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Break to Breathe	By : Okami-Rayne Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male > Shikamaru/Neji Views: 1958 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: NARUTO and its respective characters were created and are owned by Masashi Kishimoto. No copyright infringement intended. I make no money from this story.

Chapter List
- 31
- 32
- 33
BREAK TO BREATHE

by Okami Rayne

Chapter Thirty Two

[Dedicated to Pixie]
This had better clear by the time we get moving…
It wasn't the thunder that woke Shikamaru, but it rumbled loud enough to draw his gaze to the window. The panes shivered and a fresh wash of rain shattered against the glass.
The shadow-nin leaned back against the headboard.
Another boom resounded, tapering into a growl.
Lightning lit the room in a flicker.
Neji stirred.
Shikamaru glanced down and across at the ninja laying beside him, facing away. A tumult of troublesome feelings tangled up inside the shadow-nin, forming a knot he couldn't logically pull apart.
I think I'm losing myself trying to find you…
The faint shift of Neji's shoulder blade caused the muscles in the Hyūga's back to tighten. Shikamaru lifted his hand and swept his fingers along the Jōnin's spine, humming quietly as he tapped his thumb.
Neji stilled again.
Shikamaru frowned, raising his touch to caress the back of the Hyūga's head, watching his fingertips dip into the mocha strands as he rubbed Neji's scalp. They'd passed the 4AM mark twenty minutes ago, if the Nara's internal clock was any measure. Neji hadn't woken. In fact, his breathing had remained steady for the whole time Shikamaru had monitored him.
That doesn't mean we're out of the red zone…
He honestly had no idea what it meant; only that to let it lull him into a false sense of security was not only dangerous, but stupid. But then, he wasn't so sure anything he'd done in the past few hours rated anywhere near safe or smart.
But he wasn't sorry.
Not yet.
He frowned again, stilling his hand on Neji's head. The Hyūga hummed softly. Shikamaru didn't say anything, just watched as Neji rolled his left shoulder a little.
"You should be sleeping…" the Hyūga murmured, his voice deep and drowsy.
Shikamaru responded by letting his fingers return to a lazy rub at Neji's head. It was the only point of contact, bar the warmth of their bodies filling the tiny slot of space between them. The bed was small enough that it was impossible to move any further apart. Shikamaru wasn't sure whether they would have, though he'd suspected that Neji might move during the night.
The fact that he hadn't spoke volumes.
Shikamaru just hoped they were on the same page.
His silence caused Neji to shift slightly, glancing over his shoulder. The movement turned his head a little more into the touch of Shikamaru's hand. The Nara stilled his fingers, his half-lidded eyes lowering to the pale sliver of iris watching him.
Tell me I reached you, Hyūga…
Neji turned, the thick mane of his hair slipping across the sheets as he braced himself on his elbow, pausing sharply before rising up more carefully. Shikamaru didn't miss the briefest flash of pain in his eyes. He dropped his hand away.
Definitely not out of the red zone…
"You okay?" Shikamaru asked cautiously, a little guarded.
Neji raked his fingers back through his hair, pulling it away from his face before ensuring his headband was still secure. Shikamaru watched him quietly.
Still wearing that damned thing…
As if sensing his thoughts, Neji glanced over his shoulder again. Whatever awkward moment might have resulted didn't happen. Shikamaru sure as hell didn't expect the Jōnin to twist around, plant a hand on the headboard, level him with an almost predatory smirk, then lean in and brush their lips.
The Nara's eyes widened a little.
Surprise rendered him motionless.
Then he relaxed, watching as Neji leaned in again.
The bed creaked loudly.
Shikamaru smirked, mumbling against Neji's mouth. "Troublesome."
Neji smiled, nodding slowly. "Very."
The sultry drop of the Hyūga's voice caused Shikamaru to attempt the impossible task of redirecting his blood flow. He swallowed to clear his throat, tapping a thumb at Neji's hip.
"You alright?"
Neji hesitated, drawing back enough to settle their gazes.
Shikamaru returned the stare, his brow arched.
He found himself pinned with an odd look before the Hyūga bumped their mouths and then pushed off his palm, smacking the headboard lightly as he slid off the bed.
"Considering we are both awake, discussing our next strategy might be a good idea."
You're kidding me…
Shikamaru frowned. "Yeah."
He didn't miss the slow roll of the Hyūga's left shoulder, which Neji repeated a few times before he passed into the bathroom and beyond sight, closing the door behind him.
Shit…
Shikamaru closed his eyes, scrubbing a hand over his face and shaking his head as if to rattle his thoughts into alignment. He felt scattered, lost, like all the pieces he'd had in place had come apart all over again.
Focus…
A violent crash against the window caused him to jump.
He turned his head sharply.
A red spatter streaked across the glass before the rain washed it away.
What the hell?
Shikamaru fisted the sheets, holding them at his hips as he swung off the bed. He closed the distance to the window in a few long strides, smoothing away the condensation with a swipe of his free palm.
The glass wasn't cracked and any hint of red was gone.
The shadow-nin frowned, squinting as he tried to search beyond the sheets of rain. Nothing. Just opaque darkness, occasionally broken up by lightning. Some leaves scratched the glass, causing him to draw his head back.
Weird.
He almost jumped again when Neji's reflection suddenly flashed in the glass, lightning causing the headband to gleam somewhat ominously.
"What's wrong?" Neji asked.
Shikamaru shook his head. "I think a bird just flew into the window."
"A bird? It's not yet dawn."
Shikamaru shrugged, still searching the glass for traces of blood he knew wouldn't be there. He hadn't imagined it; that much was certain. Completing his scan, he transferred his attention to Neji's reflection, watching the Hyūga move across to the bed, fingers sweeping over his chest.
Damn.
Shikamaru sighed, his breath misting the glass.
If I can't convince him before our next fight…
He closed his eyes, trying to clear his head enough to think rationally. He almost started when a cool palm slid from the base of his spine, up to his nape. He just about managed not to react.
"Sneaky," he muttered.
"You're bruised," Neji said, his breath playing across Shikamaru's shoulder.
"You grip hard," the Nara said, shrugging.
"It doesn't seem to bother you."
"It doesn't."
He felt Neji's hand slip to the bite mark at his shoulder, fingers tracing the bruise.
Shikamaru hummed, turning slowly to lean against the window frame. "It's only troublesome when people ask questions."
Neji gazed past him, out at the rain. "That's why you avoided the onsen."
"Look who's talking," Shikamaru traced his eyes over the Hyūga's face, then tracked his focus down to the bruises on Neji's chest, keeping his voice calm. "You know you can't fight like this."
Neji didn't miss a beat. "I can accommodate for my weaknesses, Shikamaru. Provided I avoid certain levels of chakra expenditure, I will be fine."
Bullshit.
"It's not that simple, Neji. What you've done isn't just gonna clear up by itself."
"Don't forget why we're here," the Hyūga responded, finally meeting his gaze.
Shikamaru resisted the urge to scowl. "You're a dōjutsu target for those bastards. If we fight, they're gonna go straight for you."
Neji's face remained frustratingly calm. "Hinata will also be at risk."
"Hinata isn't at risk of not being able to fight," Shikamaru snapped, losing his calm to his growing concern, the words flooding out before he could stop them. "Or of dropping dead from embolism-related heart failure."
Neji's jaw tightened.
Fuck.
Shikamaru swallowed, but he couldn't take it back.
