Phantom
AN: As you can tell from the first chapter this is a darker story than those I usually write. But I'm enjoying the creation for it and I hope that you guys are enjoying the reading. Some more on what happened in the past in this chappie.
Anyhoo, Naruto isn't mine and neither are it's characters. And this chappie's song excerpt is "Brokenpromiseland" by Bon Jovi.
Chapter Two
Let's close our eyes and just disappear
Slip through the cracks, no turning back.
We'll get a million miles away from here,
And let the past just fade to black.
He was surprised when he got to the gates that there was no one there, he at least thought that he would have to lie his way out of Konoha.
In fact he had one thought of, it wasn't out of the question that a jonin would have a solitary mission and by the time the paperwork would have been checked he would have been long gone.
Neji didn't like how easy this was, "Bya…" a hand covered his mouth and he whipped around, glaring at whoever it was that snuck up so easily on him.
Lee stood there, a finger on his lips, "Tenten took care of them," he whispered, "But we better hurry."
"What makes you think you're coming with me?" Neji shot in a angry hushed voice.
Lee smiled, "Because we're a team, remember. As soon as we heard what had happened, we knew you would be leaving," he gave the Hyuuga a hurt look, "We also knew that you would be too prideful to get us first. So we figured that we would meet you here."
Pearl eyes opened to see Lee poking at the fire, "It's after sunset," Neji noted sitting up, "Why didn't you wake me up?"
"We decided to make the base here, right?" the taijutsu master hugged his knees, "You haven't really slept that much lately, so I decided to let you. Tenten's still out too." he gave a glance over to where she had set up a make shift tent before turning back to Neji, "Do you think he's alright?"
"Are any of us?" the Hyuuga mused as he sat down next to Lee, staring at the fire.
"Mmm," Lee poked the fire some more, giving it a serious look, "Temari-chan must be pretty worried to send us out here like this though."
"There's a secondary mission," Neji said quietly, "The Land of Wind's western border is near here, even though the desert goes on. She's hoping that maybe we can find a new home, away from the Five Nations."
"Maybe Gaara's already found a place like that," Lee suggested.
"Perhaps. Though it's more likely that he's staying away from people altogether," Neji sighed, "I'm worried about him," he said in a quiet voice, "He was close to Naruto near the end… and he fought the most for the peace after…" he couldn't bring himself to say it, even now it was still painful that the bright spot of Konoha was gone forever.
Lee slowly nodded and Neji looked over at him, "When was the last time you got any sleep?"
A bright blush went over the other man, "Uh… sometime…" The truth of the matter is that he was having as difficult a time with rest as most everyone else these days… the war seemed to have that affect on everyone.
"I thought so," the Hyuuga sighed, "Go on. I'll keep watch. We'll start the search in earnest in the morning."
Lee stood, "It's still not that easy," he said glumly.
"Take one of the pills that Sekka prescribed you," Neji said, staring back at the fire, then turned as his teammate walked away, "Lee…"
"Yes?"
Why don't you blame me for Gai-sensei's death?
He couldn't ask that question though, even after the year that had passed since then, and merely shook his head, "Thanks for not letting me leave alone."
"That's what family is for," Lee grinned, even though the smile was not as bright as it used to be.
Still, Neji was glad for it.
"Temari!" a messenger came into her tent, "It seems that there's a series of scouts on the move."
"Get ready to break up camp then," she said, not even looking up from her map, "We can't let them find us."
He nodded and ran off, to inform the others of her decision.
"One of these days you're going to have to stop running."
"We're not strong enough to fight yet," she whispered, blinking tears back at the voice that sounded suspiciously like Kankuro's… one that had been haunting her since his death, "There's only a handful of us here. We need to find another home."
"And what are you gonna do when you get there? Geeze, to think Baby brother used to call my plans half-assed."
"Look if you have a better idea," her head whipped up and she stared at the blank wall of the tent.
"Lady Temari?" a voice asked as Sekka entered the tent, "I came to check your wounds before we move."
She turned her attention to the medical nin, one of the few that had came with her out of Suna.
