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No Such Thing	By : Cheysulinight Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 883 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1-Chapter 1
- 2-Chapter 2
- 1
- 2
Title: No Such
Thing

Author:
Cheysuli Night

Chapter: 1

Rated: R

Pairing:
mentioned ?/Neji; established Gai/Kakashi; eventual Tenten/Ino.

Warning: Yaoi.
Yuri. Implied rape. OOC (but there's a reason).

Summary:
There's no such thing as a safe place to hide.

A/N: Takes
place a few years after the failed mission to retrieve Sasuke.

__________________________________

It had been
pouring down rain since early the previous morning and had not let up
one bit. Now, on the evening of the second day of the storm,
it had rained so much that the streets were flooded and most of the
training grounds were underwater. Lightening occasionally lit the
dark sky, followed closely by a rumble of thunder. All across the
village, people worriedly watched the rain, hoping it would let up
soon.

“There you
are!”

Well, almost
everyone was worriedly watching
the storm. Some, on the other hand, ignored it as best they could and
took the time to take care of things they had been putting off. Gai
smiled brightly as he pulled a book out of an old box. “What
you were doing in my box of old leg warmers, I'll never know. But I
finally found you!” He exclaimed as he sat in the nearby
recliner, opening the book to a blank page and grabbing a pen off the
nearby coffee table. “Let's see,” he mumbled, frowning
slightly as the lights flickered for a few moments. He smiled
suddenly and put pen to paper. “Dear Diary, today I decided on
a new challenge! Finally I will be able to even the score with my
Eternal Rival!”

Gai kept writing,
pausing every once in a while when the lights flickered. He glanced
worriedly out the window, finally paying attention to the storm that
threatened to drown the village. He sighed, wondering when the rain
would stop so he could continue with his team's training. //Hmmm,
Well, I suppose I could work on water fighting with them,// he
mused. //Yes! That way I won't have to wait for the waters
to recede once it stops raining!// He
smiled and wrote that thought in his diary. He continued in silence,
recording the events of the past week. He had misplaced his diary for
quite a while and so was far behind in his record keeping.

Another
bright flash of lightening lit the sky and thunder shook the house,
almost drowning out the sound of someone pounding on the front door.

Gai
frowned and put down his book and pen. //Who would be out in this
weather?// he wondered as he quickly crossed the room. The
pounding grew louder and faster - it was sounding rather desperate,
actually - and Gai quickly unlocked the door and threw it open. And
stared.

Of
all the people he expected to find on his doorstep during one of the
worst storms Konoha had had in years, one of his precious students,
wearing torn and bloody clothing and looking as if he had been
crying, hadn't even crossed his mind.

Lightening
flashed and pure white eyes stared nervously through rain-soaked hair
before Neji threw himself, shaking and crying, into Gai's arms.

_____________________________

Gai
stared at Neji, instinctively tightening his grip on his shaking
student as he tried to comprehend what was going on. For Neji to be
here, in this state and during a storm... it had to be serious. A
cold blast of wind suddenly reminded Gai that they were still
standing in his open doorway and he slowly backed into the house,
drawing Neji with him.

Neji
followed quietly, holding tightly to Gai's shirt, and allowed the
older man to guide him into the living room. Gai gently sat Neji down
on the nearby couch, carefully pried the boy's hands from his shirt,
and raced back to slam and lock the door before quickly returning to
the boy. “Neji?”

Neji
stared at him and, because of the color of his eyes, Gai was unable
to determine if Neji was actually focused on him or just staring
blankly. “Neji?” he tried again. “Neji, did
something happen?”

Neji
blinked, slowly, not even seeming to notice the tears still falling
down his face. Gai frowned and studied the boy.

Neji
was a complete mess. His clothes, what was left of them, were
shredded and barely hanging onto his bruised and bloody body and he
seemed to have lost his shoes. His hair was tangled and hung limply
in wet clumps about him and his forehead was uncovered, his cursed
seal bared for all to see.