The words were out.
Cold and clinical.
Whatever he'd expected in response, it wasn't Neji's calm, steady gaze, monitoring him as if they were discussing something unrelated to the Hyūga altogether.
"I have no intention of failing on any level," the Jōnin said at length. "This mission is imperative. I will not allow anything to interfere."
Shikamaru didn't miss the subtle thread of warning in that deep, steady tone. He dropped his eyes to Neji's chest.
"Anything?" he said, then raised his eyes. "Or anyone?"
Neji pursed his lips. "I can fix my own malfunctions, Nara."
"Malfunctions?" Shikamaru echoed, a dark brow hiking upward. "You're not a damn robot."
The Hyūga's eyes hardened. "Keep your head on the mission. That is what matters here, Shikamaru. That is our priority and it always will be."
The words struck like a blow to the gut.
Shikamaru stared in shock for a moment, a gnawing sadness eating behind his ribs.
He searched Neji's face, but found hard, controlled lines.
He shook his head slowly. "You didn't hear a damn thing I said last night did you?"
Neji's eyes softened. "Yes, I did."
This quiet response dropped a heavy silence between them.
Shikamaru could have read several different things into that simple reply. But in the moment it took him to turn his mind to each possibility, he found himself met with the same outcome every time.
You heard me…but it's not enough to convince you…because I'm still missing something…
The shadow-nin frowned sharply at the realisation.
Shit.
Neji tilted his head. "Shikamaru?"
Shikamaru closed his eyes, his fingers clenching against the cracked sill of the window until he felt splinters driving into his palms.
What the hell am I not seeing?
He didn't hear Neji step forward, his mind churning with internal dialogue.
You'd think…that with everything you've said…everything you've done…I'd be able to know what the hell it is by now…
The Jōnin's arms bracketed him against the window.
And I can't keep sparing you until I find it…
"Shikamaru…"
Fuck…let me find it…
He felt the soft skim of Neji's lips warm his brow…seconds before the cold steel of the Hyūga's headband settled there.
The chill went straight to his bones.

"It's cold as hell," Kiba growled.
"That doesn't make sense, you know," Naruto said, walking along the slippery beam of the bridge rail, finding toeholds in the wood.
"Then it's as cold as hell frozen over," Kiba scowled, ruffling a hand through Akamaru's fur when the dog leaned against him, sharing warmth. "Neji and Lee better hurry up."
"At least it's stopped raining," Chōji said, glancing across at Shikamaru.
The Nara shrugged, gazing out at the village. It still glistened and dripped from the aftermath of the storm. It actually looked like it was still raining, given how much excess water had gathered in the canopies. The skies remained thick and overcast, but the storm had rolled on to the north, leaving Hanegakure grey and gloomy.
The air was heavy to breathe, damp and clogging.
Crappy…
"Shikamaru?" Naruto's hoarse voice sounded above him.
The shadow-nin glanced up; he kept his arms loosely folded as he leaned against the bridge beam that the Uzumaki wobbled up and down like a bird on a wire.
"You see those birds this morning?" Naruto asked.
"Hard to miss them," Shikamaru sighed, shaking his head.
"Creepy, huh?"
"Loud," the Nara grumbled.
Unnatural.
The birds had been an entirely different kind of thunder.
It had happened shortly after dawn. Shikamaru and Neji had just finished putting a plan together by the time the storm settled; only to have the sky darken and fill with hundreds of cawing birds. Shikamaru had assumed it to be an attack, only to realise that the flocks were streaming in from all ends of the forest under the guidance of Tsubasa shinobi and their winged companions.
Trained birds rounding up wild birds.
It had been disturbing and eerie; reminiscent of the swarm-like jutsu they'd been hit with close to the borders. Neji and Lee were currently getting answers from Kitori, which left the rest of the team waiting, some more patiently than others.
Shikamaru hadn't joined in with the banter flitting about, too absorbed in the catacombs of his mind, searching for missing pieces to both missions. Although, he'd given up believing he could convince himself to think of Neji as a mission.
I've fucked up already, right there.
What was even more catastrophic to his clear-cut thinking was his growing reliance on hope rather than logic.
I can't hedge my bets on him having an epiphany…but I…
He shook his head, glazed eyes staring ahead. He was losing his objectivity way too fast to recover it at this stage; which didn't sit well with those parts of him still struggling to hold on to some sense of detachment.
Only problem was, he knew he was kidding himself.
That line just didn't exist anymore.
"What're they doing with the birds anyway?" Kiba asked, breaking into Shikamaru's thoughts.
Sakura saved him the trouble of bothering to consider the question or respond to it.
"Hinata said it looked like they were herding them towards the aviary," Sakura informed, gesturing over to the dark-haired kunoichi, who stood further along the bridge, Byakugan eyes scanning the sky.
"Must be one hell of an aviary," Shikamaru muttered, tilting aside so Naruto could step past him and continue walking along the beam.
"It's bigger than the village," Sakura nodded, moving over. "It's a shame you guys didn't get to see it."
Shikamaru shot her a sidelong glance. "They'd cordoned it off."
"To visitors, but not medics," Sakura said. "The vets say it's because many of the birds are sick."
Shikamaru frowned. "Disease is spreading, huh?"
"No actually. Well, as weird as it seems, some vets are saying it's purely psychological."
"Psychological?" the Nara echoed, mulling it over.
"I'm tellin' you, their birds are weird," Naruto said, stepping over Shikamaru again with a wobble before continuing to walk the beam. "Creepy, messed up, possessed kinda weird."
Kiba snickered. "I think you're missin' your little orange buddy."
Naruto snorted, jumping down beside the Inuzuka. "At least it didn't crap on me."
"Hey that was just the one time!"
"Yeah right, that was a lot of crap for one bird."
"That bird was huge!"
"Keep it down," Shikamaru cut in, frowning as he turned over the new information in his mind, peripherally aware that Sakura was watching him.
Naruto's not wrong…as far as birds go, these ones are pretty abnormal...but to have a psychological disorder spreading…how the hell would that work? Gotta be linked to that forbidden jutsu.
"Shikamaru," Chōji nudged him. "Neji and Lee are back."
Shikamaru turned with the rest of the group, stepping ahead as the approaching party met them half-way across the bridge. Kitori walked beside Neji, her expression grim, lips thinned to a tight, uncompromising line.
Shit.
Shikamaru glanced at the Hyūga, searching for answers. Neji returned his gaze but inclined his head towards Kitori, forcing the Nara to address her. She was already looking at him anyway.
Shikamaru settled for the obvious question. "What's wrong?"
"Intel suggests we might have rebels close to our aviary," Kitori frowned. "Which means I must withdraw my backup team from your operation and secure our perimeter."
Not happening.
Shikamaru arched a brow, unimpressed with the alteration and the possible shit it landed him in. "What Intel are you working with here?"
"Me," Neji spoke up.
Shikamaru blinked. "What?"
"I scanned it myself, Shikamaru. There are a few barrier jutsu holding beneath the surface of their aviary, which might indicate enemies are lurking there."
"Might indicate…" Shikamaru echoed. "How many barriers?"
"Four. Each covering a compass point."
"A clear formation," Kitori concluded.
Shikamaru cocked his head. "Or a ploy to wheedle our number down. They know we've got Byakugan users. Setting up a few barrier jutsu to throw us off target is a perfect 'divide and conquer' tactic."
