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Searching for Something	By : jellybelle21 Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 1063 -:- 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
- 15
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When they had finished explaining everything to Tsunade, she had told them to wait in another area while she brought Hiashi in for questioning, due to the fact that it was a sensitive issue, and the fact that not only members of the Sand, but the Kazekage himself, was involved, which made it potentially very incendiary. Gaara was frustrated. He knew that Neji was either quite far away, or was very thoroughly sealed, since strain himself as he might, he could not sense his lover’s chakra signature anywhere within the area. This, more than anything, kept him from just leaving to retrieve Neji himself. He didn’t know where the other man was, and he knew that he really shouldn’t be torturing the location out of the head of one of the most powerful families in Konoha, no matter how tempting it was. Anyway, he was talking to Tsunade at the moment, she would probably not let him go in there and start crushing random body parts.

They had opted to wait in Gaara’s room, since it was large and not too far from the Hokage’s office. Temari and Kankurou had joined them now, as well, since they had been told what was happening by Naruto when Temari came to brief Gaara on his schedule for the next day and found his room full of somber looking ninja. Sasuke was standing in a corner, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and an extremely annoyed expression on his face. Hinata and Kiba were sitting on the floor against his bed, looking anxious and expectant. Temari was seated on his bed, and he could see from her face that she was clearly very worried. Kankurou and Naruto were sitting in chairs, and Gaara was leaning against the wall, barely holding back the urge to pace. Naruto was fidgeting and occasionally complaining about how long it was taking, and Gaara had to agree with him. He knew this was the right way to do things, but he was a ninja, he didn’t really like these diplomatic duties he had. He would much prefer to just go to Neji’s rescue that moment, and to hell with the consequences of torturing and killing Hyuuga clan members.

After what seemed hours, the door opened again, and they all eagerly followed the jounin sent to retrieve them back to the Hokage’s office. Hiashi was no longer there, and Tsunade was sitting with a look of deep concentration at her desk, her brow furrowed. She did not seem concerned that there were now two more ninja than there had been when they first came to her, but she looked so deep in thought, Gaara wasn’t sure she had noticed.

“I spoke with Hiashi.” She told them after the doors had been closed and they were all waiting for her to speak. “He says that he has no idea where exactly Neji is, but that he left to seek enlightenment, as he has been feeling spiritually muddled.”

“That’s crap!” Naruto spoke up at once, and she gave him a quelling glare. “Hinata heard him talking about it!”

“I mentioned the conversation you overheard, without telling him that you were the one who reported him.” Tsunade addressed Hinata, who was still looking worried, but had not been crying since they arrived at the tower. “He said that when Neji told him he needed to go on this quest, he sent two men with him to guard him, just in case he got into any trouble.”

“That’s ridiculous.” Gaara scowled. “As if Neji needs to be protected. As if he would go on such a quest without telling anyone but Hiashi.”

“I agree, his story is flimsy at best.” Tsunade nodded. “However, if he refuses to tell the truth, the only way we would be able to get the answers you’re looking for are to either torture him, which I really don’t want to resort to, or for you to locate Neji on your own. You’re all well qualified ninja. You were able to locate Sasuke when he was missing, and you should be able to find Neji as well. I’m giving you all permission to investigate this, but I want to make it clear that no one will be killed or tortured. Let’s do this as quietly as possible, please. Kiba, do you think you’ll be able to find his trail?”

“Of course!” Kiba answered readily, tapping his noise pointedly. “Leave it to me!”

“If you have trouble, feel free to call in Kakashi to help. He’s one of the best trackers we have, and he’ll be discreet.” Tsunade advised. “Don’t let the trail get cold before you ask for help.”

“Right.” He nodded sharply.

“If he is guarded, you will probably have to fight them to get him back.” She went on, addressing the whole group again. “Again, do not kill them. Just incapacitate them, nothing permanent, or requiring highly difficult cellular therapy, please.” At this, she looked pointedly at Gaara, who felt it was immensely unfair she was still holding that whole Rock Lee incident against him. That had been years ago, and even Rock Lee didn’t hold it against him anymore. “Any questions?” No one spoke up, and she smiled at them all, though it was strained. “Good luck.”

