*Sorry about the wait on this. I've been having some writer's block, but I'm hoping I can finish this up soon!

Notes: Teuchi is the chef at Ichiraku's in case anyone forgot. Also, Naruto always seemed to me like the kind of guy who's confident enough to just say ridiculous things in order to amuse himself, such as "All Jinchuurikis love ramen!" Chifuyu refers to all of Lee and Neji's friends as "baa-chan" and "jii-chan". It's used in the Aunt and uncle sense, not the grandma and grandpa sense. She also differentiates between Lee and Neji by calling Lee "Otou-chan" and Neji "Chichiue". Tadaima means "I'm back" in Japanese. When Chifuyu says "He at tadaima" she's just misspeaking.

WARNING: Any medical knowledge that Kaiser attempts to portray is actually butchered information that she received from high school level Anatomy, high school level Psychology, and the Discovery Channel.

I sincerely apologize to any med students out there who spend this time laughing their asses off.

Chapter 12: Past—Naruto and Gaara

"You need to eat more! You're worse than Neji, dattebayo." Gaara briefly glanced at his blonde companion. Sometimes, Naruto was more like a mother hen than Gaara's best friend, but he would not trade him for the world.

They were at Ichiraku's. Naruto had dragged the Kazekage there after an extraordinarily long meeting with Tsunade and the current Raikage. The Uzumaki had spent hours griping about how tedious meetings were (as Tsunade's successor, he was required to be at most). Gaara had to remind him on a daily basis that being a kage was never fun and games, for any reason, whatsoever.

"Gaara! Come on! Who goes to Ichiraku's and doesn't get anything? That's like ramen-blasphemy!" The redhead sighed, contented. Even when Naruto became the Hokage and the two of them would be forced to be professional around each other, Gaara was happy knowing that they could easily come to Ichiraku's and become best friends again. In fact, their relationship would probably border on unhealthy (for the state at least). The heads of rival powers should never really be friends.

Still, as Naruto held out a bit of noodle on his chopsticks, Gaara let those deeply-instilled political schemas simply wash away. He took a bite. "Not bad…" he murmured. Naruto mock-glared.

"Come on, admit it! You love it. All Jinchuurikis love ramen!" Gaara had to laugh at that.

"Okay then, it was very good, and I'm sure somewhere out there, Shukaku is very envious of our ramen-dates." Naruto grinned.

"Damn skippy he is!" The blonde threw an arm around Gaara's shoulders. "You know, I think the two of us are gonna take the Kage Summit by storm after I'm inaugurated." Gaara nodded. It was true after all.

"About that, next time, please refrain from introducing me as your boyfriend."

"But, Gaara! It's true! Besides, Raikage seemed to get a kick out of it."

"So did Tsunade-dono now that I think about it…Wait…is it true? Naruto, are you my boyfriend?" Naruto blinked.

"I'm not…entirely sure. I mean. You're a hot piece of ass…and so am I. But it's like, we're compatible, and we both find each other attractive, but it would kinda be a pointless endeavor to go out, wouldn't it? I mean, we could have sex right here right now, and nothing would change." Gaara nodded again. It was true. He and Naruto were closer than friends, closer than brothers, probably even closer than lovers, and yet there was not a word in existence to truly describe their relationship. It was rather funny.

Still, from there, things began to go downhill.

"Naruto…Gaara…" cut in a dazed voice from behind them. Naruto and Gaara both turned to find a familiar person. Shikamaru was standing there, but nothing about him seemed normal. His posture was extremely straight and tall. He was pale and seemed more than a little shaken. A few locks of hair had fallen from his usual ponytail, and his expression was completely blank. In his arms was a little girl, no older than two. She was a beautiful girl with platinum blond hair that flowed carelessly down to her shoulders, a beautiful pale white complexion, and eyes as bright as sunlit snow. She fidgeted with her light blue dress and stared curiously at the two men in front of her.

