I know that it has been a while, but here is our newest chapter. Things are starting to heat up. Let drama ensue!

Chapter 8

The sun was just starting to set over Suna, throwing golden light over the Sand Village. In his apartment, Neji was pacing through the living room, Sayuri asleep against his shoulder. He wasn't sure, but for some reason, he felt anxious, almost as though something was going to happen. The feeling had stuck with him for the last few days, making him jumpy, something that Neji never had been before. Gaara must have noticed, but didn't ask.

Growling to himself at his paranoia, he trotted to the bedroom and carefully set Sayuri in her crib. She squirmed in her sleep as she was set down, but quickly settled again. Neji stood at the side of the crib for a moment, staring down at his daughter. A small smile played at his thin lips as he turned away.

Suddenly, the window on the far side of the window exploded and Neji spun around. A figure clad all in black rolled easily through the storm of glass, leaping towards Neji. The Ookami growled in anger, unsheathing his claws as he sprung at his attacker. Delivering a quick blow to the man's knee, Neji tried to get him down onto the ground, but the man rolled away. Pulling several kunai out from his belt, the man brought his arm back and them.

Neji glanced behind him at his daughter and quickly dodged, letting the kunai sink into the wall. Taking a defensive stance, the former Hyuuga waited for the next move. Many of his Clan's special moves were not meant for such a small space, especially not when his precious baby was in the room.

His attacker eyed Neji carefully, searching for any weak spot. Neji smirked in return, knowing that there was none. With a sudden move, the man's chakra was focused into his hand, enveloping it in green chakra. Taken aback, Neji activated his Byakugan just in time for the man to charge him. Recognizing the move, Neji ducked and kicked out, effectively knocking the man from his feet. Grabbing Sayuri from her crib, Neji snatched the baby sling from its hook and took off through the broken window. While Neji hated to run away, he had to worry about his daughter first.

He landed easily on the next roof, settling his daughter into the sling before taking off again. Awakened by the noise, she stared up at her father, her white eyes unconcerned. Neji smiled down at her, one arm wrapped around the sling to hold her as close as possible.

A shot of green chakra flew just over his shoulder and Neji slid along the roof, rapidly changing directions. The man followed him, continuing to shot kunai filled with chakra. Glancing up ahead, Neji saw that he was approaching Gaara's office, the safest place that he could be. Swinging around, Neji turned to face his attacker. He smirked, a clawed hand stroking the back of his daughter's head through the cloth of the sling. The man that had been chasing him slid to a stop, his hidden eyes staring at the former Hyuuga.

"If you really wanted to come after me, you should have trained harder," Neji sneered.

The man didn't reply, but he did reach for the kunai pouch at his waist. Sending off a shot of chakra towards Gaara's office, Neji dropped onto all fours, Sayuri hidden by the cocoon of his body. His tail swished angrily behind him.

He watched carefully as the man charged, a kunai in hand. Neji steadied himself, muttering quiet words of comfort to his infant daughter. When the man crossed the invisible line that Neji had mentally drawn on the rooftop, the Hyuuga leapt forward, his clawed hand shooting out. Avoiding the sharp kunai, he ripped the man's mask away from his face, finding himself staring directly into blue eyes. His reflection grinned widely and Neji was suddenly bathed in a wave of blood.

The dead body fell onto him, the severed head bouncing onto the rooftop. Heaving the body off of him, Neji let it fall carelessly. Standing up straight, he glanced down at the deceased man. He had been a ninja of some capacity, although he didn't wear a hitai-ate of any kind. Snorting, Neji walked over to where the head had rolled. Lifting it up, he examined the thin face, blue eyes wide and clouded in death.

"Neji!" Gaara shouted as he leapt up onto the roof with two of his bodyguards.

The former Hyuuga glanced up and smiled wickedly.

"Hello," he replied.

Rushing over, Gaara quickly checked his lover over for injuries while the guards went to the body. Finding none, the Kazekage breathed a sigh of relief and was about to envelop Neji in a bone-crushing hug when he heard cooing. Both men looked down at their daughter. Her face and body were spotted with the man's blood, although not nearly as much as Neji was. A small hand was fisted in Neji's shirt, yanking down on it. She was smiling and started to giggle as her dark claws started to rip into the fabric.

"I knew that she would be more like you as she grew older," Neji laughed.

"What the hell happened?" Gaara asked.

"I put Sayuri down for a nap when the bastard broke through the window and attacked me. I knew that I had to get Sayuri out of there so I grabbed her and took off. The idiot followed me and here we are," Neji said, shrugging.

