Female Companion
He felt his heart begin to pound rapidly in his chest as he quietly walked towards the hallway.
Something doesn't feel right.
"Wait here for a moment." Neji said quietly to Hinata, who nodded and walked to sit on the couch, her pale eyes taking in her surroundings.
Quietly, Neji walked down the hallway and was surprised to see the bathroom door open with the light pouring into the hallway. His heart continued to pound as he peered into the bathroom, not sure what state Shikamaru was in. His pounding heart froze in his chest as he saw Shikamaru lying on his side, sniffing and coughing periodically. His eyes drifted to the chunks of hair scattering the floor, realizing that he hacked off more hair this time than when he did when he had his breakdown. His eyes darted around the floor.
What did he use to cut off his hair? I thought I found everything.
As carefully as he could, he slowly approached Shikamaru and knelt down on both his knees, trying to see the Nara's face. Gingerly, he brushed Shikamaru's short and jagged hair away from his tear-stained face, feeling his heart break as Shikamaru's dull brown eyes stared passed him.
"Shikamaru," Neji whispered, leaning down in front of Shikamaru's face to make eye contact. "What happened?" He asked gently, trying to convey to Shikamaru that he wasn't angry at him. Shikamaru sniffed.
"I…I-I thought you left." Shikamaru whispered after a few moments. Neji's eyes widened momentarily, feeling guilt and more worry rise within him. He brushed more hair away from Shikamaru's face, trying to move the hairs that were stuck to his tear-soaked face.
"Shikamaru, I promised that I wouldn't leave you and I don't break promises with people I care about." Shikamaru sniffed.
I overreacted.
"I was scared." Shikamaru whispered again.
"I'm sorry I frightened you," Neji said softly. "But I needed to go get someone." Shikamaru's eyes widened.
"G-get someone?" Neji nodded lightly.
"Yes, Hinata's here." He paused, waiting for Shikamaru's reaction to having someone new near him. He knew Shikamaru was thinking about this new piece of information, but he wasn't sure if Shikamaru knew how to react to having Hinata near him.
"Why?"
"I'm sure she'll know how to take care of your cough." Shikamaru sniffed again and broke eye contact with Neji.
He doesn't know how to react to having Hinata around.
"How about we clean you up a little bit and then you can see Hinata if you want to." Neji said gently as he helped Shikamaru sit up. Shikamaru remained quiet as Neji grabbed a washcloth from the closet and wet it in the sink. Kneeling in front of Shikamaru again, he reached up to wipe the tears off of Shikamaru's face before the Nara stopped him. He took the cloth from Neji's hand and began to wipe his face himself.
"I'm a big boy." Shikamaru mumbled through the cloth, his statement making Neji chuckle lightly.
"I know you are, but I can't help wanting to take care of you." Shikamaru stayed quiet as Neji sat in front of him, feeling the Hyuuga's eyes watch him.
He truly does care about you, Child.
It was then that Neji saw a new redness on Shikamaru's left forearm. He saw that Shikamaru had traced a wound he already had, but now it looked like he was developing a scab. He understood why Shikamaru was constantly scratching his arms, but he didn't understand how he was able to trace a wound so perfectly and then develop a new scab.
He paused.
Shikamaru must have a blade somewhere that I missed.
Neji stood and helped Shikamaru to his feet, his eyes drifting to Shikamaru's hair, his heart breaking even more at the drastically different lengths. He gently held Shikamaru's elbow as he led him into the hallway, waiting for Shikamaru to make a move on where he wants to go. They made brief eye contact and Shikamaru knew that Neji had seen his arm, but he retorted a look that said he didn't care. Shikamaru gently pulled his arm away from Neji's grip and quickly dabbed blood off of his arm and then shuffle towards the door; Neji smiled lightly when Shikamaru took a left down the hallway, towards Hinata.
Looks like I may be right…he has a mutual respect for Hinata and probably knows her well enough to know that she wouldn't intentionally hurt him…maybe.
Hinata was now sitting on the floor with different bottles and packets in front of her, looking between each one to make sure that she had all the remedies she was sure would help Shikamaru in some way. She looked up when she heard Neji and Shikamaru walk down the hallway towards her as her heart pounded in her chest at the thought of seeing Shikamaru.
Neji was right. It does look like Shikamaru has lost a lot of the ability to function. He looks like a hollowed shell of who I thought I knew.
"Hi Hinata," Shikamaru said wearily, surprising both her and Neji. Shikamaru walked sluggishly over to the couch behind Hinata and dropped onto it, bringing his twig-like legs up to his chest and rested his chin on his knees.