The kunoichi shook her head. "Either way, we cannot afford to take any chances."
Neither can I…
"We need your backup," Shikamaru argued. "If you let them stretch us too thin, we're playing into their hands."
"Especially if the rebels have taken most of your military strength," Sakura added, lending weight to Shikamaru's words.
"At the time Fukurō led them, that was true. But since our run-ins with them, their numbers will have depleted." Kitori frowned. "The best way for them to strike a blow is to hit our aviary."
"Which they may well do considering how close we are to finding them," Neji elaborated, drawing Shikamaru's gaze. "I don't like it anymore than you do, Shikamaru, but at this point, we can't rule out the possibility that they might attack the aviary in force."
Shikamaru felt that muscle in his jaw twitching. "The only possibility I'm ruling out at this point is the one where we end up dead."
Sakura flinched beside him.
Neji pinned him with a too-calm stare.
Shikamaru returned it, unblinking.
Kitori interrupted their deadlock. "Look, this isn't a debate. This is the situation."
"And this is the reality," Shikamaru returned coolly, tearing his gaze away from Neji. "We need backup. Our last fight showed us that the kill zone just around that one stash point was bigger than we anticipated."
"Yet you survived and met your outlined objective," Kitori pointed out.
Shikamaru had to crush the painful realisation that his 'outlined objective', or at least the way he wanted to achieve it, had radically changed in the span of a few stolen hours…
Hours still burning in his blood and in his brain.
He resisted the urge to look at Neji and recovered with a lazy quirk of his brow, as if his next words should have been obvious to Kitori, despite the fact that he was thinking on-the-spot, seeking a way to keep the pieces she was moving about.
I need that backup.
"We've got a lot more ground to cover," Shikamaru reasoned. "And our team has been cut down to a size that might not be strong enough."
"I said the rebels were strong, I didn't say they were stronger," Kitori shook her head, adamant. "Either way, we need to protect those birds. We've been gathering them precisely so the rebels cannot use them for the forbidden jutsu. It will afford you that much protection at least."
That was an advantage. But Shikamaru wasn't so sure it balanced the scales.
The Nara's eyes narrowed, his dark orbs intensified by his frustration. "So you're telling me I'm now down from twenty shinobi to eight?"
"Ten," Kitori corrected. "I will come with you, as will one of my best ninja."
Shikamaru managed not to shoot her a dry look and instead released a slow breath through his nose. The recurring theme of his plans being turned on their head was starting to grate. Sure, he could rework a strategy in time, but the risk-factor for close-quarter combat had just gone up.
He glanced at Neji.
Dammit.
Without warning Naruto clapped him on the back and flashed a grin – one that beamed with unshakeable confidence. "We've got this, Shikamaru!"
Shikamaru didn't have time to disagree before Lee pitched in.
"We shall show these rebels that we Konoha ninja are no pushovers!" the bushy-browed ninja declared, shoving his "thumb's up" over Shikamaru's shoulder. "We will burn with the flame of youth!"
Or in hell…dammit, someone back me up…
He turned his gaze toward Sakura.
The kunoichi tilted her head in consideration. "Come to think of it, Shikamaru, can't Naruto make up numbers with clones?"
Shikamaru stared for moment in disbelief, having hoped she'd remain on his side of the damn fence. Scanning for support, he looked to Hinata, who seemed unwilling to offer a vote for either party.
Great.
He glanced at Chōji, arching a brow.
Back me up, buddy.
Chōji jumped on Naruto's bandwagon. "We can do this, Shikamaru!"
Oh come on…
Shikamaru scowled, not even bothering to look in Kiba's direction; though the Inuzuka added his two cents worth with a grin, mutt included.
"Let's get wild!" the dog-nin roared.
Akamaru barked his support.
Ugh. What a drag.
Shikamaru released another sigh, feeling all eyes settle on him, waiting for the verdict they'd already decided on. He slotted his hands into his pockets and turned his gaze back to Neji, adopting a flat expression that could only translate as 'you're-all-a-pain-in-the-ass-and-so-is-this-mission-and-I-might-just-hate-you-a-little-right-now'.
Neji smiled.
Shikamaru snorted without menace.
Troublesome bastard.

The tag seal remained in place.
The stash point untouched.
No sign of disturbance other than the storm.
Neji made this mental annotation in silence. He scanned the skies, the canopies and the undergrowth, zooming in and phasing out with every shift of his Byakugan eyes. The area around the team appeared abandoned and quiet, save for the soft tap of raindrops on leaves as the forest continued to drip itself dry. Neji tilted his head, avoiding a droplet that plummeted a scant inch away from his face.
"Neji, check left," Shikamaru's voice filtered through his transmitter.
"Clear," Neji confirmed. "No barriers holding. The catacombs this side are empty."
"Hinata, check right."
"Clear," the kunoichi said. "Empty."
"Kiba?"
"Nah, they're long gone. Bug candy at the ready though."
"First things first, Inuzuka," Neji said. "Let's descend carefully. Stay sharp."
Neji blinked slowly, keeping his dōjutsu activated as he surveyed the area again, his eyes momentarily drawn to the stake pit Shikamaru had almost tumbled into. It was half-filled with water from the storm, black and muddy. A swampy grave.
Which could have been his…
An instinctual, protective aggression stirred inside the Hyūga at the thought.
"Neji?" Shikamaru's voice was at his ear, crackling through. "Waiting on you, Hyūga."
"One moment," Neji said, gathering his focus with a slow inhale before dropping down beside Shikamaru gracefully.
The Nara glanced across at him. "Ready?"
Neji scanned the stash point a final time. "There are no explosive tags or seals other than ours. We're clear."
Shikamaru sighed, nodding. "Here we go."
Neji followed a pace behind as the shadow-nin approached the seal tag, forming the relevant hand signs to deactivate the holding jutsu.
"If you blow us up, Shikamaru…" Kiba half-joked, half-warned.
The Nara snorted, crouching down to pocket the disabled tag, searching for the hatch to the hidey-hole. "Guess it'll save us the trouble of getting blown up later."
Neji heard Kitori sniff disdainfully.
"You're supposed to motivate your shinobi, not make cheap jokes about grim possibilities," Kitori admonished, standing across from Shikamaru with a tall, honey-skinned, bandana-wearing shinobi at her side.
"Shikamaru? Motivate?" Naruto snickered. "Like right."
"You see," Kitori said, tipping her head toward the Uzumaki. "You don't even have their respect."
Shikamaru shot her a bored glance, which caused the Tsubasa man beside her to bristle like a guard dog.
Fortunately, Neji didn't have to come between them.
Shikamaru located the hatch, brushing aside weeds and undergrowth. He dropped to one knee, got a solid grip on the vault-like wheel, braced a foot and turned his body sharply as he pulled.
A few seconds ticked by.
Then a few more…
The Konoha team exchanged glances.
"Uh, Shikamaru?" Naruto queried.
Shikamaru blinked, frozen mid-twist. "Yeah…I think it's stuck."
Neji frowned. "Pull it."
"No shit, Hyūga," Shikamaru muttered.
"I think he pulled a muscle," Kiba grinned.
"Eh?" Naruto leaned over to look. "Man, Shikamaru, just pull it really hard."
"What the hell do you think I'm doing?" the Nara ground out.
"Not a lot," Kiba laughed.
"It's all yours," Shikamaru muttered, pushing to his feet to clap the mud from his hands, flexing out his fingers.