Gai
had never seen the boy in such a state and he realized his previous
question was rather... stupid seeing as something obviously did
happen. The correct question was: What happened? He would
have asked but he didn't think Neji was capable of answering at the
moment.

So
instead of questioning the boy, he went to get some towels and some
dry clothes. Questions could wait, right now he just needed to get
Neji warm.

____________________________________

Getting
Neji warm and dry was a lot more difficult than Gai had expected.
Neji had been quiet and complacent since he had arrived and Gai had
expected much of the same while getting the boy changed.

He
really should have known better.

Telling
Neji to change into the dry clothing Gai had provided - a sweatshirt
that was far too large for the boy but would have to do - had earned
Gai nothing more than another blank stare. Since Neji couldn't stay
in the clothing he was wearing, Gai had decided to change the boy
himself.

That
was a mistake.

Neji
had watched quietly as Gai came towards him, the older man whispering
soothing words as he reached out to pull the remains of Neji's shirt
off. The boy frowned and tensed when Gai's hand touched his skin and
began removing the shirt. Neji shifted and Gai suddenly found himself
flying across the room, the center of his chest aching from the
sudden blow. He blinked as he stared up at the ceiling, taking a few
moments to catch his breath before sitting up and looking back at his
student.

Neji
merely blinked at him.

____________________________

It took a few more tries - and a few more trips across the room -
before Gai realized what he was doing wrong.

He
had been quietly talking to Neji almost constantly while trying to
get him changed. But he had been telling Neji that 'It's all right'
and 'I won't hurt you' when he should have been telling Neji exactly
what he was doing and what his intentions were. Once Neji realized
that Gai only wanted to get him into some dry clothes, he allowed Gai
to remove what he was currently wearing.

Gai
let the shredded remains of Neji's clothing fall to the floor with a
wet thump and picked up a towel, carefully wrapping it around the boy
and letting it soak up the rainwater. He sighed when Neji blinked up
at him. “What happened to you, Neji?”

Neji
frowned and looked away, flinching when the towel was removed and Gai
helped him into the dry clothes. Gai almost smiled when he saw how
Neji seemed to be swimming in the green sweatshirt, but sobered
quickly, not able to forget why Neji was wearing over sized
clothing.

“Sensei?”

Gai
blinked at the quiet, barely there, voice and looked down at the boy
who still sat on his couch. Neji blinked up at him again... but this
time, he seemed more aware. “Neji?”

Neji
frowned. “Sensei?” he asked again, just as quiet, and
reached out a hand, grabbing onto the hem of Gai's shirt. “Safe?”

Gai
drew in a quick breath and knelt in front of the couch so he was,
more or less, face to face with Neji. “Yes, Neji. You're safe
here.”

Neji
stared at him for a few moments before reaching out his other hand
and grabbing more of Gai's shirt. Gai watched silently as Neji
studied him, reaching out to steady the boy as Neji started shaking.

And
just like when he had opened the door earlier, he suddenly found
himself holding a shaking and crying Neji. Gai held him close, his
arms wrapped loosely around him. “Neji, what's wrong?” he
asked, stroking Neji's hair.

Neji
blinked up at him and looked as if he was going to answer but
suddenly doubled over, coughing harshly.

//Oh,
shit,// Gai thought, holding Neji tighter when the coughing
stopped in an attempt to soothe his shaking. “Neji, how long
were you out in the rain?” he asked, placing his hand on Neji's
forehead and mentally cursing at the heat he felt.

Neji
just stared blankly off to the side, gasping for breath and ignoring
- or no longer aware of - Gai's voice. “Safe,” he
whispered, clutching tightly to Gai's shirt. “Safe... have
to... get safe...”

Gai
frowned in concern at Neji's rambling and held him tighter, gently
pulling him off the couch and into his lap. “You're safe,
Neji,” he said, causing Neji to stare blankly up at him. “I
promise you're safe here.”

Neji
blinked and looked over at the window. “It's raining.” He
seemed surprised. “Why?”

