When Not All Things Come Full Circle

(Chapter 2: The Wounded SOLDIER)

Author's Note: The next chapter of TUoTL is giving me so much hell. I may scrap that chapter and just redo it. As it is, I've decided to work on this until I've decided on a course of action for the chapter.

Enjoy!

(Hyo's POV)

Coming to Wutai would be like coming home… If Hyo didn't still feel as if he has no place in this country, that is. As it is… Hyo just lets himself wander Yuffie's gardens until he finds the pond he usually hides away at when she's busy with duties pertaining to her country and people. It's not that he doesn't want to be here or that he doesn't want to see her… It's just… no matter how hard he tries, Hyo knows that he'll never be comfortable enough around strangers to ever let Yuffie out of his sight if he'd gone with the others to put on a show of united force.

It doesn't mean that he won't be making his way to his little sister's side at some point in time this evening. Or that he and the others won't have a late meal together. It's just better that he avoid the armed group of guards that came with the diplomat from the Forbidden Continent.

Well, not so forbidden anymore if the people from that country are now coming out of isolation. And maybe that means that he'll have more space to roam, new places to travel to and explore in his own time. It's an exceedingly tempting prospect to him. Especially since it means that maybe, just maybe, he'll find some clue, some trace of his ever elusive past. He sighs silently, crossing his arms over his chest as he stares down into the rippling water, and hopes that his family will not catch wind of his thoughts.

They've tried hard to make life easier for him, to help him recover, but… they worry. With good reason too. His missing past has always and will always continue to weigh heavily upon him until the day he finds something, anything, to lead him back to what he has lost. At one point, Hyo's constant search for his past had led him down a path of despair. He'd been close to giving up on everything when the others had finally sat him down to explain that they didn't care about who he had been, where he had come from, or even what he might have done in his past. The only thing that mattered to them now was him and who he was in the time and place he was now in. Everything else would just be extra, a bonus in their eyes.

If he found his past, then good. They'd be happy for him. If he didn't... then it didn't change a damn thing, because they loved him as he was and nothing would ever change that.

Hyo tips his head back to look at the sky that is beginning to burn with the setting sun and huffs a soft noise, his version of fond laughter. His family… They're as crazy as always and he doesn't ever want them to change. And, even if he never does find any clue to his past, he thinks that, maybe, he can find some measure of contentment in knowing that he can always come back to them, to the places that they call home, and that he will always be welcome. He hopes that, one day, it will be enough for him, that it'll be enough for him to finally be able to let go.

He tilts his head down to look back at the water lapping at the shoreline. The water reflects the burning sky and Hyo hums roughly in thoughtful contemplation. Fire. It's been a theme throughout the life he's lived so far. From the stories Zack and Cloud have told him about the burning of Nibelheim to the many campfires that he and AVALANCHE have shared over the years.

But even more than those memories are the memories of the many battles he's experienced, that he's fought in. For his own life, for the lives of his family, for the lives of innocents. He's used fire as a weapon and as a beacon of hope. It's the element that comes easiest to him and, strangely enough, it is the one he is the most comfortable with despite it's deadliness. Because, for all that fire is light and heat and cleansing, fire also casts the darkest shadows and the shadows have always been where Hyo has found the most peace from a world that would draw him into the light without a care for his well being.

His family has always said that fire and shadows suit him. He does have a temper, after all. Even if he does hide it behind a 'could care less' demeanor. Which is why he's able to turn, viper quick, at the sound of someone behind him and bares his teeth at the threat. He's not expecting the reaction he gets, though.

The stranger behind him goes even paler than what appears to be his usual complexion at the sight of him, but it is the look in the man's lunar white eyes, the emotion in his voice, that stops Hyo from driving the other male out of his safe place. Wary, the adopted Strife pulls back slightly-his head tilting almost curiously as he scents the air. Oddly enough, the other man smells of shock and pain and sadness. It's not an unusual scent to Hyo, who's suffered -along with his family- from the terrible grief that losing a loved one causes. The man's scent isn't that pained -which means that it is an old pain- but Hyo's appearance does seem to cause him some measure of grief.

The dark Strife huffs quietly and shifts slightly. Only...that causes the slightly larger male to reach out, crying, "Wait!"

Hyo freezes and his brow furrows in confusion as he frowns at the other male. Cautiously he signs, "Who are you and what do you want from me?"

The other man's eyes widen in recognition before the corners of his pale eyes pinch and, softly, he murmurs, "I don't want anything. It's just...you look exactly like someone I used to know. A little older and your hair is longer than his ever was, but the resemblance is eerie to the point of being impossible. He went missing many years ago while on a mission. We never found him."

"My condolences." Hyo isn't being sarcastic. Isn't even trying to be. No one's pain deserves to be belittled. It doesn't mean that he's let his guard down or that he'll let the other man get close to him through a shared notion of loss.