----------

Neji woke up feeling like his head was stuffed with cotton. His throat was dry, and his limbs were all sore. He tried to roll over and realized that he couldn’t move. Opening his eyes, he saw that he was somewhere dark and unfamiliar. He tried to speak, but even his mouth wouldn’t move. He tried to form the hand seals to activate his byakugan so that he could see something, anything that might give him a hint of where he was and what was going on, but his fingers were also frozen stiff. He breathed in deeply, concentrating on not panicking, trying to think things through calmly.

I’m sealed. If I could see, I bet there’s a massive seal on the ground with me right in the middle of it. That, or I’ve been injected with some sort of paralytic poison. There are a few of those, but they always have other symptoms, mainly a numb feeling throughout the limbs and especially the extremities. I hurt everywhere.

He rolled his eyes wildly in his sockets, trying to see something, but there was no light, and without his byakugan, he was blind. His head felt cold, and still oddly stuffy. He could feel that his hands and feet had been tied together behind his back, which was probably the reason he felt sore. It was an extremely uncomfortable position. His hands felt as though they were wrapped in a way so as to make any movement extremely difficult, as if there had been concern that the seal wouldn’t be enough to keep him from using hand seals to escape this situation.

The seal is affecting my chakra flow. That’s why my head feels fuzzy, I’m off balance.

Neji struggled to make himself thinking clearly even with the distracting effects of the seal, and remembered that the last thing he had done had been to speak with Hiashi about Gaara. After that…

I went to sleep in my room. And someone must have taken me from there. But who would want to kidnap me, and why?

He was thinking about a possible plot against Gaara, that perhaps he was a hostage, and that his captors were demanding things from the Sand, using him as leverage. He had not thought that their relationship was well known, but they hadn’t kept it secret in the Sand, and now all of his friends knew as well. It wouldn’t have been a hard piece of information to come by.

And now he’s probably being forced to choose between the village and me.

Neji knew what he would do if the situation was reversed, and was determined that Gaara shouldn’t have to suffer through the decision. There would be people searching for him. His friends and family wouldn’t just let him disappear, but he had a vague feeling that he was somewhere underground, probably surrounded by solid rock, since that made it much harder to locate someone, either by normal tracking methods, or by searching for their chakra signature.

Unless it surges…they could still sense me if I was able to…

He put all his effort into channeling chakra, piling up a huge amount and letting it out all at once. It was very difficult. The seal made chakra manipulation so hard, it reminded Neji of when he was a child and had struggled to control the energy, failing time and time again.

But I always tried again. I’ve come this far, I won’t give up now.

With a mighty effort, he released the energy, hearing an odd noise come out of his throat. His whole body still ached, and the sudden surge and release of power was more than it could handle. He passed out almost at once, hoping someone had sensed that.

----------

“I think I smell him a bit…over here…” Kiba was either addressing the other six ninja, or Akamaru, who eagerly sniffed at the bit of earth that Kiba was poised over. “No…that’s older, I don’t think that’s it.”

“Your father is a pain in the ass.” Sasuke advised Hinata, who was anxiously watching the proceedings. Kiba had found a trail, but the going was very slow. It had started raining as they left the tower, and that made things much more difficult for him.

“I can’t believe Neji let himself be captured like that.” Kankurou grumbled, and immediately shut up at the two vicious glares aimed at him by both his siblings. “I mean…you know.”

“That’s true, I thought Neji was better than that.” Sasuke sneered slightly, despite the warning look Naruto shot at him. “He must be getting soft now.”

“I will kill you.” Gaara’s voice was completely matter of fact, and Naruto let out a long groan.

“Seriously! We’re supposed to be on a mission! Stop bickering.” He told them, turning to his lover. “If you want to act like you don’t care what happens to Neji, go home. But don’t expect me back anytime soon.” Sasuke scowled, but shut up immediately. Naruto turned to apologize to Gaara, who was suddenly not there. “What the…where’d he go?”

“Gaara!” Temari called out. “He just…he was just there.”

“He jumped up there,” Hinata pointed into the trees. “Maybe he saw something.” She activated her byakugan, doing a search for the Kazekage and found him swiftly. “That way!” she pointed. “He’s moving fast, though.”

“Hinata, you come with me, we’ll follow him. The rest of you stay with Kiba.” Temari took charge at once.