This
statement worried Gai even more. Neji had been out in that storm; he
should know it was raining. And he asked 'Why?' as if he
thought Gai had had something to do with it. Gai had no idea how to
respond to that question. Fortunately... or unfortunately, he didn't
need to. Neji started coughing again.

_______________________

The
rest of the night continued in a similar fashion. Neji would
experience brief moments of coherency before he drifted away again.
Gai worried that there was something he wasn't seeing; Neji's fever
was bad but it shouldn't be causing delirium just yet.

Gai
thought on this for a few moments as he watched Neji curl up on the
bed - Gai had brought him to the guest room as soon as his coughing
fit stopped - before flashing back to what he had seen when he had
first opened the front door.

Blood.
Neji standing there wearing torn and bloody clothing.

Gai
stood quickly and leaned over Neji, searching for any sign of injury.
The boy's face was flushed with fever but some of the redness seemed
to be coming from several scrapes and there was a long cut on his
cheek. //Fuck, how could I have missed that?// There were also
bruises, the most notable that Gai could see was a large - hand
shaped - one wrapped around Neji's throat.

Gai
sucked in a breath when he saw that and he narrowed his eyes. //Who
hurt him?!//

Neji
stared curiously at his teacher, seemingly confused as to whether or
not the sound had actually come from the man. “Mad?”

Gai
winced when he heard that. “No, I'm not mad at you, Neji,”
he reassured... tried to reassure. He wasn't used to having to
offer Neji any kind of reassurance. “Neji,” he began,
kneeling next to the bed and looking his student in the eye. “Can
you tell me where you're hurt?”

Neji
blinked and seemed to be looking off to the side, though it was
rather hard to tell. “Why can't I see the rain?” he asked
quietly, once again ignoring Gai's question.

Gai
sighed and gestured towards the window. “You can't see it
because I have the curtains down. Do you want to watch the rain?”
he asked, standing and moving to the window. Neji nodded. “Now,”
he said, having raised the curtains and returned to kneel by the bed,
“Can you tell me where you're hurt?”

“No.”

Gai
blinked. “No?”

Neji
looked at him. “Said not to.”

Gai
frowned and leaned forward. “Who said not to?”

Neji
closed his eyes and turned away from the older man. “He said
not to tell.”

Gai
tensed, fighting back impatience. “Neji, who is He?”

Neji
looked back at him for a few moments before returning his attention
to the window. “Can I go outside? I like the rain.”

Gai
suddenly felt the urge to bang his head against the wall in
frustration. Deciding that questioning Neji would get them no where,
the older man quickly changed tactics. “Neji...” he began
hesitantly, “May I... may I see where you're hurt?”

Neji
didn't answer for a long while and Gai thought he had drifted away
again, but Neji eventually turned to him. “Ok.”

Gai
sighed in relief and, slowly so he wouldn't startle Neji, reach for
him. Just like he had - eventually - done while getting Neji changed,
he spoke softly to Neji, telling him everything he was doing. He
frowned when his hand came away bloody from his examination of Neji's
head - that explained his frequent incoherency.

Neji
watched silently as Gai continued his examination, flinching when Gai
detected some bruised - or cracked - ribs. Gai hesitated when he came
to the hem of the sweatshirt. Neji's legs were bloody so he had to
check to make sure it wasn't too serious, but... “Neji, I'm
just going to...” He placed shaking fingers on the sweatshirt,
looking up to see how Neji would react.

Neji
frowned and when Gai began pushing the sweatshirt up, Neji shifted...

And
once again Gai found himself flying across the room.

_______________________

Neji
didn't know where he was. Well, he had some idea. //Sensei...
have to get... Sensei... sensei sensei sensei... safe...// But he
couldn't be sure if the visions of Gai kneeling worriedly next to him
and soothing him were real or if he was still... //Lost... so so
so lost where why are you doing this...//

Occasionally,
the image of Gai would shift into the image of //Bad man... bad
bad bad man... hurt...// And then Neji would feel it all again,
the cold and the rain and the hands //Let go let go let go...//
and he'd make the hands stop touching him... though for some
reason that worked better now than it did before... //Hurts hurts
so bad make it stop make it stop make it stop...//

Then
Gai would be there again, telling him that he was safe and that he
wouldn't be hurt anymore. But his words kept fading out, being
drowned by another voice...

