Kia and Sai raced through the hallways in front of them. Left. Right. Right. Left. Which way was the way out? Which way to Naruto? Where were they going? Kia felt lost and Sai didn't show it but he was panicking. The wall behind them had long been destroyed. Electricity seemed to fill the walls around them. Sai could do nothing but run. Kia made her hand signs and turned quickly. "Doton: Doshakuzure!" Mud flowed from her mouth towards their pursuer. The figured slowed and she took the opportunity. "Doton: Chikyū no shifuto!" She placed her palm on the wall in front of her and a hole opened. Jumping through with Sai in tow she closed it behind her and continued to the next wall. "Kia where are they?" She glanced back at him. "Don't know, keep moving." Sai jumped through the next hole with her just as the opposite wall blew apart. The wall behind them closed just as the figure walked through the debris. Nii-san where the FUCK are you?! Lightning shot through the wall barely missing them. I think we're on the left side of the hideout. Naruto's working us to the exit. Kia looked at Sai. "Which way is out?" Sai pointed in the general direction and she grabbed his hand. The next wall lead to a hallway. "Kia-chan that way!" The ran down the hall and a door flew off it hinges behind them. "We might have to engage!" She shook her head. "We'll lose! You can't draw and earth won't work." Lighting shot past them again, this time grazing Kia's arm. She cried out in pain. "Kia-chan!" Nee-san use wind! She shook her head fighting off tears and keeping her pace. I can't use wind the way you can. He brothers voice shot through her head with a force that rivalled a typhoon. YOU'RE A SANO! YOU CAN USE WIND BY DEFAULT SO USE IT YOU IDIOT! Taking a breath, she turned once more. "Fuuton: Fūdo!" The figure got hit and flew backwards down the hall.
She opened a hole in the wall and ran through. Upon exiting the next hole, she slammed into something warm and hard. Looking down at the person underneath her she started to cry. "Nii-san!" She hugged him tightly to her chest. "Ow! Kiyami let go!" She felt herself get pulled off her brother and looked up to see a disgruntled looking Hyuuga. The man let go of her arm and she smiled at him. "You found him." He blushed lightly, nodding. Just then another explosion shook the base. "Guys we need to move." Naruto picked up Kyo and started forward. They all followed. The base shook again. Naruto laughed. "You know the last time I was in one of these the roof got a hole blasted in it." Kia skidded to a stop. "Naruto you're a genius!" Everyone stopped at that. "I'm sorry, did she just call Naruto a genius?" Neji gaped. They didn't have much time to react before a hole opened in the ceiling and Kia was jumping up through it. "Come on!" They looked at each other then followed her up. The forest floor closed in front of them and they looked around. Kyo was the first to speak. "Is that the fucking cherry tree?!" Sure enough, in front of the group was their two-kilometer marker. Kia deadpanned. "They knew you were coming." Naruto glanced up. "How would they know that?" "He was on top of their base before he even hit the front door. How could they not know he was coming?" Sai spoke next. "The ground was too dense. They wouldn't have heard him." Neji pointed forward. "I see chakra traps. Two triggered." Kia yelled in frustration and punched the ground causing a tremor. "They knew we were coming?!" "Of course, we did." The group whirled around. Standing in front of them, looking bored, was a teenage boy. Naruto stepped forward. "Sasuke." "Hn." "Doton: Iwa no Kabe!" A wall spouted up just in front of Naruto. Suddenly someone was tugging on his arm. "Run! We have to go!" He was pulled backwards in the direction of camp. "Neji look out!" He watched animatedly as a bolt of lightning barely missed his captain. Sai was supporting Kyo in running. "Naruto!" he glanced behind him to see Sasuke following. The voice next to him spoke again. "Naruto!" He vaguely registered someone tugging on his arm.