Lee, Naruto and Kiba bolted for the wheel at the same time, clambering over each other in attempt to open it. Neji moved across to Shikamaru, smiling slightly at the troubled expression on the shadow-nin's face. He couldn't resist leaning in with a smirk.
"Beat by a door again, Nara?" the Hyūga murmured, low enough that the others couldn't hear. "That's bordering on more than tragic now."
Shikamaru arched a brow. "Oh yeah? Maybe if you use your Ninja Art "Hyūga head-butt", it'll open."
Neji smiled at the glittering amusement in the Nara's eyes, but broke their gaze and banter before it could draw attention to them. He glanced over towards Sakura, who was watching the display of the three energetic teens with a thoroughly unimpressed expression.
Neji shook his head. "Sakura, do you think you can cave it?"
The kunoichi rolled her eyes. "If I can get near it."
As if on cue, Naruto nudged Lee out the way, two of his clones already twisting and heaving the stubborn wheel. With no success. Neji looked to Shikamaru, who levelled him with an 'I-told-you-so-now-give-me-a-break' expression.
Kitori interrupted them.
"It's probably protected by one of their seals. Allow my shinobi to release it." The kunoichi made a sharp hand gesture, speaking one word which Neji assumed to be 'her shinobi's' name. "Hato!"
The bandana-wearing man stepped forward, his tall, wiry frame stern and obedient. Neji couldn't help but exchange a glance with Shikamaru before both of them stepped aside.
"Naruto, back off a moment," Neji instructed.
"What? It's got a magic word or something?" Naruto frowned, hopping back as his clones puffed away.
Hato turned towards the hatch, knelt down, held his palm to hover above it and then formed a few quick hand seals, muttering beneath his breath. The hatch made a curious groan, like metal rending. Then Hato stood, stepped aside, rubbed at his brow with a grunt and gestured for Naruto to continue. After Hinata assured nothing had been rigged in the process, Naruto gripped and tugged.
The wheel gave way with a spin, allowing the hatch to be heaved open.
"Nice!" Naruto grinned.
The Tsubasa man obediently turned back to Kitori when she gestured sharply.
Neji inclined his head. "Thank you."
Hato looked confused at the gratitude, walking on past without a word.
Shikamaru snorted. "Maybe if you give him a biscuit, he'll get the point."
"For God's sake, Nara," Neji sighed. "What is it with you and these people?"
"Whatever, lets just get this crap over with," Shikamaru replied quietly, moving over to the hatch.
Neji watched the shadow-nin and a flicker of confusion chased across his otherwise calm expression. It wasn't like Shikamaru to be unnecessarily belligerent or consistently snarky with people who hadn't really done anything to provoke him. He was usually level-headed about missions and people, even if they were a bother or a threat. But for some reason, he'd picked up on little irritations with these people, snapping at Kitori from behind a façade of lazy sarcasm. But Neji could detect the bite in his words and in his eyes.
He's lashing out…in his own way…
It didn't take much to guess why. Neji's expression softened a little, betraying a hint of what lay beneath the surface of the mask he pulled back up.
I cannot entertain your concerns, Nara…I will complete this mission…and you will not stop me.
Nothing would, he silently vowed. Not Shikamaru and not the health complication he would rectify once they were back home. He'd fought on the precipice of death before with Kidōmaru – and he'd won. He needed this mission. For more reasons than he cared to admit. So he fell back on the uncomplicated motive.
Hokage's orders.
"Chakra pills," Shikamaru said.
Neji blinked, glancing across. "What?"
Shikamaru tossed a bag up and caught it with the same hand, waving it once for emphasis. "They were protecting their chakra pills."
"In force too," Neji remarked, his mind sliding back into detached analysis. "They must be getting desperate."
"It was only a matter of time before their reserves ran low," Kitori spoke up, stroking her finger along the wing of a small bird that had perched on her shoulder.
Naruto made a face as Kiba elbowed him, snickering. Sakura silenced them with a glare before Neji could, her green eyes turning to Kitori, then to Shikamaru.
"So if they're not taking these pills, they won't be able to hold up those barrier castings for long, or perform the forbidden jutsu either, right?" Sakura asked.
"It will certainly put pressure on them," Kitori nodded.
"If we're lucky," Shikamaru said, handing the pills over to Chōji for safekeeping. "We don't know how many other stash points they have."
"If Hibari was protecting this place himself, it suggests urgency," Kitori frowned. "If they are mobilising already, they'll either attack our aviary or they'll seek to get out of Hanegakure."
"Hibari doesn't strike me as someone who's just gonna bow out," Shikamaru frowned.
Kitori looked pained, but she nodded. "True. However, at this point, without those pills, they'll be desperate."
"Basically its fight or flight," Kiba snorted.
Neji hummed, processing quickly as he unconsciously rolled his left shoulder to combat the irritating ache that side of his chest. "I suggest we give them no say in the matter. It's time to bring the fight to them."
"Hence the need for backup," Shikamaru frowned and Neji sensed the shadow-nin's eyes straying to his left shoulder.
The Hyūga immediately turned to walk away. "We work with what we have, Nara. Kiba, get those insects ready. Let's go."

One hour into the search and the skies had cleared, sunlight taking the edge off the cold.
Two hours into the search, the trail diverged, abruptly and without warning.
They'd followed in a swift pursuit, heading north before circling around to the east side of the forest, Byakugan radars in constant surveillance. They'd moved as a unit used to the formation Shikamaru expected of them. Except for Kitori and Hato who had moved a pace behind, following without a word except to clarify how far they were from landmarks.
Kiba had stopped the team near a stream, which had swollen to twice its size in the storm, bubbling along in a rush that dragged leaves and mud to the surface.
"Which way?" Kiba asked, facing one direction while Akamaru faced another, both of them picking up on different scents. "Sword-guy went right. Whoever Shikamaru tagged with the bugs went left and down the stream."
Neji's eyes narrowed slightly. An inevitable team split would be required at this point – though it wasn't without advantage.
Perhaps…
Kitori stepped up beside him. "If Hibari has turned right, then he is doubling back towards the village."
Neji glanced at her, then at Shikamaru. The Nara was speaking with Sakura. Hesitation held Neji for no more than a few seconds. He stepped away from the team, gesturing for Kitori to do the same. The woman followed him a little further downstream.
"What is it, Hyūga?"
"Can Hibari be intercepted before he reaches the village?" Neji asked, darting a glance at Shikamaru to ensure the shadow-nin wasn't watching them.
Kitori nodded. "Yes."
"How long will it take to cut him off?"
Kitori tucked her chin back, eyeing him with obvious suspicion, though she answered either way. "If we take a diagonal path within the next five minutes then we can cut across him within thirty minutes, provided he stays above the surface, which he'll have to do if he's moving so quickly."
Thirty minutes…
Neji looked away, scanning the water as it gushed by, his thoughts moving just as fast; and just as clouded as the muddy stream. He shook his head, blinking against the vision of dark eyes cutting through his mind, forcing him to address what he didn't want to think about.
"Let it go"
No.
So he forced himself to look at Kitori, to look into eyes that weren't brown and burning and brimming with something that rattled him to his bones.
These eyes were grey and cool and bitter…tired and world-weary.
Haunted.
Something pulled across his chest.
I will make things right.
Neji offered a faint curve of his lip. "It is time I made good on my promise to you, Kitori."