"You could have been hurt!" Gaara shouted frantically.

"We're fine though, aren't we?" Neji snorted. Lifting his hand to caress his lover's cheek, he smiled again and added, "Sayuri and I aren't going anywhere. You don't need to worry."

"When you have a Hyuuga as your lover and your baby's other father, you do need to be worried," Gaara chuckled. "Are you sure you're alright?"

Neji nodded. "Although I doubt he is. Minoru did well."

His reflection cackled from the pool of blood that had stemmed from the decapitated body. "Why thank you."

"Take this bastard to Shika," Gaara snapped at his guards, suddenly remembering the fact that he was standing next to a dead body. "Let him examine the body. I want a report on his desk as soon as possible."

"Yes Kazekage!" they both replied, darting away with the body and its severed head.

"Damn hunters," Gaara snarled.

"I don't think he was a hunter," Neji said as he took Sayuri out of the sling. He sat her in his arms, facing Gaara.

"Why do you think that?" Gaara asked, wetting his thumb before reaching out to clean his daughter's face.

"He didn't say anything and seemed determined to kill me as soon as possible. Hunters usually enjoy the chase, or at least that's what the others have told me," Neji explained.

"Either way, we need to alert the other Ookami. Maybe they can give us an insight into who the bastard is."

"Was, love," Neji corrected.

"Whatever."

Kakashi had just gotten back to the Hatake Compound when the letter from Neji arrived. He had spent the morning on an easy 'lost item' mission, something that bored him, but kept him close to home, just like he wanted. The letter, so white and innocent, was sitting in the mailbox, waiting to be opened. He gathered it up with the rest of the mail, examining the writing on the front of the envelope. Recognizing it as Neji's, he set it aside for his lover.

Iruka came home not half an hour later, Shinobu chattering up a storm at his heels. The pregnant Ookami groaned as he slowly sat down in a chair at the kitchen table, muttering a thank you to Kakashi when the Jounin set a mug of hot tea in front of him.

"How was your day?" Kakashi asked, taking a seat across from Iruka.

"Terrible," the Ookami sighed. "Kurenai took to dragging me all over the village shopping and now, my feet hurt like hell."

"I'm sorry," Kakashi replied sadly.

"How was yours?" Iruka asked.

"Easy, another mission that was barely even at the D level," his Jounin lover said. "Oh, Neji sent you a letter."

Handing the plain envelope over, Kakashi watched as the former teacher quickly ripped it open and pulled out the folded paper inside. The look on Iruka's face quickly melted from excitement into shock to outrage. Kakashi frowned as his love shot up out of his chair and rushed towards the family library.

"Is everything alright?" Kakashi asked as he poked his head into the library.

Iruka stood at the desk, frantically writing something on a piece of paper. Finishing with a flourish, he grabbed a fresh envelope and sealed the letter inside before writing Neji's name on the front.

"No!" Iruka shouted, finally straightening up. He thrust the letter towards Kakashi. "Read it!"

Taking the letter, Kakashi read, "Dear cousin, It would seem that our kind are not as safe as we had hoped. This morning, an unknown assailant attacked Sayuri and me in our home. I managed to get us both out of there and away from the apartment before Minoru killed the bastard. Gaara is worried that the hunters may have found us, but I don't think it was them at all. I believe that someone is just trying to kill us off, not for our pelts like Himura was, but solely so that there are no Ookami left. I have sent similar letters to Daiki and the others while Gaara has sent news to each of the Kages. Yours truly, Neji."

"See?" Iruka cried. "It's a fucking disaster."

"Iru, just because Neji was attacked it doesn't mean that they're going after him simply because he's an Ookami," Kakashi said, trying to calm his boyfriend. "He is the lover of the Kazekage, after all."

"After the fiasco two years ago, I am not allowed nor willing to believe that," the former teacher spat.

"I'm only trying to look at all of the possibilities. I'm sure that one of the Suna examiners will come back with something conclusive," Kakashi said as he strode over to his lover, rubbing his shoulders.

"What if it was a hunter or something?" Iruka asked.

"Then, we'll have to take extra measures," the Jounin replied, kissing Iruka on the cheek. Reaching around, he softly brushed his hand along Iruka's stomach. "It'll all be fine."

"I hope you're right," Iruka grumbled.

Kakashi pulled his lover tightly against him. "And if I'm not, then you can kick my ass in hell as much as you want," he teased.

Knocking his boyfriend on the back of the head, Iruka rolled his eyes and went to put his reply to Neji in the mailbox.

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