He seems to be much more comfortable with Hinata's presence than I thought he would be.
He made eye contact with Hinata, both of them having the same thought. She fiddled with her fingers nervously, not sure what to say to Shikamaru or how to act around him. She turned to look back at him, her eyes saddening at the look of the broken man and the bite marks on his bony hands.
"I-it's nice t-to see you, S-Shikamaru." She stuttered quietly, hoping that she didn't say something that would upset him. Shikamaru blinked as her words sunk in, thinking about them carefully.
He's always had a kind of mutual respect for Hinata. She was shy and timid, but that wasn't all she was even though those are the two traits she mainly presents. She has the kindest and softest heart of anyone he knows. But he didn't know what to think about her statement.
"You too." He mumbled into his knees, clearing his throat lightly. Neji and Hinata made brief eye contact again, both of them obviously surprised by Shikamaru's statement, but they both smiled lightly.
"So you're okay with Hinata being here?" Neji asked, earning a small nod from Shikamaru. He mumbled something, both Neji and Hinata unable to hear him.
"What was that?" Neji asked, sitting on the arm of the couch.
"It will be nice having a female around." Shikamaru repeated quietly.
"I was wondering when you would get sick of me." Neji said jokingly, making Hinata and Shikamaru chuckle lightly.
"I'd never get sick of having you around." Shikamaru said softly with a sense of pure honesty, throwing Neji off for a second. Hinata turned away from them to hide her smile; she saw Neji's reaction to Shikamaru's statement, even though she knew Neji tried to hide it. His eyes widened slightly and his pale complexion had a small hint of red on his cheeks.
Seems like something has been growing between these two. That's sweet.
"Besides," Neji continued, recovering from the honesty of Shikamaru's statement. "It's just been us for the past, what…2 months?"
"They came a few weeks ago." Shikamaru mumbled into his knees, both Neji and Hinata knowing that 'they' meant Asuma, Choji, and Sakura.
"True, how have they been by the way?" Neji asked, looking up at Hinata. She didn't know how to react to the softened side of Neji's personality, never realizing that a soft side of Neji even existed. She was glad to be wrong.
"T-they're doing well." She said. "They a-ask about y-you two a-all the time, wondering if I-I've heard from you. They're all u-upset that they h-haven't seen or h-heard from you." Neji looked down at the top of Shikamaru's head, knowing that he told Asuma that he would be in touch; but that was a month ago.
"Well, the less they know the better." Neji looked back up at Hinata, who nodded, understanding his reasoning. A fit of coughs gripped Shikamaru's frail body, causing a small amount of blood to fall onto his lap. Neji rubbed his back soothingly as Hinata knelt in front of Shikamaru.
"Where do you hurt?" She asked, her eyes set in determination. Shikamaru pointed to his throat, chest and temples. Neji smiled fondly at his cousin, silently proud that her confidence and determination are finally showing through. He's honestly never heard the strong tone of voice that Hinata spoke in before, making him surer that Hinata was much more than even she thought she was.
"M-may I see your arm?" Hinata asked, stuttering slightly. Neji felt Shikamaru tense underneath his hand as he continued to rub his back. Silence fell in the apartment for a few moments, Shikamaru not moving a muscle.
"Why?" Shikamaru asked quietly, Hinata having to lean in to hear him.
"T-to see how p-physically frail you are." She paused. "I-it'll help in deciding w-what medicine to u-use." Shikamaru remained still as silence fell around them again. Then slowly, very slowly, Shikamaru hesitantly moved his right arm across his body towards Hinata. Neji knew why he gave her his right arm instead of his left, and it seemed like Hinata knew as well:
There were deeper and more prominent self-mutilation scars on his left arm than on his right.
Neji watched his cousin as she made a circle with her thumb and index finger on her right hand around Shikamaru's thin wrist. He watched as Hinata's eyes softened even more as she looked down at her fingers around Shikamaru's wrist. She carefully released Shikamaru's arm and turned to look back at the remedies she brought as Shikamaru placed his arm back on his lap.
"What does that tell you?" Neji asked as Hinata held a bottle in her hands, looking back at him.
"I-it's just my w-way of measuring someone's p-physical health." Neji quirked an eyebrow at her as Shikamaru mumbled into his knees.
"What was that?" Neji asked, looking down at the top of his head.
"How does that work?" Shikamaru repeated, now resting his chin on his knees as he looked at Hinata. She hesitated slightly.