"Hey, Shikamaru, hey, Chibi," Naruto greeted. His smile had faltered at the sight of his friend. "Is everything okay?" Shikamaru slumped down on a stool beside Naruto. He looked about ready to faint. "Shikamaru?" Naruto called again, concerned. The Nara made no attempt to respond, prompting the former to feel his forehead. "Are you sick?"

Gaara stood and moved to help. He picked up Chifuyu. "Gaara-jii-chan," she mumbled, burying her face in his shoulder. Chifuyu was normally a calm and curious child. She was always smiling, and though she was never "hyper" per se, she loved to talk. Something was obviously wrong.

"Chifuyu-chan," Gaara called softly, soothingly. He briefly glanced over at Naruto who was trying to coax Shikamaru into speaking again. He looked back to the frightened child in his arms. "Can you tell me what's going on, Chifuyu-chan?" The sweet girl began sniffling.

"Otou-chan," she hiccupped, beginning to cry. "Where Otou-chan?" Gaara, unsure of what else to do, began gently rubbing circles on her back.

"Naruto? She wants Lee. Where is he?" Gaara's eyes widened as he saw Naruto supporting a violently shaking Shikamaru. The Nara slumped further down in his stool, nearly falling off. Naruto caught him.

"Shikamaru! Speak to me. Say something!" At this point, Teuchi had begun to notice the scene in front of him as well.

"Naruto, he doesn't look so hot. You should get him to the hospital right away. Don't worry about the ramen. Hurry!" Naruto nodded, hoisting Shikamaru up into his arms.

"Gaara, come on, we'd better take him to Sakura-chan!" Gaara nodded, carrying Chifuyu and following after Naruto.

What was going on? There were so many questions unanswered, and at this point, Chifuyu seemed to be the only person who could possibly know what had happened. What had happened for that matter? Why did Shikamaru have Chifuyu? And why was he sick? Were they attacked? And where was Neji? They could only hope that Sakura could heal Shikamaru, and the latter could give them some answers.

They made it to the hospital as quick as when Gaara and Lee had taken Neji there all those years ago. Naruto burst through the door shouting, "Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan! We need your help-ttebayo!" Ino, who happened to be on duty marched over to the other blonde.

"Naruto! This is a hospital! You can't just…barge…" she trailed off upon spotting Shikamaru in Naruto's arms. "Oh no," she gasped. "Quick, let's get him to Sakura!" She led them through the halls and up to the third floor. There they found Sakura doing rounds on the I.C.U. patients. "Sakura! There you are!" The pink-haired woman approached the other three people (five if you count Shikamaru and Chifuyu).

"What happened?" she asked breathless.

"We're not entirely sure, Haruno-san," began Gaara, deciding to take charge. "Naruto and I were just having lunch when Nara-kun turned up looking half-dead with Chifuyu-chan. He was only really able to say our names before he fainted. We've got no idea what happened to him." Sakura nodded, catching every single word while analyzing the situation herself.

"Come with me," she replied, leading the others into an empty room. She had Naruto lie Shikamaru down on the gurney as she checked him over meticulously. After a few moments, she looked up. Neither Naruto nor Gaara liked the frown on her face. Ino did her best to remain calm, though one of her oldest friends now lay limp on a hospital gurney.

"What're we looking at here, Sakura?" Ino questioned, taking a deep breath. Sakura bit her lip.

"His lungs and heart show signs of acute damage. It's likely that he went into shock, which is why he was acting strangely when you two found him." She nodded at Gaara and Naruto.

"But, Sakura-chan!" Naruto cried, cobalt blue eyes frantic. "What caused it? How could he have damage like this?" Sakura sighed, running a hand through her pale pink hair.

"Well, if this was natural, say he had an acute infection. He'd have been showing symptoms for days—weeks—before it got to this point. Ino, you can verify that he hasn't, right?" The blonde nodded.

"The other day, he, Choji, and I went out for yakiniku after Shikamaru came back from a mission, and he seemed fine then. I didn't notice anything unusual." Ino gazed down at her dearest friend, sky blue eyes tearful.