The other man's lips quirk up in a small, bitter smile, "The ones who deserve such words are his family and friends, though I accept them nonetheless since he was a valued and irreplaceable comrade."

Hyo nods shallowly. He can understand why the other man would say that. It doesn't mean that he's willing to take any chances. He leans back when the other moves slightly and the pale-eyed man pauses to eye Hyo curiously.

"I'm not going to attack you. Well… at least so long as you are not an intruder coming to take advantage of the cover this place provides."

Hyo snorts and signs, "The Empress had this place created to accommodate my needs. Anyone trying to hide here will quickly find themselves on the business end of not only my weapon, but many others as well."

The other man nods and says, "My name is Hyuga Neji. Might I enquire what your own name is?"

Hyo hesitates for a moment before signing, "You are part of the group from the Forbidden Continent, are you not?"

"I am. I am one of Senju-sama's guards. Why?"

The younger Strife makes a rough noise, the vaguest trace of a hum buried deeply in his ruined vocal cords, "My name is Strife Hyo. I am Strife Cloud's younger brother."

(Neji's POV)

And, just like that, Neji finds himself wishing that the rest of AVALANCHE had been more vocal about their absent member because now he is standing right in front of the potential bomb he and Tsunade had picked up on during the meeting. It's not a comfortable feeling, but Neji pushes the discomfort away to comment quietly, "The Empress was happy to hear that you had come with the rest of your group. Though, I do admit to nearly having a heart attack when she attached herself so easily to two men that we had not even had a chance to be introduced to."

To his surprise, the man -who he is almost certain is Shikamaru- seems to soften, but not by much. The harder edge in his eyes fades slightly and the left corner of his mouth tics up in the tiniest of smirks that Neji has ever seen in his entire life as the other man signs, "That would be Yuffie. She's always been excitable, but I would not call that a thing that can be taken advantage of. She has a core of steel inside her that makes her one of the deadliest people on the Planet."

"So I saw," Neji confirms lightly. "She does seem to be a dedicated ruler and a faithful one, as well."

The darker man makes that low, rough noise from before. It sounds almost like the noise a person would make when deep in thought and those dark, dark eyes, which had drifted away briefly, snap back to his own, "One should hope that you never have to see just how dedicated and faithful she truly is."

And that's a threat. As blatant and as obvious as the swords at the other man's hips. Shikamaru would have been more subtle, but there is no telling just how much of the Nara is retained by the man currently known as Hyo. Or if there is even anything left of his comrade left in this man at all. Regardless, he cannot quite control the thrill that goes through him at the thought of the Empress being as deadly as the look in the darker man's eyes. He does not think that any shinobi could.

After all, death and danger go hand and hand in their lives and he'd be lying if he said that the adrenalin rush that one gets when fighting is an unwanted feeling…

Instead of voicing that though, Neji hums thoughtfully before he finally replies, "War… is something none of us from Konoha or even Hi no Kuni wants. I would imagine that many of the other countries are of the same mind. We are only just recovered from the last one and, while there are people who would instigate another war for no reason to do so other than the fact that they enjoy the suffering of others, we do not have the emotional strength or willpower to see bloodshed of that magnitude again. Especially not so soon."

Hyo, as he calls himself, eyes Neji with dark, dark eyes. The Hyuga cannot recall even one instant such moment in which he can remember seeing such eyes. And he can't help but wonder, what events had to have occurred in his past to have placed such darkness in Strife Hyo's eyes. Finally, with another rough noise, the other man looks away with a distant look. Slowly, Hyo signs, "We know such feelings all too well. You'll find no fight here so long as you and yours keep to your word."

Something inside him relaxes at the signed proclamation and he gives the other man a wry, somewhat bitter smile, "War is an ugly thing. There is no love lost for it."

Hyo looks at him again, dark eyes searching before his chin tips down into a another shallow nod. And, suddenly, it's not so strange to think about how two men who look nothing alike can be brothers. Because that searching look, that shallow nod, that distant yet watchful demeanor is all Strife Cloud in a darker, more skittish form. Strife Hyo is the night to his brother's day.

Somehow, Neji gets the feeling that, even if he is Nara Shikamaru, the man he has become is so influenced by his brother that the impression made upon his soul will never fade even if he could remember who he used to be. Because there is no way that the Nara would not have come home. Not when he would have given his life for Konoha. Not when he basically had given his life away to keep to the ideals of their home…

Ending Notes: I am so sorry for how late this is. Between life, work, and writer's block… Well, I think you all get my point.

I freely admit again to being stumped on Chapter 29 as well. ARGH! Like, seriously Shikamaru? Why must you be so difficult in this chapter!? *bangs head against wall* Anyway… Beyond my wanting to bash my head in… I'm still alive as this clearly shows.

And in this chapter! Proper Hyo and Neji interaction! Not that Hyo is so easily accepting, but he can understand loss and being tired of fighting. I'll eventually get to other characters POVs since I still have to introduce the rest of the group properly, but I hope you enjoy this chapter until the third installment!