He slowed. Sasuke. We have to get Sasuke. "For fucks sakes Naruto focus!" He felt a sting on his cheek and his eyes snapped to Kia. Suddenly everything seemed clearer. "We can't fight him Naru, we'll lose!" "I can take him!" Kia shook her head. "This was a recon mission. Taking and detaining are two very different things! You'll just injure you both and then what? How can we get him back with two people down?" He saw her reasoning, he really did. But he couldn't let Sasuke slip away. Not again. Shaking her off her turned towards Sasuke, who was still chasing them full speed. Lightning crackled around him, lighting up his features and making him look ethereal. He summoned a few clones for a rasengan and ran to meet Sasuke head on. The surrounding area exploded, blasting Naruto and Sasuke back. "Naruto!" Kia ran forward and skidded to her knees beside her now unconscious comrade. "Dammit Naru, I fucking told you!" "Kia-chan!" Sai dropped next to her with Kyo and looked forwards. Sasuke was picking himself up and shuffling towards them. "Shit. Nii-san?" "Yeah." She looked up at him. "We might have to take drastic measures." His eyes widened and he nodded. "Sai let go and stand back." Sai looked at them. "You're going to do jutsu aren't you?" Kia nodded. "Are you sure?" Kyo spoke. "We don't have time for sure. Make sure Neji doesn't get hit." Sai nodded and stepped back. Kia crouched in front of her brother and Naruto. Sasuke had gotten up and was crackling with lightning again. "Kuran Jutsu: Kokoro no Māji." They both took a deep breath and readied themselves. Kyo placed his hands on his sisters back. "Ready?" "Yeah." Sasuke walked steadily towards them, with a slight shake to his step. "Hariton: Dendō kokufū!" Kia took a deep breath and spewed out a whirlwind of dust. Swirling around its target the metallic dust picked up Sasuke's lightning and added it to Kia's jutsu, exploding the debris with electric pulses and assaulting Sasuke's body with strong charges. Pieces would explode and send charges through his body to hit pieces on the other side causing a similar effect. It was like watching an electric cloud rip through the teenage boy in front of them. After several seconds Sasuke dropped and Kia felt darkness creep into their vision. She held on a little longer to make sure the dangerous boy was unconscious. Then the jutsu slowly tapered off and darkness claimed them. Neji watched from where Sai held him still as the twins collapsed to the ground. "Let go!' he ordered and rushed past Sai to his fallen comrades. Weak chakra signals swirled through them. Sai sent an ink bird towards Sasuke. The beast picked the raven up in its large claws and carried him back towards them. Sai put a hand on Neji's shoulder. "This happens every time they use that move. It's why Danzo-sama wouldn't clear them for combat. It's powerful, but it leaves them completely drained." Neji nodded. Powerful indeed. "How long until they wake?" Sai shrugged. "We should get everyone back to camp, Captain." Neji stood and lifted one of the twins. "Can your ink beast carry everyone?" Sai nodded and bent down to pick up Naruto. They carefully loaded the three unconscious ninja onto the bird. Then they took flight towards the camp. "We'll have to move camp quickly." Neji nodded. "I doubt Orochimaru will allow Sasuke out of his sight for long. He'll be after us soon enough. We need to get somewhere safe." Sai didn't miss his Captain glance towards the unconscious Kyo. Kia still owed him an explanation. Coming to an agreement they landed and prepared to move.
Naruto awoke slowly and blinked his eyes into focus. He sat up groaning. "You're awake. That was pretty reckless of you." He looked up at the amber eyed girl who had made herself comfortable in his tent. She had bandages wrapping her arm and one on her face. He realized he probably looked a little worse for wear too. "Sasuke?" Kia levelled her gaze at him. "Hopefully, effectively restrained in the next tent over. As far as I'm aware he's awake." Naruto let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. "How long was I out?" Kia shrugged. "About a day and a half. We've moved camp. I think we're a day's straight journey from the Sand." He nodded. "What about Kyo? He was pretty banged up when we found him." He caught her flinch and move towards her. "Kia-chan?" She looked away. "He hasn't woken up yet. He was already pretty drained when we used electric dust storm. It may have pushed him over the edge." Naruto looked down. "I'm not sure that the jutsu pushed him over the edge." Kia stiffened and then looked at the tent opening. "What happened in there? He didn't let me see." Naruto looked in her eyes. "That might be a good thing Kia-chan. Let him have that one. He'll tell you if he wants to, but I don't think it's something he wants to talk about." Kia nodded then stood suddenly. "Come on. It's almost dinner time. Come help Sai and me cook. I'll even let you take the prisoner his." Naruto smiled and followed her out of the tent.