"And," continued Sakura, "he has no history of heart or lung disease in the family?" Again, Ino nodded.

"Nothing like this. And he's never had heart or lung problems before. He's had a clean bill of health since the day he was born!" Sakura placed a comforting hand on her old friend's shoulder.

"In that case, I can only think of one thing that could damage a healthy person's body this quickly." Ino nearly gasped.

"You don't mean—" Sakura nodded grimly.

"Yes, a jyuuken attack." Naruto's eyes widened. Gaara glanced at him.

"Naruto, that's…the Hyuuga-taijutsu, am I right?" Naruto nodded dazedly. "Who could've…?" Then, all eyes turned to Chifuyu, who buried her face into Gaara's chest. The redhead frowned.

"She couldn't have," he murmured. "Chifuyu-chan is just a child. Though she knows jyuuken from Neji-san, she couldn't have the power or the control to do so much damage to a special jounin like Nara-kun." Sakura buried her face in her palm.

"You're right," she murmured. "Of course you're right. Besides if Chifuyu-chan hurt anyone with jyuuken it would be on accident, and you can't damage someone's organs this severely on accident." There was a moment of relief before a darker thought entered Sakura's mind.

"Gaara-sama…" she murmured, "you don't think…Neji-san could have." Gaara's eyes widened.

"No," responded Naruto almost immediately. "Never." Surprisingly, Ino jumped in to defend Neji as well.

"No, Neji-san is already weak because…" she trailed off, trying not to remember that awful night when the brunette had collapsed for the first time. "Besides, he has the most control out of any Hyuuga there is. Even if by chance he and Shikamaru were training…Neji-san would know to never aim for a person's chest even during a spar. It's just too dangerous. And Shikamaru's brilliant. He would never give Neji the chance to hit him in the chest."

"And if by the off chance he did get a shot like this in on Shika," cut in Naruto, "Itoko would've brought Shika to the hospital himself."

"But then who could've done this?" Sakura murmured as she began pouring more healing chakra into Shikamaru's chest.

It was at this moment that Chifuyu began trying to get down from Gaara's arms. The Kazekage let her down, and she immediately ran over to Shikamaru's bedside. Gaara followed, kneeling down beside her. "Chifuyu-chan?"

"Shika-jii-chan," she mumbled. Gaara frowned.

"Chifuyu-chan, do you know what happened to 'Shika-jii-chan'?" She nodded.

"Shika-jii-chan….p-pr-pro-pro," she stumbled, unsure of the word.

"Protect?" Gaara tried. The little girl nodded again. "Nara-kun protected you? From what?" She tried again.

"Shika-jii-chan and Chichiue…pro-protect…" Gaara glanced over at Naruto.

"Chichiue is Neji-san, yes?" Naruto nodded.

"Yeah, Otou-chan is Lee, and Chichiue is Neji." The redhead turned back to Chifuyu.

"What did 'Shika-jii-chan' and 'Chichiue' protect you from?" Chifuyu clutched onto Gaara's arms, looking more frightened than the latter had ever seen her.

"From….f-from Chichiue obaa-s-s-ama." Gaara blinked.

"His grandmother?" he murmured confused. He looked back to Naruto expecting answers. Instead, he was met with wide eyes.

"The Hyuuga elders!" Naruto cried. "Chifuyu," began Naruto in a softer tone. He knelt down beside her as well. "Where's Neji now?" The girl wrapped her arms around Naruto.

"Naru-jii-chan," she mumbled. Naruto smiled gently, tousling her hair.

"Chibi, it's okay," he comforted. "You can tell Naru-jii-chan."

"Chichiue….Chichiue at tadaima."

"Tadaima?" questioned Naruto, confused at the mistake in speech. Understanding reflected in Gaara's bright green eyes.

"I think she means at her home." Naruto nodded.

"Gaara," he began sternly, "I've got no idea what we're dealing with here, but I have a feeling that I'm gonna need your help. We have to find Neji before the Hyuuga elders do something horrible!" Gaara nodded. He turned back to the blonde girl in Naruto's arms.

