Everyone's mouths dropped when they saw the fawn and hound look up into the balcony, right a Shikamaru. Hiashi and Gai didn't know what to think. Shikamaru's eyes locked on to the fawn's. Shikamaru's heart broke as he saw the pain of almost losing one of the baby fawns, resonating through the fawn's eyes.
Shikamaru's eyes widened as he saw the hound's eyes. They were filled with the anguish of losing a litter mate. Shikamaru was surprised, as he'd never seen any emotions reflected in the hound's eyes. But he supposed that was because of the henge. " Do you know that fawn?" asked Hiashi. Shikamaru nodded. Shikamaru back flipped over the railing. He landed and turned around to face the fawn and hound. He jerked his head.
Shikaku couldn't understand what he was seeing. His son could get near the fawns, but he couldn't. It was mutiny. Shikaku was not happy. He knew his son, or so he thought. The Hyuuga clan elders were furious. How was it possible for the Hyuuga brat to disappear from their notice? How could Hiashi's brother's son escape them? They didn't like that he made his own decisions.
Shikamaru followed the two as they raced out of the arena. " We're out of sight." said Shikamaru. That was all he needed to say. They took off like bullets, kicking up dust in their wake. Shikamaru easily kept up. As they ran, he saw they were getting closer to the forest right behind the torture and interrogation building. He suddenly felt a weak flare of chakra. Diamond did to, as he looked right at him.
Shikamaru followed the small, weak pulsing. The fawn was stomping the ground angrily. It was looking at something Shikamaru couldn't see. When Shikamaru came to stand at the fawn's side, his heart stopped. There was Neji, on the ground, in a large puddle of blood. Shikamaru looked at him in shock. Though it didn't look like he had a lot of damage, the amount of blood said otherwise.
Shikamaru slowly walked forward. He stopped at Neji's side and looked down at him. He put two fingers to the the side of his neck. He had a weak, almost stuttering, pulse. He bent down and picked Neji up bridal style. Neji's head just lulled to the side. Diamond walked forward to stand in front of Shikamaru. He turned his back to Shikamaru.
" Are you asking me to put him on your back?" asked Shikamaru. Diamond nodded. Shikamaru did. Neji slumped against Diamond's back.
Diamond took off. The fawn was right next to him. It looked as though it wanted to nuzzle Neji. Shikamaru was worried. Shikamaru was on the right side of Diamond. It took them twenty minutes to make it to Shikamaru's forest. Shikamaru made 12 hand signs and the seals were activated. He bent down and placed Neji on the ground. He then sat down by Neji's head. Shikamaru put his hand on Neji chest. He did not like what he felt. Neji had cracks in multiple places on his chest. He moved his hand up to his neck. As he did, he felt a crack in his collar bone. He then pulled Neji up so he was resting on his legs. He started healing him bit by bit. It had been two hours by the time he was done. He sat Neji up and wrapped an arm around his chest to keep him still. He took his other hand and trailed it down his back. He was relieved to not feel any damage. He laid Neji back down on his back.
When he looked at Neji's face, it was contorted in agony. He saw a small line of blood running down his forehead. He realized it was coming from his curse mark. He lifted Neji's head with one hand and made quick work of the knot with his other hand. He laid his head back down and pulled the headband off. He laid the headband down at his side. When he saw the curse mark, he wanted to scream. There was huge gash where it should have been. Shikamaru rested his hand on the gash barely using any pressure. The skin knitted slowly, almost sluggishly, back together.