The Tsubasa woman blinked slowly, shaking her head. "You owe me nothing. I am tired of being angry for something neither of us could have controlled or prevented."
"I will still hold to my word."
Kitori smiled weakly, glancing in the direction Hibari had taken. "I wonder whether I could have changed him. Perhaps not. Who would have thought that fate could be so cruel?"
Neji shook his head, possessing an understanding he wished he didn't have. "I will stop him. And I will let you know when it is done."
Kitori closed her eyes, clutching at the winged pendant around her throat as she nodded, pressing her lips tightly. A single tear escaped past her lashes but she hastily brushed it away.
"Thank you," she said tightly, as if the words were foreign to her.
Neji couldn't really blame her, given what she'd had to become to survive. He could relate to that on a very fundamental level; one that allowed him to stop himself from looking at Shikamaru in that moment…just in case that need to survive gave way to his need for something else.
"We will part ways here, Kitori," Neji informed. "I only ask that you cooperate with Shikamaru."
The kunoichi glanced at him, her tone lightening. "Oh I'm sure he'll tolerate me…for you, anyway."
Neji blinked. "Excuse me?"
The Tsubasa woman smiled faintly; a small, knowing smile that set Neji on edge.
"I may not possess a dōjutsu, Hyūga," she said lightly, almost amused. "But certain things are crystal clear to me when I see them."
Neji's shoulders squared a little defensively, though he kept his tone as neutral as his face. "I'm not sure I understand what you're suggesting."
"Oh, I think you understand perfectly," Kitori countered, smiling a little more now.
Neji regarded her quietly, not sure whether he felt a grudging respect for her perceptiveness or a growing dread at his transparency – and what it meant.
"I think you're mistaken," was his eventual response, because nothing else would compute at that point other than to walk away – very fast.
Kitori quirked her lips again, a rare touch of light in her grey eyes before she shrugged, adopting her former expression. Neji had never been so grateful for a topic to be dropped so quickly.
"Hato will guide you along the quickest route," Kitori said, gesturing to her silent and stoic shinobi. "He will do as you say. Just tell him who you want him to protect."
Neji nodded, flicking his gaze to Hato. He could suddenly see the grim sense in Shikamaru's guard dog analogy. But then, it wasn't like that was something he didn't understand himself, having once been defined as a Main House protector…prisoner…
Focus.
Neji blinked, shifting his attention.
A new problem presented itself.
Time to part ways.
He glanced over Kitori's shoulder toward Shikamaru, watching the shadow-nin crouch by the stream, crabbing his hands as his eyes drifted shut.
Shikamaru was already in strategy mode.
Neji grimaced inwardly.
Manipulating the Nara on this one was not going to be easy.
And he had less than five minutes to do it.

Two minutes later, the slow, fractional rise of Shikamaru's eyebrow had Neji's jaw tightening.
It wasn't a look to be underestimated, especially when those dark eyes had sharpened around the edges. The deep brown orbs burning like cinders. To the untrained eye, Shikamaru might have a looked a little tense.
But Neji could read him.
He was more than a little pissed off.
The Nara's brow remained arched, his jaw twitching.
The rest of the Konoha team hovered close, not paying as much attention to them as they were to Kitori as she briefed them on rebel combat methods. Only Akamaru appeared nervous, his head cocked to one side as he whined, picking up on the standoffish tension crackling between the two co-leaders.
Neji was undeterred.
Any hope of manipulating Shikamaru had passed in favour of using the shadow-nin's character, not his mind, against him. It was apparently working. If they'd had more time, Neji doubted it would have. But Shikamaru's concern for his health seemed matched by the shadow-nin's decision not to let anyone else know about it.
If you want to defend my dignity, then I will let you.
After all, Shikamaru had stepped in before to cover his slips. But this time, instead of seeing it as humiliating or interfering, Neji saw it as the quickest route to achieving what was necessary.
Let me go.
Shikamaru was frowning now, clearly warring with the risk of letting this moment leak outwards and contaminate the team, which left the shadow-nin with about five seconds before Kiba got involved. Akamaru whined.
"You take them with you," Shikamaru said.
Neji raised his chin, but kept the relief from his face. "Who?"
Shikamaru didn't blink. "You take Sakura, Naruto and Hinata with you."
Neji glanced at the mentioned shinobi, then met Shikamaru's razor gaze. "Hinata should stay with you."
Shikamaru didn't even deign him with a response, just stared, cutting away at him with the hard edge of his gaze. It was ridiculous what those eyes could do; which was all the more ironic given how much credit his own Byakugan orbs were given.
Neji stared back, his face calm and set. "Very well, you will be able to reach me via radio."
"Reach you?" Shikamaru echoed and his entire expression flattened out. "Sure you'll hear me?"
Neji didn't miss the meaning in those words, or the tone in which they were delivered. He released a slow breath, trying to dispel the tension between them.
"The mission, Nara," was all he offered in response.
Shikamaru blinked slowly and glanced away. "You take them with you."
Neji's lips thinned. It was the only compromise he was going to get. Which at this point, was far more than he expected; he would not have settled for Shikamaru stopping him, but he would not forgo a chance to negotiate rather than argue.
It will have to suffice. I will not lose this opportunity, despite the interference.
Neji may have got what he wanted, but Shikamaru had won again in a roundabout way.
Naruto, Sakura and Hinata.
The Hyūga knew he'd been protectively pinned with a somewhat hyperactive but powerful weapon, a standby medic and an additional chakra radar and close-quarter fighter.
If this is how you wish to play it.
"Alright."
"I mean it."
"I heard you." Neji tilted his head, suddenly wanting to draw those eyes back to him.
Shikamaru avoided his eyes, dark gaze set to the side. This refusal to look up shouldn't have stung in any way, but Neji had given up attempting to equate logic with whatever it was he wanted to get from Shikamaru before they had to part ways.
"I still hear you, Shikamaru."
"No, you don't," the shadow-nin muttered, his eyes narrowing as he looked up. "Not yet."
Neji was surprised to find that those eyes were no longer angry. He didn't have time to try to figure out what they were as they gazed back at him, because the team were starting to mobilize. He hadn't even realised that Shikamaru had gestured for them to do so without a word. The Hyūga was too focused on the silent communication going on between them. He let some of the steel slide from his expression, his eyes softening again without his awareness.
Shikamaru must have seen it, because the shadow-nin swallowed, looked away and shook his head. "Don't make me chase you down."
The familiar words were no blessing, but there was an understanding in their repetition.
You won't have to.
This time, it was Neji who walked away.
I will not lose.

The water sped by in thick, muddy torrents, gushing over branches and debris that had been tossed in by the storm. What started out as a stream had swollen into a river and the team followed it as if caught on the current, moving swiftly behind Kiba along the bank.
We've been at this for too long.
Shikamaru sighed, not sparing a glance at Kitori as she turned her head questioningly. She kept pace with him, her auburn plait slashing the air as they ran. He wondered if she wasn't trying to take his eye out with it, though given how many close calls he'd had with Ino in the past, his duck reflex was first-rate.
"What?" he eventually asked, sensing her grey orbs scanning him.
"You think I have pushed your Hyūga into pursuing my son."
No. Neji's pushed himself…because he cares about your shit more than I do…
Shikamaru smirked bitterly and maybe if he'd been less tired he might have actually punched out a snort. "You telling me or asking me?"
"He did it of his own volition."
Shikamaru shrugged, angling her with an unreadable look. "It's our mission."