... you are a
ninja... strongest bloodlines... Honestly, who do you think will
believe you...

...who do you
think will believe you...

//No no no
no...//

“Neji?”

Neji
blinked and Gai came into focus, staring worriedly down at him.
“Sensei...”

Gai
frown nervously. “Neji, I... I need
to see how bad you're hurt so I'm... check... I'll... quick...”

Neji
frowned as Gai's voice faded out. “Quick?”

Gai
nodded and he seemed to morph into a different, laughing
man. Hard and fast...
best way... wouldn't you agree, Neji... And
suddenly it was Gai again, offering reassurance. “I'll be as
quick and gentle as I can, Neji. I promise.”

Neji
watched him, struggling to stay focused, to make Gai stay.
He didn't want the bad man coming back... Gai was watching him and
Neji remembered he had been asked a question. “Ok.”

______________________________

Gai
took a steadying breath and once again attempted to raise the
sweatshirt, this time not only telling Neji what he was doing, but
also telling him other things in an attempt to keep his mind off of
what was happening.

Gai
was more successful this time.

He
had to excuse himself to the other room after he finished checking
Neji's injuries. He was angry... no, he was furious at
what he found and didn't want to frighten Neji with his anger.
//Raped!// he
mentally roared, furiously pacing his living room. //I
will kill the
bastard that hurt him! I'll... I'll skin him alive! Strangle him with
his own intestines! Rip him apart piece by piece by bloody
piece!//

Neji
had been raped. Some... some bastard had
raped Gai's precious student.

Growling, Gai thew himself onto the couch and
glared off into space. Catching sight of an open book on the nearby
coffee table, Gai blinked.

Dear
diary, today I...

Gai
grabbed the book and flung it across the room, suddenly angry at
himself for being so cheerful in that book. He couldn't believe he
had been sitting here happily writing while
Neji had been suffering at the hands of a monster.

“Sensei?”

Gai sighed and looked towards the hall leading
to the bedroom, frowning when he saw Neji leaning against the wall.
“Neji, you shouldn't be walking around,” he said,
standing and crossing the room to stand at Neji's side.

Neji blinked up at him. “I need to go
home,” he whispered, staring towards the front door. “It's
cold.”

Gai
shook his head and wrapped his arm around Neji's shoulders, leading
him back to bed. “You need to stay here for a while, ok?”
he said, wincing as Neji stumbled against him. “I'll get you
some more blankets if you're cold.” //And some
medicine. I need to get some medicine down him or he'll catch
pneumonia, if he doesn't have it already,// he
thought as he lowered Neji on the bed and helped him get settled.
//And I need to treat his... injuries.//

“Can I sleep now?”

Gai shook his head, wrapping the blanket around
Neji. “No, I'm sorry, Neji. But you have a concussion... I
think. It's hard to tell with your eyes. You need to stay awake.”

Neji frowned, clinging to the blanket. “Ok.”

Neji
sat quietly and calmly, staring up towards one corner of the ceiling.
Gai watched him, mentally cataloging the medical supplies he had. //I
have plenty of bandages and that antibacterial stuff. Good,// he
thought, reaching out a hand to check Neji's fever. It was higher,
Gai realized with trepidation. The only medicine he had for fevers
would make Neji drowsy and Gai doubted it would be safe to give him.

A gentle tug on his sleeve drew him from his
thoughts and focused on Neji, who was now staring somewhere off to
the left. “Tell me a story?”

Gai blinked.

______________________

Getting Neji's injuries treated was almost as
traumatic as checking them in the first place. But at least this time
Neji didn't send him flying across the room; Neji had been
sufficiently distracted by the tale of 'How I Met My Eternal Rival'.
He had even asked questions, though his questions often had nothing
to do with the story - at least, not in any way that Gai could see.
Still, he had done his best to answer them.