"Chifuyu-chan," he murmured, trying not to sound afraid or serious. "Naru-jii-chan and I have to go find your Chichiue, okay? Until then, we want you to stay with Ino-baa-chan and Sakura-baa-chan." Chifuyu shook her head frantically.

"With Gaara-jii-chan," she murmured.

"I'm sorry, Chifuyu-chan, but you can't. We need you here. If you're with us, then who can protect Shika-jii-chan. You're a big, strong kunoichi, aren't you? Well, we need you to protect Haruno-san, Yamanaka-san, and Nara-kun, right?" Chifuyu's tearful eyes cleared, revealing a burning determination to protect her friends, just like the eyes of so many Konoha shinobi before her. Gaara smiled, feeling a strange sort of pride in his best friend's daughter. "Okay, Naruto and I will find your Chichiue; until then, you know your mission." Gaara gave Naruto a curt nod, and they were off.

They jumped from rooftop to rooftop at top speed. Naruto was in the lead, as Gaara did not know the layout of the village as well. The blonde briefly turned back.

"Oi, Gaara," he called. Gaara nodded to show that he was listening. "You're gonna make a great Otou-chan someday." The redhead blinked, surprised.

"Am I?" Naruto grinned.

"Look at you! You're so great with Chibi. You know exactly what to say. I mean, back there, I was speechless, but you handled it like a pro! Have you babysat before or something?" Gaara gazed back at Naruto, raising a hairless brow. Naruto pouted, only then remembering Gaara's…colorful past in Sunagakure. "…Never mind then."

Going at the pace that they were, it took only minutes for the two to reach Neji, Lee, and Chifuyu's apartment. They exchanged glances. Naruto tried the doorknob, only to find that the door was unlocked.

Never a good sign.

They entered. "Neji?" called Naruto. "Itoko? You here?" There was no response. They continued into the living room, only to find that everything was out of place. There were papers and books on the floor. Broken glass littered the apartment. Furniture was overturned. Lamps and clocks had fallen off their shelves. Even Neji and Lee's team picture had fallen to the ground, its frame shattered. Naruto looked back to Gaara, who was frowning deeply.

"A struggle," he murmured simply. Naruto grew pale.

"Neji!" he tried again, more fervently. "Neji? If you're here, answer me! For the love of God, say something!"

Gaara followed a trail of broken glass and blood into a hallway. "Neji-san?" he called as he turned the corner. He nearly fell over when he saw Neji lying almost lifeless on the floor, surrounded by broken glass. "Naruto!" he cried. "Get in here now!" The blonde ran over to him and nearly gasped.

"Oh God…Neji." He knelt down beside his cousin's limp form, ignoring the broken shards that threatened to penetrate his skin.

"Naruto, is he breathing?" The Uzumaki turned and nodded. He gently lifted Neji off the ground and carried him to the living room couch. There, he lightly shook the brunette.

"Neji? Can you here me? Wake up." Nothing. He turned back to Gaara and shook his head.

"What could have knocked him unconscious like this?" asked Gaara. "Was it a jyuuken strike?" Naruto shrugged.

"I don't know…unless." His eyes widened as a premise made itself known to him. "Oh no! Oh God, they didn't. If they did, I swear to God I'll…" he trailed off, opting instead to remove Neji's headband (he had stopped wearing his hitai-ate long ago) and the bandages under it. There, he found the juin seal, but it was not as it should be. It seemed to glow brighter than usual, as if it fed off of Neji's pain. Angry black lines surrounded the mark, making it seem more visible than ever.

"Naruto…" Gaara murmured, "What's that? I…I remember seeing it in the Chuunin Exams, but…" Naruto gazed at Gaara seriously.

"This is Neji's curse mark, and I think the Hyuuga elders just activated it." He gathered Neji back into his arms. "Come on, we need to get Neji to Tsunade now." Gaara nodded without a second thought.