"If my f-fingers are w-wrapped comfortably a-around a person's w-wrist, it m-means they're h-healthy." She paused. "The l-looser my fingers a-are wrapped around a p-person's wrist, the m-more malnourished they are." Neji frowned thoughtfully. Shikamaru redirected his dull brown eyes to the floor as Hinata opened the bottle that was in her hands.
"D-do you have allergies?" She asked, looking at Shikamaru with soft eyes. The Nara made eye contact with her and shook his head.
"What is that?" Neji asked, nodding towards the bottle in her hands.
"It's j-just a h-herbal mixture that s-soothes internal irritation of o-organs." She said, standing.
"Internal irritation of organs?" Shikamaru asked, looking up at her wearily.
"Y-you're coughing up b-blood, so t-there's irritation t-that's caused a s-small amount of e-erosion of certain o-organs, p-probably lungs." She paused. "S-since you're m-malnourished, y-your body started to a-attack itself to p-protect you f-from sickness, but s-started fighting t-too hard." Neji led Hinata to the kitchen to prepare her herbal mixture for Shikamaru, thinking what she just said in the living room. He started to heat up the tea kettle as he got a mug for Hinata, who grabbed a spoon from the drawer. He leaned up against the counter near the stove as Hinata spooned the medicine into the mug.
"When did you learn all of that?" Neji asked, startling Hinata. She looked over at him as she leaned against the counter behind her.
"L-learn what?"
"All the things you were talking about in the living room."
"M-medicine interests me, s-so I w-wanted to l-learn about it." She shrugged her shoulders lightly, starting to feel more comfortable in her new settings.
So she taught herself…interesting.
"And that will help him?" He asked, nodding towards the mug on the counter near Hinata.
"S-should do, yes. He is a b-bit malnourished, so I h-hope that this is t-the correct strength of m-medicine he'll need." She looked down at the mug as Neji continued to look at his cousin.
"What if it's not the correct strength?"
"It won't h-hurt him." She said, looking back up at him, having a feeling that that was his main concern.
"So when he takes this stuff, he'll be fine in a few days?" Hinata tilted her head from side-to-side lightly.
"A-about 10-12 days of t-taking it p-perhaps, but," She hesitated. "M-malnutrition was the m-main cause of t-this." Neji felt his heart sink to the pit of his stomach.
"I try to—"
"I know." Hinata said kindly, smiling at him. "So this w-won't happen again, he n-needs to eat a d-decent amount e-every day…e-especially since he's underweight."
The whistle of the tea kettle broke the momentary silence, startling both of the slightly. Hinata walked over with the mug and Neji poured the boiling water into it, instantly smelling a strong floral scent.
"Smells nice." Neji said casually as he led the way back to the living room. Hinata laughed lightly.
"It tastes n-nice too if I r-remember correctly." Neji sat on the arm rest of the couch next to Shikamaru, holding the mug out to him. Shikamaru took it and looked down at the light blue liquid that looked back up at him.
"Smells nice."
NejiXShikamaru
"She's not out there?" Sakura asked worriedly as Kiba walked back towards their table, shaking his head slowly. He flopped back in his seat, staring at the table with concern evident in his eyes.
"Hinata's not the kind of person who would leave and not tell anyone." He said, glancing over at Shino for clarification.
"You don't…" Ino started, looking away from Kiba.
"What?"
"You don't think someone…took her, do you?" They thought about it for a moment.
"There would have been commotion if that was true." Shino said quietly, remaining passive even though his shy teammate was now missing.
"Then what happened to her?" Silence fell around them, all of them thinking about possibilities of Hinata's whereabouts.
"She could be with Neji." Sasuke said quietly, stirring his drink slowly. They looked over at him.
"But she said she hasn't heard from him or anything." Sakura said. "So why would she say that, and then go to him? And we all know that Hinata isn't a person who would lie."
"Neji might have come to her." Sasuke said shortly. "He's probably been waiting to get her alone." They mulled over what Sasuke said, and sighed.
First Shikamaru,
Then Neji,
Now Hinata.
Three of their comrades are now nowhere to be seen and they have no form of contact with any of them. Granted, they knew that it was most likely that they were at Shikamaru's apartment, but they agreed that they didn't want to piss off Neji, encounter Alecto, or make Shikamaru's condition worse. They desperately wanted to know what was happening with their comrades, but they had to keep thinking back to what Hinata said.
Neji knew what he was doing, even if they don't.
NejiXShikamaru
Alright Gang,
As always, patience and reviews/PMs would be appreciated!
When-Rabbit-Howls