Gai finished tying off the last bandage -
around Neji's wrist, which he suspected might be fractured or at
least sprained - and leaned wearily on the bed, resisting the urge to
run and scrub Neji's blood off his hands.

“The rain stopped.”

Gai tiredly looked over at the window when Neji
said that, surprised to find that the storm had finally passed. It
was still cloudy and dark though and Gai had to look at the alarm
clock on the nightstand to see if it was still night.

It wasn't. It was five in the morning. Usually
he'd be getting up now for his early pre-training exercise. He'd be
stretching and jogging and doing push-ups... not sitting here in
exhaustion, staring at his battered student.

“Can I fly now?”

Gai frowned at the question and looked at Neji,
who was still staring out the window. “What?” he asked
hesitantly, wondering if he had heard right and if he needed to lock
- or block - the window.

Neji raised his hand towards the window. “Fly
like the birds in your story. No pain,” he whispered, his hand
drawing invisible lines in the air. “Safe.”

Gai hadn't mentioned any birds that he could
remember and he sat there blinking in confusion before realizing he
should answer Neji's question before the boy tried to climb out the
window. “No, Neji. You need to stay here.”

Neji let his hand fall back to the bed. “Ok.”

___________________

“Gai-sensei! Gai-sensei!”

Gai jerked awake at the loud voice and winced
at his aching back. He had fallen asleep where he was, kneeling next
to the bed; he'd be sore all day. He looked over at Neji, knowing
that the voice wasn't his but too tired to identify it.

“Loud,” Neji answered his unspoken
question, sitting up and looking towards the bedroom door. “Lee.”

Gai groaned and pushed himself off the floor,
his back cracking painfully. “Stay here, Neji,” he said
as he walked to the door.

Neji nodded. “Ok.”

Gai sighed and with a last glance back at Neji
to make sure he wouldn't follow, Gai left the room, closing the door
behind him. //Why is Lee here?// he wondered as he walked down
the hall, trying to remember if he had planned to give the boy some
pre-training training. He didn't think he had, but then his mind was
rather fuzzy at the moment.

“Gai-sensei!”

Gai winced. Neji was right; Lee was loud. “I'm
here, Lee,” he yawned, entering the living room and staring at
his green-clad student.

Lee beamed at him. “You were late for
training so I came to get you,” he exclaimed, bouncing a little
in impatience. Gai felt tired - and old - just watching him. Lee
frowned, taking in his teacher's rumpled appearance. “Are you
all right, Gai-sensei?”

//No,
I'm not all right. You're teammate is sick and injured and is
in my bed.// He didn't say that
aloud. “Lee,” he finally said, realizing something. “Can
you run to the hospital and bring a doctor?”

Lee paled. “Gai-sensei! You're sick?!
Hurt?!” he yelled in distress, frantically pulling at his hair
as his gaze swept over the older man. “Aaahhh, you've got blood
on you!”

Gai blinked and looked down at his hands. They
were indeed still covered in blood. //Neji's blood.// “Lee,
it's not mine,” he reassured his student, who looked as if he
was about to try to carry Gai to the hospital. He took a deep
steadying breath. “It's Neji's.”

Lee stumbled a bit at that and stared at Gai in
shock. “Neji's?” he asked, looking around for his
teammate.

Gai sighed. “Lee? Doctor?” he
reminded, paling when he heard the sound of shattered glass coming
from the other room. “Shit!”

Lee stared blankly as Gai swore and raced out
of the room. He stood there, torn between going to get a doctor -
with little to no information on how Neji was hurt - or follow his
teacher for more information and to appease his own curiosity.

After a moment of indecision, he followed.

__________________________

Neji watched as Gai left the room in search of
the loud voice. //Loud loud loud Lee so loud...//

Stop
screaming... you little... shut up!