…or dragged her unconscious body out… depended on how you wanted to look at things.
It wasn't fair! He had won the war for them, Suna prospered under Gaara's rule. She was outraged at his ousting.
"Is this really how you want to remember him?" she cried, standing on a crate in the bazaar, "He gave up everything for us!"
"He was a monster!" someone called out to her.
"No!" she snapped, "He got control over it… you all followed him in the last war! Why are you leaving him now? After all that's happened?"
Black robed men entered the square.
"Because of him we're broke! He squandered the money."
"He never did!" Temari retorted as she placed her hands on her hips, "He had plans for us to get trade routes ourselves, for Suna to be able to hold it's own in this world of peace."
She wasn't sure who threw the first stone. It was only through sheer will power and the memory that these were once her friends, people she had sworn to protect with her brothers that she stood there without retaliation.
The stones didn't hurt near as much as the betrayal. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the black robed men start to move towards her, the throwing stopped as people saw them, recognizing them for who they were, and vacated the area.
The Death Guard… the assassination team Gaara had absolutely refused to use, not wanting to use fear to rule the village.
It would seem the council and the new Kazekage had no problems with them.
Temari was still standing as they faced her, proudly staring foward when they informed her that she was to be publicly executed for not following the new order.
She spat at them… and that was the last thing she remembered before waking up in Sekka's arms, miles away from Suna.
"Worry about the other injured," she said, "Whoever can't walk we need to figure out how to carry."
"Other leaders would say to leave them," the medic crossed his arms, "I think that's why I liked your brother so much, he never would."
She ignored him, as other runners were coming in, asking for orders on moving the supplies and people, "We're going to follow Neji's team deeper into the desert," she said looking at her map, "Our information tells me that the squads are nervous about going very far into what they consider the 'Phantom territory.' If we go about fifty kilometers west, then we can avoid detection."
"What of Neji's team?"
"He knows that we might have to move at a second's notice, he'll be able to rendezvous with us anywhere."
The others were still asleep as Neji stood, scanning the surrounding area with the byakugaun, "Gaara…" he breathed.
He kept catching glimpses of the red-head's specific chakra signatures, but he was too quick, whenever the Hyuuga tried to focus more on them, Gaara would be gone.
Neji wryly smiled, remembering how well that skill had served them in the past. He had teased the younger man then.
"One of these days you're simply going to blow away in the wind"… I never dreamed that I would actually be correct in saying those words to him.
Those had been much happier times though, despite the hardships… it was before the war really had gotten started, right after Naruto came back from that island.
Neji shook his head, concentrating instead on finding Gaara… at least catch…
There. He stared up at the cliffs overlooking the oasis, meeting…even if it was at a great distance… the teal eyes.
And even though it wasn't possible that Gaara could see his pearl orbs… he felt the former kage's attention set purely on him.
"Gaara! I need to talk to you!" Naruto called as he entered the war room where Gaara was discussing the plans with some of the joint armies' jonin.
Neji bit his lower lip to keep from laughing at the scowls some of the more seasoned nin had at the gennin's outright disrespect. "Lord Kazekage is a tad busy at the moment," he gently said.
"Actually, I was about to dismiss the meeting," Gaara quickly added at Naruto's almost pout, the jonin got up to leave, but before Neji left, Gaara took him aside, "Hyuuga, if you would do me a favor, could you tell Lady Hokage that I won't make it on time for the next meeting she has scheduled."
The brunet looked over at Naruto who had crossed his arms and sat down, "Of course. And good luck." he left before Gaara could demand what he meant by that or by the teasing smile on his lips, sighing he turned to the blond.
"What was it that was so important it couldn't have waited five minutes?"
Gaara stared down at the brunet, "You knew the whole time didn't you," he mused, "You knew that I let him go to that last battle. Leave me to die alone with that sin."
Neji didn't move, instead just kept staring up at him. The former kage sighed, there was no way that the Hyuuga had heard him, the distance was just too great.
The brunet's mouth moved, and on the wind, Gaara could have sworn that he heard the words that he spoke.
"You aren't the only one that let someone go."