Neji sat beside the makeshift bed and looked at the boy laying there. He hadn't woken up since they'd gotten back and Neji was worried. He'd quietly refused dinner in favor of watching the boy for any improvements. It had been nearly two days and nothing. His chakra was a swirling mess. Neji didn't realize he'd fallen asleep until he awoke. It was dark outside and something told him it was very early in the morning. Probably three or four. He looked at the focus of his fatigue. In all his worry he hadn't realised how tired he was making himself. Staying up to watch for signs since moving camps. They'd have to move again in the morning. Over the last couple days he'd had plenty of time to think about the situation. The raven-haired boy had been right. His pride as a Hyuuga seemed to take precedence over his feelings. And feelings he definitely had. His inability to control his emotions around the boy, how quickly he lost control when the possibility of having Kyo was presented, and his near unyielding rage when he realised what had been done to the blue-eyed boy were all indicators. He may not be head over heels, but over the course of the mission Hyuuga Neji had started to fall for the boy. He wouldn't call it 'love'. As far as he was concerned such emotions took far too long to develop for this to be that. However it was too strong to be called 'nothing'. His thoughts snapped to a halt when the boy on the bed stirred. Relief flooded through him when he saw blue eyes slowly flutter open. He leaned forward. "Kyo." The boy blinked up blearily. "Neji? Where am I?" "We're at a new camp." The boy shook his head. "We moved camps? How long was I out?" "Almost two days." Kyo tried to sit up and hissed. Neji gently pushed him back down, but his voice was stern. "Be careful. You're not fully healed yet." Kyo chuckled. "Yeah I figured that out." Neji replaced his blanket. Kyo eyed him. "What's with the nicey nice? I thought you didn't like me." Neji rolled his eyes. "Yeah well, five days of feeling like shit has changed my mind." Piercing blue just stared at him and he sighed in frustration. "Quit looking at me like that." "I'm just a little confused is all. But whatever. We can talk about it later." Silence fell and for a short period of time it was peaceful. Until Kyo started shifting uncomfortably.
Neji caught it and reached out to smooth the boy's hair back only to see him flinch away from the touch. Kyo chuckled and flashed a small smile to cover it. "Sorry. Still sore." Neji searched the boy's face. He was looking down. "Kyo, what happened in there?" The boy stiffened and laughed nervously. "Oh, you know. Nothing I couldn't handle. Just cut me up a little." Neji growled and Kyo jumped at the sound. "You're lying. Tell me the truth. What did he do to you?" "He just cut me up I swear!" Neji's fists were clenched so hard his knuckles turned white. "That's bullshit!" He all but yelled. Kyo was desperate. "No it's not!" Neji crawled over him, pinning him to the spot. Kyo flinched at the weight and looked away. Neji could feel his control slipping, his voice angrier with every sentence. "Then why could you hardly walk when we found you? Why can't you sit up right now? Why wont you look me in the eye? And why do you look so frightened?" Kyo just turned his head away. Neji's next sentence was nearly a whisper. "Why was there semen on you when we found you? What did he do to you?" Kyo's eyes started watering and his voice came out broken and tear stained. "I think you already know." Neji looked down at the broken looking boy, searching for something, anything, to discredit his suspicions. He found the exact opposite in those tears streaked eyes. So Neji Hyuuga did the last thing he ever thought he'd do. He yanked the boy up into a crushing hug. Kyo winced and struggled but Neji just held him there. "I'm sorry. I should've gotten there sooner. I'm so, so sorry." The boy stopped struggling and slowly slumped into the embrace, sobbing. Neji rubbed soothing circles in his back. "I'm sorry, Kyo. It's gonna be okay. I'm so sorry. He won't hurt you again. I'm right here. I'm sorry." Neji continued to hold the boy while he cried, the Hyuuga fighting back tears of his own and whispering words of comfort. After a few minutes Kyo's sniffling subsided and the boy softly spoke. "I'm sorry I didn't listen to you. I was mad at you for rejecting me. You were right. I let my personal feelings and pettiness jeopardize the mission." Neji tightened his grip. "I was wrong to act the way I did." Kyo attempted to shake his head. "No, you weren't. I'm an orphan ninja who was raised and trained to eliminate the enemy with next to no emotional bias, and I ruined the mission by doing the exact opposite." Neji looked down at him shocked. "You didn't ruin the mission." "Yes, I did. I was captured and forced the captain to launch a rescue mission all because I couldn't admit my own weakness. You were right. I'm not worthy of your time."
Neji shoved the boy away with barely concealed rage. "Not worthy?!" Kyo looked confusedly at him. "Yes?" Neji growled and in an impulsive fit crushed his lips against the raven's own. When Kyo gasped, he took the opportunity and slipped his tongue inside the wet cavern. The boy struggled before melting into the embrace, Neji's hand weaving its way into his hair, the other resting on his hip. When the older boy finally released him, Kyo was panting. Neji growled at him. "Don't you ever think that you are unworthy or that you failed. Neither are true." Kyo sputtered. "But because of me-" "We were granted the opportunity to capture the rogue ninja Uchiha Sasuke." Kyo stared at him. "We caught him?" Neji nodded. "He's in my tent as we speak." "Why your tent?" He caught a brief smile flicker across his Captains face. "Because I have spent the last two days of the journey in your tent and plan to continue to do so. I have to take care of my subordinate after all." Kyo quirked an eyebrow at that. "That sounds kind of pervy." Neji full on smiled. "Yeah well, it's your fault I'm gay. So take responsibility."