Neji flinched at the imagined voice, clinging
tightly to the blanket. //Shut up shut up loud bad... bad bad...//
He rocked back and forth, repeating that over and over in his
mind. //Bad bad bad shut up...//

I
said shut up!

Neji jerked, the voice echoing in
his head, and he fell off the bed, he and his blankets landing with a
muffled thump. //Shut up shut up no don't hurts hurts so bad...//
Neji whimpered, grabbing at his hair in a feeble attempt to
banish phantom pain. //Hurts hurts stop it sorry so so sorry...//

The
bedroom faded from view, replaced by a nearly flooded clearing, the
water flowing over his broken form. He shivered. //Cold so
cold I like the rain I used to like the rain...// Neji
shook his head and the bedroom returned.

Neji
blinked, the room clearer than it had been, and he stumbled to his
feet. He dropped the blankets and looked around curiously, wondering
where he was. //Safe... feels safe...//
he
thought, wandering over to a nearby window. “Rain stopped,”
he whispered, gently touching the glass. “No more rain.”

Neji stared out into the darkness, his
attention drifting as he listened to the loud voices coming from the
other room. He tapped the glass. “Fly free, little bird. Fly
free.” A flash of white caught his attention and he shifted his
focus, now watching his reflection.

...
little Branch member... worthless...

Neji
frowned at the reflection of his cursed seal and looked lower, now
staring his reflection in the eye. //White...// Suddenly
the eyes staring back weren't his own. Neji frowned.

The next thing he knew, sharp stabbing pain was
racing up and down his arm.

______________________

When
Gai tore down the hall, he expected to find the guest room empty.
Neji had wanted to fly and when Gai had heard that crash... //Oh
god, please let him still be in the room,//
he thought frantically, oblivious to Lee trailing close behind him.

Neji
was still there. He was standing by the shattered window, staring in
shock at his bleeding arm, but he was still there. “Neji!”
Gai raced across the room, stopping just short of running into Neji,
and immediately focused on the boy's arm.

Neji blinked up at him and held out his arm,
allowing Gai to see all the glass embedded in his flesh. “Your
window's broken,” he mumbled, his gaze drifting towards the
ceiling. “The eyes are gone now.” He smiled softly. “Bye
bye.”

Gai sighed and reached out for Neji's good arm,
taking a gentle grip on it. “Sit down, Neji. I need to get that
glass out,” he said, frowning when it became apparent the boy
was going to sit down right where he was and he suddenly jerked Neji
away from the broken glass that covered the floor. “Not there!”

Neji
stumbled against Gai, losing his balance as his legs gave out on him.
Gai winced as Neji started coughing and, carefully, picked him up and
carried him over to the bed. “I'm sorry, Neji,” he
apologized as he helped Neji get settled, keeping an arm wrapped
around him until his coughing fit ceased. “But you shouldn't
sit on the floor.” //Especially when it's covered in
glass.// Once Neji could breathe
without coughing, Gai released him and pulled the nearby first-aid
kit closer and started searching for something to get the glass out.

He never noticed as a pale and shaking Lee
quietly left the room.

__________________________

Your window's
broken.

//Oh god...//

The eyes are
gone now. Bye bye.

//He sounded
so...// Lee shook his head,
pausing momentarily on someone's roof and glancing around in the
predawn light. With all the rain, the streets were flooded and roof
hopping was the quickest way to get anywhere, as evidenced by the few
early risers traveling across the village. It had been how Lee had
gotten to Gai's home so quickly after realizing his teacher was late
for... training...

Bye bye.

Training
didn't seem so appealing now. Not when Neji was so... so...

The eyes are
gone now.

...
sick. Lee sighed and glanced back the way he had come. He had never
seen Neji look so... fragile before. Neji was a genius. He
was a ninja. He was
not fragile. But... he
was...

Lee
took a deep breathe and looked away, running as fast as was safe to
the hospital.

