steps up.

"Shut up dog-breath." Ino and Sakura both retorted, causing Tenten to roll her eyes and Naruto to look a tad amused despite having fallen into complete boredom a while ago.

"You're dating Hinata and I'm pretty sure she doesn't think that way even if she is a Hyuga." Ino shot back at the dog-lover, glancing over at him rom over her shoulder for a moment.

"Yeah well, she's nothing like the other Hyugas."

"Ino may have a point though. Getting into this house was far too easy when it's seems to be so sealed up now. But I don't think fate had anything to do with it." Shikamaru joined in on the conversation as he and Lee rejoined the others by the stairs, their hands a bit sore from the constant yanks, tugs and pulls they did to try and get the boards off of the windows.

"Are you saying someone planned this?"

Sakura and Ino looked in Sasuke and Neji's direction at hearing the Uchiha's voice. The two scooted over to the raven haired boy room to seat between them upon the stairs when they noticed him and Neji were headed their way. However the two girls were disappointed when Sasuke just came to a stop by the banister, next to where Shikamaru had taking up to leaning again.

"No way…" Naruto mumbled, blue eyes a bit wide at the lazy teen's comment.

"Anything is possible but it seems to be the most likely case. It's too much of a coincidence that all nine of us ended up here." Shikamaru responded back after hearing the blonde's muttered words.

A hush of silence fell over the forced together group.

The brief silence was interrupted by Neji's smooth cool-toned voice. "We should search the place from top to bottom."

"I doubt anyone would want to be in this place." Ino replied back to the Hyuga's suggestion.

"But Ino, we're all stuck here. It's best to put our youthfulness to a good workout and check it out. Your youthful energy might even brighten this place up!"

"Lee's right. Besides there could still be some useful stuff around here that we can use, like medical supplies, food-cans that the owners forgot about or…" Tenten had lifted her hand up, counting off the list with her fingers and ignoring the raised brow from Kiba and Sasuke.

"Just how long do you think we'll be stuck in here for?" The dog-lover asked with a 'are you being serious' type of expression upon his tattooed face.

"I don't know but it's always better to be safe than sorry." She replied with a shrug.

"Smaller groups would allow us to cover more ground in less time." The Hyuga's voice sounded once more. Their comment getting a few nods of agreement and firm head shake from the pink haired girl.

"I think we should stick together, so we don't lose anyone."

"I'm with Sakura."

The Uchiha smirked at hearing that. "Scared dobe?"

Naruto stood up from his spot on the stairs and since he had been sitting on the fourth one it brought his eyes to equal level with Sasuke's. "Shut it Teme. I'm not scared, you duck as-"

"Naruto."

The interruption of the blonde's name being said so sternly by the normally lazy teen caused Naruto to shut his mouth in mild surprise.

The blonde along with everyone else turned their attention to Shikamaru who didn't want to hear another round of the infamous arguments/fights that Sasuke and Naruto were so well known despite attending different schools even if they were located across the street from one another.

Nor did Shikamaru want to draw any attention to their group just in case they weren't the only ones here. After all, if they were able to get in then some other group could as well. And Nara had the feeling that if another group was indeed here then they wouldn't be the friendly type if they wanted to hang around this place willingly.

Still feeling and seeing everyone's attention remaining on him, the lazy teen took a breath to brush off the uneasy thoughts and redirection his attention to Naruto solely before voicing out a plan. "You'll go with Neji and Ino to search this floor's east side and the basement. I believe the basement might be down that way if the cellar is over there." Shikamaru pointed to the hall Sakura and her group just came through then to the still open door that he and Naruto had used.

Both Naruto and Ino opened their mouths to say something but were never given the chance to voice any complaints as Neji simply nodded, having sensed Shikamaru's unease and turned away from the group, heading down the hall before turning the corner at the end of it.

The two blondes started after the long haired brunette along with the others before giving one more glance to the rest of their friends before they followed quickly after the Hyuga; not wanting to be left behind and also not wanting Neji to be on his own inside the creepy manor even though it was known that the Hyuga was well versed in the combat arts.

Once Neji and the two blondes were no longer in view, Shikamaru continued to give out the groups when no one seemed to object to him being in charge. Tenten, Sakura and Lee were sent to check out the second west side and then the second floor while Sasuke and Kiba along with Shikamaru checked out the third floor; leaving the add on floors like the attic and sub roofs for later.

Naruto sniffled as he rubbed the bridge of his nose after sneezing. "I hope I'm not getting sick."

Ino turned her head to look at him, her pale blue eyes looking over the other blonde for a moment from head to toe, causing Naruto to squirm a bit under her gaze. With a small smile she faced forward again, her eyes from time to time glancing to Neji, who was walking in front of them, to Naruto who was walking beside her. "I don't think you're getting sick. It could be all the dust in here. After all, this place has been abandoned for decades it looks like."

Naruto simply nodded.

The small group made their way through the first floor, finding nothing but countless empty office rooms, dusty old computers and office supplies, a few unused empty rooms, two bathrooms and a nursery with useless old toys. After getting done with the first floor they voted to check out the second before heading down to the basement; only to have the same luck.

The three of them soon made their way toward the basement door. Neji still in front while Naruto and Ino were right behind him. They stopped just before the somewhat rusty looking doors. Naruto had an odd feeling rising in his chest. Ino looked rather nervous but was trying to hide it by fixing her hair while Neji still remained impassive. But like Naruto, the Hyuga was getting a weird feeling as well. He just wasn't sure if it was bad or just mildly uncomfortable.

Neji turned his back to the door, his lavender-white eyes looking from one blonde to the other before addressing the two. "We'll go in together and no, neither of you have a say in it." He then turned his head to ward Ino who looked away from the door behind to meet his gaze to show she was listening. "Stay back a bit just in case." He waited for her to nod before moving to face the doors again, his right hand already moving up to grip the unused handle.

A sudden gust of dust flew up at them the moment the door was pulled open causing them to cough and cover their mouths and noses to keep from breathing in the dust and uplifted dirt as they stepped in.

"W-Wow…" Naruto coughed out as he waved away the unclean air before him

As the sudden cloud of dust and dirt settled, the two were able scan the room. It was nothing they expected to see. Naruto's softly whispered stutter of Neji's name showed proof of that.

Before them was a clean medical lab of some kind. Four bed cots with the headboard of the beds pressed against the wall were on each side; eight in total. Only two of the beds seemed to have been in use; one of them still carrying a body and the other 6 were still nicely made and seemly untouched.

There was a desk stacked with folders on either side, leaving the center clear apart from a single folder, a few notebooks, pens and a green glass shaded lamp. Beside the desk were a few feet of clear walking space before two raised up metal tables would fill in the space. Between them was an odd old looking machine that had a few tubes and twisted wires dangling from it onto the tables and floor.

"Neji what's going on?"