"It was mine as well," Kitori said, her brows furrowing before she looked away. "But some things will always be personal."
Shikamaru hesitated at that, but Kiba spared him the awkwardness of hanging on those words without a response.
"Hey, Shikamaru! Kinda wondering if these guys didn't hop on a raft or something!" Kiba called back over his shoulder, sniffing the air. "Bugs just seem to wanna follow the water! Right buddy?"
Akamaru barked.
Shikamaru switched mental gears, veering his attention down to Akamaru as the mutt bounded along the choppy waterside, barking.
No way in hell they'd use a raft. Leaves them too open.
Shikamaru frowned, watching the canine.
The forest stream initially covered their tracks…so it makes sense that they'd use it…but why continue to use the water once it opened out into a damn river? It leaves them way too open…
"Shikamaru?" Chōji asked, running alongside Lee a few paces behind.
Shikamaru wasn't listening, his eyes shifting from the dog to the river, following the currents. And the more he watched the muddy churn of the water, the more his mind began to spew, sort and select possibilities.
The bugs are still tracking…which means they're still on the river…
Shikamaru's eyes scanned the meandering and undulating current.
They're not using a raft…
The water stirred and sloshed, waves folding over and around debris.
And they're not treading water in this mess…they wouldn't have made so far so fast if that's what they were doing…so how are they…?
A huge log floated by, dragged by the force of the current.
Fuck…
Shikamaru jerked to a halt so quickly Lee almost crashed into him.
"Shit…" he breathed out, his eyes widening as his heart lurched.
The rest of the team stopped on cue.
He felt Chōji's hand on his shoulder. "Shikamaru?"
The Akimichi didn't have time to ask what was wrong before Shikamaru was spinning on his heel and tearing back in the other direction, his fingertips flying to his transmitter to save him calling over his shoulder.
"Kiba! Pick up Neji's trail and do it now!"
The Nara didn't need to turn his head to know Kitori was running beside him again, Lee and Chōji automatically following his lead.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
"What's wrong?" Kitori called.
"We're turning back," Chōji said, not questioning Shikamaru for a second.
The Nara would have been grateful if he wasn't already racing miles ahead in his thinking, his feet barely able to keep up.
Shit. So stupid…how could I miss it…
"I don't have time to turn back!" the kunoichi frowned. "I have orders to meet Hato at the aviary after this stage is completed, with proof of the rebel's elimination!"
"Proof?" Lee asked, leaping behind them.
"Dead or alive," Kitori clarified. "Preferably the former."
"Then keep following the damn river!" Shikamaru snapped, adrenalin pulsing through him waves. "Because for the last thirty minutes, we've been following their corpses."

The pain pulled in waves. Dull, irritating waves that lapped up and down Neji's left arm, occasionally pulsing strongly enough to cause him to flex his fingers against it. Fresh twinges tightened in his chest.
Focus.
He sucked in steady breaths, focusing on keeping pace with Hato and the rest of the group. Provided he did not expend chakra beyond the Gentle Fist, he would be fine.
Fine. I'm fine.
With this certainty lodged in his mind, Neji returned to his task.
And he was scanning the ground when it happened.
A branch snapped above him a pace ahead of Sakura.
"Sakura!" the Hyūga called.
Before she could turn, Hato came hurtling down in a rain of leaves and splintered wood. The Tsubasa shinobi almost knocked her as he plummeted, but Neji's arm was around her waist in a second, tugging her back from the limp body as it dropped past and hit the ground in a sickening thud.
"Hato!" Naruto yelled, blue eyes flying wide as he sprung down after the man.
"Naruto, wait!" Neji ordered, but to no avail. "Damn it."
He did a quick scan of the area, trusting the rest to Hinata as he leapt down with Sakura to ground level, touching down in a flutter of white and black. His pale orbs swept across to the limp body. A crumpled heap. Naruto was rolling the man onto his back, trying to shake him awake.
Too late.
"Naruto," Neji said quietly, stepping over to crouch down, scanning the man's chakra network.
Dead.
The Hyūga's brow creased, a shade of regret touching his eyes as they flicked over the dead man in confusion. He'd just dropped out of the air.
"Sakura!" the Uzumaki snapped, glaring up. "Can you…?"
The kunoichi shook her head sadly.
"He's gone, Naruto," Neji murmured, sweeping his fingers over Hato's lifeless eyes to close them. "There's no point."
He heard Naruto growl.
Neji's hand shot up.
His fingers locked around the Uzumaki's wrist as the blond made to grab him.
He squeezed once, warningly.
"Tch!" Naruto scowled and then jerked his hand back, fisting it tightly at his side, his voice a growl. "What the hell happened, Neji?"
Already searching for the answer, Neji scanned the man again before he shifted his gaze to the bandana wrapped around Hato's head. By some odd inkling, he recalled the Tsubasa man having rubbed his head back at the hatch. Frowning, Neji reached up to tug back the grey cloth.
A seal mark was emblazoned to the right side of the man's brow. Raw and red.
Recent.
A timed backfire seal; something he'd seen before. Something he'd hoped never to see again due to the complete lack of warning such a thing carried.
"W-what is that?" Hinata asked softly, stepping up behind Naruto.
"It activates when a shinobi releases a locking seal," Neji explained, tracing out the marking with his finger, not touching the skin despite the fact that Hato was beyond feeling the pain. "It is very rarely used."
"Locking seal? Like the lock back at the hatch?" Naruto's eyes widened, his husky voice hitching in a growl. "Why?"
Neji sighed. "Locking seals sometimes have a defence mechanism, so if they are broken by someone who wasn't the one who originally sealed it, a backfire happens to kill the thief or imposter. This backfire just happens to be a timed seal. At any given point, it actives."
"No way…" Naruto breathed out, his voice ragged. "That…could have been any one of us."
Neji blinked, pinning his Byakugan eyes on Hato's head. He grimaced inwardly. The man's brain looked like pulp inside his skull.
Sakura voice carried softly. "Hato gave his life."
"Dammit!" Naruto snarled, smacking his fist into the ground. "Why the hell didn't Kitori say something?"
"Perhaps she didn't know…" Sakura guessed.
Or perhaps she thought Hato was doing his duty…
Neji frowned, but rose sharply to his feet. "We cannot stay here."
"I'm not just gonna leave this guy here to rot!" Naruto snarled, blue eyes flashing.
Neji turned back, his pale orbs catching a chill that carried in his voice. "We can do no more for him. Now get up, Naruto."
Naruto did get up – in a surge as fierce and feral as his flaring chakra. Neji was faster, turning aside in a graceful pivot as Naruto charged him. The Uzumaki's chakra crackled and seared the air, tendrils of it lashing out as Neji put himself between the angry teen and the body.
"Naruto-kun!" Hinata whispered, her eyes wide and pleading.
Naruto snarled. "This guy gave his life and you're just gonna leave his body here like some piece of dropped trash!"
Neji's eyes pinched, the veins at his temples throbbing.
"Unless you intend to bury more bodies amassing with every second we waste, you'll do exactly as I say," Neji returned. "We don't have time for thi—!" he cut off with a jolt.
Oh no…
Naruto stalked forward, armed with an insult that left him in a whoosh of air as Neji rammed into him, shoving him out the way. They fell out of lethal range by a hairsbreadth, just as the huge, jagged blade of Hibari's sword carved up from the ground like a shark's fin, sawing through the ground after them.