_____________________

Gai
winced as he gently pried that last piece of glass - that he could
see - from Neji's arm. “What happened, Neji?” he asked as
he set aside the tweezers and reached for the wash cloth and bowl of
water he had used to clean his other injuries. When the blood was
mostly washed away, he sat the washcloth aside and picked up a jar of
ointment. //I really need to stock up soon. I thought I had
more supplies than this,// he
thought as he carefully smoothed the cream onto Neji's shredded arm.

Neji
frowned as he watched Gai work, seemingly oblivious to the pain he
must be in. “The eyes changed,” he mumbled, reaching out
with his good hand to catch a drop of watery blood that fell from his
arm. “I made them go away. Your window broke.”

That
answer caused some worry but he left it alone, not feeling up to
dealing with hallucinations on top of everything else. “Well,
you need to be more careful,” Gai said as he began bandaging
the arm. “You're lucky you weren't hurt worse.” Gai
flinched as suddenly Neji yanked his arm away and he looked up to
find the boy staring at him in what seemed to be confusion.

Neji
cocked his head, holding his injured arm close. “Lucky...”
he repeated thoughtfully.

What a lucky
boy... I chose you...

Neji
frowned and moved away from Gai, turning away from the older man and
staring at the remains of the window. “Don't...”

Gai
watched worriedly for a moment, giving him his space, before he
inched closer and placed his hand on Neji's shoulder in an attempt to
comfort. “Neji, I-”

“Gai-sensei!
Gai-sensei! I brought the doctor!”

Gai
sighed in profound relief as Lee and another man burst into the room.

_______________________

Neji
watched curiously as Gai spoke quickly to an older man dressed in
white. //White... bad color...//
However, he couldn't focus enough to understand what they were saying
and they soon lost his interest. He turned to find a boy in green
standing nervously next to the bed, wringing his hands as he looked
from Neji to the older men and back again. “Lee...” He
smiled. “Loud Lee. Safe.”

Lee
didn't seem to have heard him.

Neji
flinched, blinking in muted surprise when he suddenly found a man he
didn't know kneeling on the floor in front of him. //Bad
color...// The man smiled and
held out his hands, palms up. “Neji, it'll... all right...
look... calm for me...”

Neji
frowned, tensing and trying to back away when the strange man that he
didn't know moved his hands closer.

________________________

“Doctor
Ikeda, I'm so sorry about this.”

“It's
all right. I should have expected that.” The doctor rubbed his
newly bruised chest, glancing worriedly at Neji who was now idly
playing with his hair. It was as if the boy had not just thrown his
doctor across the room. “If we had known the nature of his
injuries, the hospital would have sent a woman doctor. We were just
told of the coughing and incoherency.”

Gai
sighed and followed his gaze, watching as Lee caught Neji's
attention. “Lee couldn't have told you; he didn't know.”
He shook his head, reaching up to massage his temples in an attempt
to ward of a headache. “I was just so anxious for him to get a
doctor that I didn't tell him why.”

Ikeda
frowned as he smoothed out his uniform and inched closer to the bed
now that Neji was distracted. “Let's try again, shall we. Just
have the other boy keep him occupied.”

___________________

Lee
had been surprised when Neji sent the doctor flying across the room.
//I knew he hated doctors, but...// Lee
blinked when he felt Neji tugging on his arm, pulling him down to sit
on the bed. “Neji?” he asked, looking at the other boy.

“Lee...”
Neji frowned, clutching tightly to Lee's arm and staring nervously at
the doctor. “White's a bad color,”
he mumbled, sliding closer to Lee. “Hurts.”

Lee
cocked his head, frowning in worry when he felt Neji trembling. “The
doctor hurt you?” he asked carefully; he hadn't seen
the doctor do anything harmful
but...

Neji
closed his eyes. “Hurts,”
he mumbled, raising his hand to touch at his still bared seal.

Lee
drew in a sharp breath when he realized what Neji was trying to say.
//His seal...// “Neji?”
he asked, hesitantly wrapping his arm around Neji's shoulders in an
attempt to comfort his friend. Neji tensed and Lee held his breath,
expecting to soon be sent flying like the doctor.

