The Path A Ninja Walks...
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Only The Moon Shall Know Our Secrets...
A/N: WARNING-The character known as Sage Amesawa uses a lot of profanity and colorful language as part of his "colorful" personality. Be prepared if you are sensitive to that. Please note it is not because I condone such manner of speech, and also the character does not mean to use it as a way to be harmful, it is just his personality.
The journey wasn't easy. Saseme's breaths were short...her body temperature wasn't rising any more but it remained constant on the high side so she truly wasn't up to par...her state didn't matter to her...
I need to calm Gaa-chan down...
Before he does something regretable too soon!
She gave chase to the boy who stopped suddenly in a clearing.
Did he want her to follow him?
He appeared to be waiting for her as she arrived...luring her into the open before sharply tossing an object directly at her. Holding up her hand defensively, she wound up catching it.
It was a scroll.
"This is..." Saseme blinked, "...The Heaven Scroll?" she wondered curiously, "Why are you giving this to me?" she asked him. Sure it was the one they needed...but there had to be a catch here. After all...EVERY team needed both scrolls to move forward...
"Won't you need this? Gaa-chan?"
"We've already gathered everything we need." said Gaara, "We can't afford to fail here..." he blinked, "Remember our objective."
"W-Well yes, I know, but-" she stammered a bit, "I can't just waltz back to my team with a Heaven Scroll in hand...they'll get suspicious." she stated.
"...So be clever about it." he hissed back, "Whatever you need to do to minimize suspicion, then do it." he blinked, "Then hurry and meet with us at the tower...we need to move forward."
"...Yes...Gaara." she sighed, arms dropping to her sides.
"Good." he grumbled, "...And Saseme...?"
"Yes?" she blinked...but all that was met back at her was an intense glare.
"Don't make me wait long..." and with that...he was gone again.
The Uchiha girl sighed and gazed heavily into the scroll in her hand.
...Even if she were going to have second thoughts on the plan...Gaara would make certain not to let her out of it.
Either she complied...or she died.
There was no compromise.
What was she to do?
She was just so...hot...and tired...and...stuck...
It all became too much... as she stashed away the scroll, the pressure weighed so heavily on her that even her balance fell unstable-
and she collapsed in the middle of the clearing. The beasts around her grew hungry...
They growled and gathered, helpless prey lay bare on a moon lit platter-
and she no longer had the strength or wits to move away...
I could die...
She thought to herself.
That would put an end to my part in...everything...
She didn't try to fight, only closed her eyes, welcoming the beasts to devour her as they gathered and pounced-but fate had other plans for her...
For not far, was Neji Hyuuga. He and his team had split apart to fan out, and he was simply going his own way when the cries of beasts pulled him to halt, so he could check the vicinity and see how he could safely travel. But what he saw was far more than expected-
There had been a gathering, it seemed there was prey in the middle of the circle that they all seemed hungry for...
"Byakugan!" his visual prowess activated so that he could gather a closer look upon what looked to be their next meal and he gasped, "Saseme!" he called out and without a thought-
he charged right for the girl, landing between her and the beasts that surrounded her limp body that layed weakly in the moss and scattered leaves, "EIGHT TRIGRAMS, PALM ROTATION!" without a thought, he fought to protect her. A swirl of chakra emanating from him circled around them...and every beast that tried to pounce got beat back until there was nothing left.
"Are you mad!?" he snapped at her, " Who just lies about out in the open like that in a place like this!?" His familiar sharp tone spoke like a muffled under water beast against the pounding of her head and the ringing in her ears...yet some how...
she still recognized him...
Her eyes followed.
It seemed the center of that swirl of Chakra was none other than Neji Hyuuga...
She thought to herself.
But what was is he doing out here? Alone?
Was she hallucinating?
"Neji...? What are you...doing?" she asked in a very weak voice.
"Protecting you, you idiot!" he snapped, "What does it look like I'm doing!? Do you WANT to die or something!?" when she didn't grace him with a response, he huffed,"I don't believe this! I have far more important matters to tend to- I don't even know why I bothered to..." The girl was being unresponsive.
This was strange to him...
Normally by now she would have bit back with...something.
"Saseme?" he called to her. Her head moved in response...
her eyes were on him...
But she was far too out of it.
"...You're delerious...!" he began to stammer a bit, "What should I do!?" he huffed, "I need to meet back with my team...we fanned out and split up to cover more ground but..." he sighed, "Ugh, If I leave her here...I certainly wouldn't hear the end of it from Lee..." he mumbled, "More over...if I let her die... when I could have done something to prevent it...it will eat at me..." he clicked his tongue in frustration. He didn't even give himself much time to think. Watching her, weak and helpless on the forest floor like that...he just responded. "Hang on Saseme...I've got some things that can help..." he grumbled, "But you will owe me for this...Got it!?"
Who was she to argue?