The chakra-laced edge nicked along Neji's leg, jarring him.
His knee would have buckled if Naruto hadn't caught him. "Neji!"
"CHAAA!" Sakura's roar tore up the air, the only warning she gave before her fist smashed through the ground.
The hit shook the earth in a tremor before it cracked and exploded, spraying dust and rock in all directions. Neji and Naruto leapt apart, avoiding the wash of grit as they lunged for the trees. Neji barely touched down, forced to spring away again as a stream of kunai sailed after him.
He deflected them quickly, the firm edge of his palm knocking the hilts off kilter in rapid snaps. He heard Naruto's clones stampeding below as he scaled higher, scanning through the dust. His famed eyes saved him, granting him time enough to track the movement of shuriken as they shredded past, thudding into the tree he kicked off from.
It was the next volley that had him cursing.
Tsubasa scythes.
The aerial attack sliced through the dust in a whirr, allowing no space to dodge.
The urge to spin into his defensive jutsu was almost too instinctive to fight.
No…
Neji spun a kunai over his knuckles, tracking the flash of the scythes.
Think!
Naruto came between him and the weapons. "Neji!"
They cut straight into the Uzumaki.
The shadow clone burst away in a puff.
The seconds it bought him allowed for Neji to grip the branch above and swing himself up and over, landing in a crouch on the bough as the scythes sawed into the trunk below, tearing through it. Neji felt his stomach lurch as the severed tree groaned and tilted, falling fast. He ran along the wall of wood as it dropped, using the reverberating crash to propel himself away.
Damn it!
Neji reached for his transmitter but didn't have time to impart his order for the team to regroup. A familiar pulse of chakra exploded. The shockwave punched through the dust still hanging in the air, taking on the illusion of a cloudy tsunami heading straight for him.
Neji's eyes narrowed, a deadly calm gripping his instincts.
Found you.
He twisted mid-air, lodged his kunai into a tree, planted his feet on the hilt and launched into an aerial back-flip, soaring over the lip of the chakra wave as it crashed into the tree, shattering bark and branches. He let his feet follow the momentum of his backward dive, swinging his legs around until he righted himself, coming up directly behind his attacker.
"Hibari."
The red-haired man didn't have time to turn before Neji's foot slammed into the small of his back, sending him plummeting down into the ruins of the collapsed tree. He struck the ground in a crash and a plume of wood and leaves exploded from the impact.
Neji landed in a neat crouch a few paces away, surging up and striding over without pause for breath despite the faint ache in his chest. Letting adrenalin take over, he drove forward – then paused as he caught the jagged gleam of Hibari's blade beneath the rubble. He darted left as the weapon cut outwards, hacking away the wreckage.
"Tch!" Hibari hissed, emerging from the mess in a sway, a shower of dust and splinters rinsing down him as he turned, swinging his blade out again. "You're mine, Hyūga!"
Neji leapt over the horizontal cut, ramming his knee into the redhead's jaw. Hibari spun with the momentum, tearing around to slash upward, forcing Neji to backpedal.
They came to a standstill a few paces apart.
Neji slid his palm upward and out, assuming his battle stance automatically.
Hibari dragged the back of his wrist across his mouth, spitting blood and hacking out a cough to clear his lungs from the dust.
As they faced-off, Neji heard the battle beyond the haze; the sound of shuriken whispering and wailing and the roar of Naruto's voice. The blinding flash of Rasengan lit up the forest. Neji spared a moment to delve into the orbit of his Byakugan vision, a quick sweep assuring the others were safe, even as they fought.
"You think you can see it all, with those eyes," Hibari said, his voice low and poisoned with the same venom as his grey irises. "Yet you're just like the rest of them. Blind."
Neji tucked his thumb against his palm, the heel of his hand pushing outward as he inched further into his combatant stance. "Your ambition to harvest dōjutsu will end where your father's did."
Hibari's face grew cold, freezing over for a brief moment before it exploded into a flush of uncontrollable rage.
The tremble along the man's arm was the only warning.
The force of Hibari's scream was more savage than his blade when he swung it. "Don't compare me to that bastard!"
As the weapon boomeranged towards him, Neji prepared to twist and catch the hilt, but a spray of chakra needles flew over his shoulder, slamming into the blade, causing the trajectory of the sword to wobble and spin off course.
Hinata.
"Neji-niisan!" the kunoichi called, springing up behind Hibari.
"Brother?" Hibari snarled, ducking away from her smoothly as she jabbed a hit towards his temple. "Is this your sister, Hyūga?"
The Tsubasa made a swift hand seal, muttering beneath his breath before swinging his arm towards Hinata. A spray of feathers flew from his fingertips, hardening into kunai that Hinata dodged easily – but she backed up onto unstable rubble, almost losing her balance.
It was a fatal error.
Hibari smirked.
Neji's eyes widened. "Hinata!"
But the attack didn't come.
Hibari completely ignored her, passing up the opportunity to disable her as he swung back towards Neji, screaming. "Answer me, Hyūga! Is she your sister!"
The waver in Hibari's voice was even more disturbing than the way he charged, blindly and savagely, an animal hatred in his eyes as he launched into an offensive that lacked his former grace. Neji parried every movement, his speed cancelling out Hibari's monstrous strength. But Neji could read from the Tsubasa's tenketsu that it wasn't enhanced chakra lending this man power.
It was emotion.
Uncontrolled and overwhelmed emotion.
Why?
Neji ducked a swing and cracked his foot into Hibari's ribs, pitching the man sideways only to arch away from the Tsubasa's returning kick. He caught the redhead's ankle in the snare of his hand, jerking to floor Hibari in a crash.
Something's wrong here…
Opting for a quick way to provoke answers, he assumed arrogance.
"You haven't the eyes to read my movements," Neji taunted, standing above the man as he stared down. "And you will never possess them."
Hibari sneered, his lip pulling back in a snarl as he lashed out with his free leg, forcing Neji to hop back. "I'm not interested in your fucking dōjutsu!"
Neji turned his body sideways, arm held out, palm facing outwards once more. "Then what the hell do you want?"
"Justice," Hibari hissed, rolling across to retrieve his blade, wrist dipping to accommodate the weight as he speared the tip into the ground, using this anchor to pull himself to his feet. "And your head."
Neji's eyes narrowed, but not at the threat. It was the intention that confused him.
Justice?
"Neji!" Hinata called, mirroring her cousin's stance behind Hibari, both Hyūga caging the man in.
"Or perhaps I should take her head." The Tsubasa snorted, jerking his chin towards Hinata without taking his eyes off Neji. "That's justice, right?"
The slate of Neji's face wiped clean of its confusion, turning to ice. "You won't touch her."
"Then I'll settle with you!" Hibari spat, his fingers tightening around the hilt of his blade, his arm tensing as he made to tear the weapon free from the ground.
But he didn't. Neji frowned, watching Hibari's grey eyes widen, his teeth grit in a hiss as he tried to move. But he couldn't.
"How about you settle down instead?"
Shikamaru…
The shadow-nin's lazy drawl drew Neji's gaze up to the tree line. Shikamaru detached himself from the shadows of the trees, cocking his hip against the trunk as he stood half in light, half in shade.
"Getting tired of chasing you down," Shikamaru smirked. "I almost broke a leg this time."
Neji felt a flutter of relief in his chest. "What are you doing here, Nara?"
Hibari snarled, his eyes still pinned on Neji. "You're a dead man."