Neji stared at him, frowning for a few moments.
“Lee... safe...” He turned to watch the doctor and Gai,
allowing Lee's arm to stay where it was.

________________________

It had started raining again. Not nearly as
hard as the night before - this was only a light drizzle - but enough
to make it clear that the people of Konoha had more storms to look
forward to. This worried the majority of the villagers... but the
people gathered in Maito Gai's apartment couldn't care less about the
weather.

Neji was sleeping now, curled up on his side
and covered in blankets. The doctor had said it was safe as long as
someone woke him up every hour - it was only a mild concussion. What
had concerned Ikeda was the fact that neither it, nor the fever, was
enough to cause his mental state.

The doctor shook his head in confusion,
glancing at the shaking young man sitting next to his patient. Lee
had his eyes shut tight and his hands wringing together. //Poor
boy,// the doctor mused, wiping his hands on a towel Gai had
provided him. //He didn't need to see all that.//

Lee had done an excellent job of distracting
Neji. His voiced was strained as he had rambled on about this and
that but Neji hadn't seemed to notice, watching in fascination as Lee
acted out certain scenes. Ikeda noticed that Neji had seemed a bit
confused at Lee's actions and suspected the boy hadn't really
understood what his friend was doing.

Ikeda sighed and adjusted his jacket - he had
put the dark colored thing back on when Lee explained about what Neji
had called a 'bad color'. It had made things easier. Not much as he
was still a man Neji didn't know, but enough that he wasn't sent
across the room.

The doctor frowned suddenly as he realized
something and turned to Gai, who had pulled up a chair next to the
bed and was now worriedly watching his students. “Maito-san?”

Gai blinked and cocked his head, not looking
away from Neji and Lee but showing he was listening.

“You said Neji threw you across the room,
as well?” He waited a moment as Gai nodded. “Did he use
any Chakra?”

Gai frowned and finally looked towards the
doctor. “No, he didn't. I didn't think anything of it; I just
assumed he was too out of it.”

Ikeda shook his head, concerned. “I've
seen patients, in their delirium, nearly destroy their hospital rooms
trying to fight off imaginary assailants. Their bodies know
instinctively what to do; they don't need to be coherent.”
The doctor cocked his head, now watching Neji. The boy remained
asleep, unaware of the attention. “I can't tell for certain as
it's not my area of expertise,” the doctor answered slowly,
gathering his thoughts. “But I suspect his Chakra is
imbalanced. It would explain his incoherency; Chakra preforms similar
functions as the chemicals in the brain. If an imbalance in either
occurs it will cause an altered mental state.” He frowned. "Of
course, it could be a chemical imbalance and not a Chakra
imbalance, but since he's not using any attacks that require
Chakra..."

Gai frowned, thinking over the doctor's
explanation. “You said you weren't certain. Is there a way you
can be certain?”

“We have a Hyuuga on staff, he could-”

“No!”

Ikeda and Gai looked over at Lee, who was now
glaring at them. “Lee?”

Lee was shaking and just barely refrained from
putting himself between Neji and the doctor. The doctor wasn't the
enemy but he could easily become one if he did what Lee was afraid he
would do. “You can't tell the Hyuuga!” he exclaimed,
struggling to keep his voice down so he wouldn't disturb Neji. “You
can't!”

Ikeda frowned. “With the Byakugan, he
could easily tell if Neji's Chakra is imbalanced,” he said,
looking over at Gai for help.

Gai looked confused, wondering why Lee didn't
want Neji's family to know about the attack. “Lee, they need to
know. And they can help.”

Lee shook his head, glaring harder. “Do
you want know what Neji said?” he growled. Gai had never seen
the boy so angry. “When he told me white was a bad color...”

Ikeda and Gai shared a confused look but shook
their heads. Neither knew.

Lee looked almost on the verge of tears. “He
said... he said... 'hurts'. Then he touched his cursed seal.”
Lee stared helplessly at his teacher, begging him to understand.
“If... if his seal hurts that means... that means that someone
in his family hurt him!”

TBC...
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