She couldn't anyway...not in this state...
The boy heaved heavily and carefully placed her onto his back for transport out of the open...somewhere hidden so that he could cool down this fever. She burned so hot he could feel it against his own skin...
That was with the clothes they wore between them...
And his were far thicker.
"You must be out of your mind to think you could even remotely function properly with a fever like this..." he muttered. He bit his tongue to say much else...after all it was only fun when she bit back...
Into the night they traveled by shadows, resting in the foliage for cover while he rummaged through his pack for what looked to be a kind of cream. Lifting her headband from her he twirled his finger in it and began smearing it across her forehead, spotting her heated cheeks...
"This is a coolant." he said to her , "It's good for burns and high fevers..." he blinked, "If this doesn't help bring your temperature down...nothing will." he said softly, "After all, nothing beats Hyuuga when it comes to Medicinals..." He sighed as he replaced the cap on the substance and rubbed what remained on his hand before placing his palm to her forehead and holding it there. Her response to it was welcoming, a gentle coo as she arched her head back a bit to feel more of the cooling effect that her body was desperately craving...
"You rest now..." he said to her in a whisper.
It didn't take long for her to fall asleep. his gentle palm on her head was soothing and the cooling effect acted almost immediately.
As soon as her fever has gone down, I will leave...
He thought to himself, pale eyes narrowed on the face of the sleeping girl whose head now rested in his lap. For once...
Her face looked to be at peace.
Neji couldn't tell how many hours had passed while the girl slept. He merely kept watching the moon, his hand to her forehead, until he felt her stir. Twitching, he looked down...and the girl's eyes fluttered open...
I feel...rested...
She blinked. She felt much cooler too, back to a normal temperature while her eyes shifted up to her savior.
"So...you're awake then." he said to her.
"...Neji?" she blinked.
"And how are you feeling?" he asked of her.
"...Better..." she grumbled a bit, "But...what are you doing here?" her eyes shifted a bit, "More than that...where even IS here?" she wondered, "How did we get here?"
"All of the questions." he chuckled, "So it seems you truly are back to your clueless state of mind~" he scoffed and she shot a look at him.
"You know...I could ask the same of you." he stated, "What you were doing out in the open like that...especially in your state." he mumbled, "Had I not arrived, surely you would have served for a weak midnight snack to the beasts of the forest."
"Oh, so you rescued me then?" she chuckled with a scoff, "My hero~" she mumbled.
"Hmph...I'm no hero." he said to her.
She looked up at him a while. Eyes narrowed. He said that and yet here he was, with her head in his lap of all places...and barely even trying to be snippy.
That was strange to her...
She recognized the smell that lingered from the tape that wrapped the hand that held her forehead...
That was the Hyuuga Ointment...
Hinata had given her plenty before...since during her own training, Saseme had a tendancy of burning herself quite often...
"So then...why are you still here?" she wondered.
He scoffed.
"A good question..." he grumbled, "I don't know why I am even bothering to help you..." he sighed, "I just...saw you there...broken and beaten down and- I didn't even think!" he blinked, "It was as though...within that moment...I had no control...and I just leapt to your aide...without a second thought." he blinked, "Which...leaves me to wonder..."
When did it begin?
He thought to himself.
When did I...start...caring...about you?
"Wonder what?" Saseme blinked, "Neji...?"
"Ah-" suddenly her voiced pulled him back from his thoughts and the memories of her that he still carried with him, for whatever reason. He quickly shook it off and responded with "Nothing...so...how are you feeling now?" he asked.
"Pretty good I think." she said to him while lifting herself from his lap.
"Ah...good..." he said.
He sounded almost disappointed when her weight from his lap was lifted-Then confused to why-
So he shifted to relief.
"Then you should be able to make it back to your team on your own." he stated as he stood and dusted himself off.
"Yeah...she said softly, back to him, "...Thank you."
"...Sure." he responded curtly, as he too faced the opposite direction...but before she could be off he stopped and turned to call her name, "Saseme!"
"Yes?" she called back, gasping as she was startled by this suddenly serious expression he showed in his pale eyes that...normally looked right through her. Only this time...they seemed to see only her.
"...Be careful." was all he said, and soon was gone into the night.
"Yeah..." she said softly, watching him go off in the distance, "...You too."
She patted at the mass in her clothes where she had stashed the scroll, gifted to her by Gaara.
It was still there...
So it wasn't a dream...
She thought to herself.
Her meeting with Gaara was real...
And so was that long secluded moment with Neji...
She sighed shakily.
How was she going to disguise her having this scroll in the first place?
Or the fact that her heart fluttered when Neji looked at her like that?
More so...that he cared enough to stay with her until she was well enough again...
Her eyes shifted up into the sky...no one but the moon saw these moments of shifting emotions between her and her heart...
And it was best to keep it that way...
To Be Continued...