Shikamaru snorted from above. "You're not exactly in the position to be making threats."
Hibari ignored him, the full weight of his attention boring into Neji. "I promise you that."
Neji regarded the redhead calmly, about to respond, only to have Naruto fly past him in a roar, careening his fist straight into Hibari's jaw.
The loud crack echoed sharply.
A second later Hibari dropped in a heap.
"Right." Shikamaru released his jutsu. "Thanks for that."
Naruto panted, gulping down air as he straightened up, trembling with adrenalin. "Man, he's got some nerve."
And now he's unconscious…marvellous…
"Naruto," Neji scowled, striding over to knock aside Hibari's sword, his pale eyes flickering with irritation. "Gods, do you ever think before you act?"
Naruto frowned, whirling around. "You think I'm just gonna stand back while he yaps crap about taking you out?"
Neji resisted the urge to smack his face into his palm.
Trust Naruto to be incapable of keeping his heart out of a fight. It tumbled into the fray with every other part of him, brimming with conviction and protectiveness and a tumult of irrational feeling that reminded Neji just whya level-head was imperative. Yet gazing down at the unconscious Hibari, he was also reminded of the strength such emotion could lend a warrior.
Naruto's emotion was his strength.
But mine is my weakness…
Neji's irritation evaporated and the tension in his face slackened. "Are the others alright?"
"Just about," Naruto rubbed at a gash on his jaw, already healing. "If the others hadn't got here, we'd have been kinda screwed."
Neji drew a slow breath through his nose, exhaling it calmly as he reached for his transmitter. "Everyone regroup. Hinata, guide them?"
"I will," the kunoichi affirmed, a flurry of her midnight hair vanishing into the still-settling dust.
Neji expelled a quiet sigh, deactivating his dōjutsu. He didn't have to scan for Shikamaru, the Nara was already at ground level, strolling over with more ease than Neji sensed in his eyes. The dark orbs were held steady on him.
"Where is Kitori? And what are you doing here?" Neji asked again, his voice carrying an edge this time.
If Shikamaru picked up on his displeasure, he ignored it. "Kitori had her own orders to meet back at the aviary. The team we were tracking were just bodies on the water. Divide and conquer? Not so damn unlikely after all."
Neji winced inwardly, glancing down at Hibari again.
Be that as it may, this was my fight.
But things weren't quite that simple, given what had just happened.
The shuffle of feet and soft murmur of voices announced the presence of the rest of the team. Neji didn't look up, his focus still centred on Hibari.
"We gonna take this guy back to Kitori and Ozuku?" Naruto growled, staring down.
Neji flexed out his fingers, rolling his shoulder as he shook his head. "No."
"What?" Kiba snapped. "Why?"
"I want to question him," Neji said, crouching down to roll Hibari onto his back.
Shikamaru shifted beside him. "Fill me in, Hyūga."
"I don't think this man's intentions are as clear-cut as Kitori said," Neji explained searching Hibari for the Tsubasa pendant he'd seen around Kitori's throat.
He found it, tucked into the man's mesh shirt – along with another one.
Why would he still wear these?
"Hey, the guy wanted to kill you and Hinata," Naruto growled, stabbing a finger towards the kunoichi, who blushed furiously. "I don't need it more clear-cut than that."
"Use your head, Naruto," Neji frowned, brushing his thumb across Hibari's pendants before letting them drop. "This man acted recklessly, dangerously so – you don't do that unless you are emotional or an idiot. The fact that he coordinates a deep-ground rebel faction suggests that he is clearly not an idiot."
Sakura frowned, her healing-hands cupped over a gash in her thigh. "What're you saying?"
Neji stood, having to pause a little as a touch of vertigo wobbled through him. "He came at me for revenge for his sister, not for the Byakugan. He said he wanted justice."
"I'll give him some justice," Naruto growled.
"Kitori said that Hibari wanted his sister dead," Kiba added, his feral eyes flickering in distaste. "And that he and his father experimented on her. This creep could be lying."
Shikamaru spoke before Neji could. "Or Kitori is lying."
Neji felt the words drop to his gut, knotting his suspicions a little more uncomfortably.
"What?" Sakura snorted, as if it was laughable. "But Neji…even back when Hibari's team first attacked us…the minute one of their ninja pointed out that you were a Hyūga, all eyes turned to you. They must have been after your dōjutsu."
"I assumed the same thing," Neji replied, gesturing to Hibari. "But look at what just happened. He completely ignored Hinata when he had the chance to disable her. He was only interested in the fact that we might be brother and sister. He was after revenge."
"But dōjutsu and kekei genkai are what the rebels want," Lee emphasised, his thick brows furrowed in a sharp "V". "Power is their motive."
"According to Ozuku and Kitori," Neji murmured, growing increasingly unsettled though to look at him one would never tell.
"But Fukurō said it himself," Sakura argued. "And he was the rebel leader."
"According to Ozuku and Kitori," Shikamaru echoed.
Neji met the Nara's dark gaze. "Shikamaru."
"Ah crap," the Nara sighed.
"Exactly."
"Shit."
"I know."
"Know what?" Naruto squinted, looking between them. "Is anyone else confused?"
Kiba folded his arms, scowling. "Just a little."
Chōji added his voice to the confused party. "Uh, Shikamaru?"
"Kitori and Ozuku may have sold us a load of crap about her son and these rebels and we bought it," Shikamaru sighed, rubbing at the knot in his brow.
Neji felt his insides crawling at the implications. He tightened his jaw until the hinges ached with the strain.
Gods…don't tell me that all this time…
He heard Sakura gasp softly, as if she'd lost her denial to the horrible reality.
"But why?" she whispered. "Why would Kitori do that to her son? Make him out to be the enemy..."
"The same reason that Fukurō did it regarding their daughter," Neji bit out, shaking his head against the words even as he spoke them.
Shikamaru, true to his forward thinking, rounded it off to its bitter conclusion. "To take attention away from herself and probably Ozuku too."
Naruto scowled, but his eyes glistened with barely contained emotion. "You tellin' me that Kitori and Fukurō sold out their kids to protect themselves?"
Neji inclined his head. "And to protect Ozuku."
Kiba blew out a low whistle. "Man, that's pretty sick."
"If that is true," Lee murmured sadly, "then we fell for the same trick twice."
If it's true…
Neji's expression tightened, a hint of a frown marring his face for a split second before he controlled himself. "I'm not going to hand this man over until I get some answers from him. I was unable to afford his sister the same chance…"
Naruto dropped his shoulders, looking every bit as confused and exhausted as Neji suddenly felt. "I'm still confused by this crap."
Sakura smiled weakly, but her eyes were grim. "Basically, again, we don't know who our enemy is."
Kiba snorted. "She means, basically again we don't know shit."
This blunt but accurate conclusion was like a slap in the face.
Damn it!
Neji drew his spine taut and rigid, every corded muscle tightening beneath his unchanged surface. He almost cracked a molar given how hard he clamped his jaw – pain flared in his chest, but he felt it less than the anger burning through him.
I am done playing games.
He sensed Shikamaru shift beside him; the subtlest of movements as the Nara cocked his hip so that he was leaning a little closer. It was a small closing of distance that went a long way in easing some of Neji's tension without him realising it.
"When Hibari wakes up," Neji eventually said, his voice dropping so low and smooth it belied the barest shake of his left arm, "we'll be sure to find out who our enemy is once and for all."
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Break to Breathe