“Wait!” Naruto swiftly created a clone. “Take him, and if you find something, dispel him so I know right away.”

“Good thinking.” Temari beckoned to the clone who followed Hinata and her, racing after Gaara.

Hinata took the lead, her byakugan still active so she would know exactly where to go. After some time, she called out to Temari and the clone. “He’s stopped, just a couple minutes more this way.”

Temari nodded, and they continued until they reached a clearing where Gaara was looking around in confusion and obvious distress. “Gaara!” Temari called out to her brother. “What’s going on?” she landed beside him, only slightly out of breath, Hinata and the clone coming behind her.

“He’s here. I felt him, I know he’s here.” Gaara looked lost, and Temari felt a pang for her brother, who had taken his whole life to find out what love was, only to have it snatched from him like this. “I felt his chakra, back there, and I know he’s here…somewhere right here.” He was tapping on trees, looking around wildly as though he would see Neji hidden behind a boulder or something.

“There’s nothing here, though.” Temari pointed out. “Maybe he was here when you sensed him, maybe he was on his way somewhere else.”

“Good, Kiba should be able to find his trail, then.” Hinata struck the clone to dispel it. “They’ll be here as soon as Naruto tells them, I’m sure. Let me see if I can spot them…” she trailed off, using her byakugan to look as far as she could. “I’m sorry…I don’t see anyone, but they could have slipped past my range, I’m afraid only Neji would be able to…oh, I’m sorry!” Gaara continued searching the area until Kiba arrived with the others, all of them seeming excited.

After twenty minutes this excitement began to wane. Neither Kiba nor Akamaru could find anything. “Are you sure it was here that you sensed him? I don’t think he’s been here at all, especially not that recently. I can’t smell him at all.”

“It was here.” Gaara insisted. Kiba let out a long sigh.

“Well, I’m going to have to get Kakashi now, or the trail will be completely lost. Maybe his dogs will find something.” He was clearly annoyed that he needed help, and the group split again. Hinata opted to go back with Kiba to bring Kakashi to help. Naruto and Sasuke returned to the spot where Kiba had left off he trail he had found, and Kankurou and Temari agreed to stay with Gaara, who completely refused to leave the clearing, despite Kiba’s protests that nothing was there. Nearly an hour later, three of Kakashi’s nin-dogs came to investigate the clearing, but they couldn’t find anything either. They began sweeping the area in wide circles around where Gaara remained, Kankurou and Temari going with them, mostly because there seemed nothing else to do, and they didn’t know what was the right thing to say to their brother.

The sun went down, and Gaara concentrated on reaching out with his senses, desperately trying to locate even the faintest trace of Neji’s signature. He had to be somewhere right around here, he had felt it, and he had a feeling that Neji had done that on purpose, as a distress call, a beacon for others to lock on to.

I’ll find you, and I won’t let anyone take you away from me ever again.

And then, so suddenly that he thought he was mistaken, he sensed Neji. It was faint, horribly faint, as if he were dying, or very far away, or…Gaara’s eyes went wide and he stood up, staring at the ground in surprised realization.

He’s underground. That’s why we couldn’t find anything. The entrance is probably somewhere else. But he is here, right below me…

Gaara knew that if he wasn’t this close, he wouldn’t have been able to sense anything at all, and it probably helped that his chakra type was earth. He was less obstructed by stone and dirt than ninja of other types. Both mentally, and physically.

Lifting his hands up to help him concentrate on what he was doing, Gaara made a few seals, and then made a gesture as though he was diving in slow motion, feeling the earth shift beneath him, and then slowly spreading his hands out, forcing a shaft to form below his feet, only about six feet deep. He would have to move slowly and carefully so he didn’t accidentally cause a cave in that could hurt or kill Neji. Using a platform of sand from his gourd, he lowered himself into the shaft, moving his hands in scooping motions that caused the earth to lift in great clumps and pile at the top of the shaft. This way he wouldn’t force it down and cause pressure that could damage whatever cave or structure Neji was located in.

The going was slower than he would like, but it was not hard to dig in this way, even though he knew once he hit solid rock he would slow down even more. And as he moved lower, he could feel that trace becoming stronger.

I’m coming for you, Neji.

-----

To be continued…
- 15
- 16
- 17
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