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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
- 32
- 33
- 34
BREAK TO BREATHE

by Okami Rayne

Chapter Thirty Three

A shared sense of frustration and confusion hung around the Konoha Team as they wove their way through the lower mesh of the forest. Neji charted the route quickly, leading the group away from the village and further south of the trees towards the rockier territory of the borders. Seeking cover was imperative. They needed distance and time to interrogate Hibari.
Provided we aren't found first.
Neji frowned, leaping up a level to tree height; he scanned back and forth, ensuring they hadn't been followed before reassessing their path.
Just a little further.
He gestured with a sharp tilt of his palm to Hinata. The kunoichi nodded, taking the lead. Neji watched her for a moment, his mind running over Hibari's words before a grumble from below redirected his attention. He dropped his eyes to the team as they trailed past, following Hinata.
"Why am I carrying this jerk?" Naruto growled, hefting the unconscious Hibari, slung over his shoulder.
Shikamaru shrugged, taking a sip of water from his canteen. "Could be because you introduced your fist to his face."
"Yeah," Kiba snickered. "You didn't even introduce your foot to his ass first."
"I think Neji did," Chōji chuckled.
"Figures. Hyūga's got better manners than you, lovebird."
"Man, shut up," Naruto growled, jostling Hibari again.
Neji arched a brow, following the banter in silence. It proved a welcome break in the dismal mood. After Naruto's insistence on providing Hato with a modest grave, the team had held a solemn silence, speaking only to confirm direction and objectives.
Even so, Neji had no problem avoiding conversation at this point, so he remained elevated, keeping pace from above. It also afforded him the opportunity to quietly observe Shikamaru.
The Nara walked beside Chōji, his brow knitted in calculation. Neji watched him turn to Lee, who carried Hibari's sword. Shikamaru took the weapon, changing sword hands as he tested the weight before handing it back, shrugging to whatever Lee said.
A moment later, the shadow-nin's voice sounded at his ear, crackling through the transmitter. "Neji, we got far to go?"
"No, just a little further. There is an abandoned excavation site ahead. The mines will provide the shelter we need. The only exposure we risk until then is to the elements."
"Got it," Shikamaru said, glancing up sharply. Neji hadn't expected that.
Their gazes met and held for a beat. A beat was all it took for Neji's step to falter, for a hint of warmth to chase the chill from his expression. Despite this waver, he recovered his pace smoothly, breaking the fusion of their eyes to move on ahead. He leapt across to the next tree, fighting the sensation of being dragged back, as if by shadow hands.
Stay focused.

The mining tunnels ate deep into the rock; large passageways lined with tracks and abandoned carts. Cobwebs hung like gossamer drapes, spiders scuttling back and forth across planks and rubble. Despite the state of disrepair old lanterns still hung from the walls, cracked and rusty, but allowing for some meagre light.
The team set up base in the largest cavity, following Neji's orders as duties were delegated. Hinata, Kiba and Lee took up watch outside, leaving an unconscious Hibari in Sakura, Naruto and Chōji's charge.
Under the pretext of strategising, Shikamaru and Neji retreated to a workers' room, carved crudely into one of the tunnels, but large enough that it wasn't half as damned claustrophobic as the rest of the place.
"Better than nothing," Shikamaru muttered, watching one of the lanterns sputter to life, pulsing dimly.
He flicked the matchstick into an abandoned cart, stepping over towards Neji. The Hyūga had seated himself on a pile of sandbags, one leg drawn up as he leaned back, staring across at the lantern with a familiar faraway expression. It was the last look the Nara wanted to see right now.
Shikamaru snapped his fingers in front of Neji's face.
Neji caught his wrist with a scowl. "Don't."
"Then don't stare off into the middle distance. I need you here."
Neji arched a brow at his tone, glancing up.
The shadows swathed around them, dancing and shifting constantly. It made it harder to read Neji's expression, which passed in and out of light and darkness. At this stage, it was about as clear-cut as anything else between them.
Dammit.
Shikamaru sighed and made to step back, but a firm tug on his wrist held him in place. He frowned, looking down. Neji's eyes had returned to the lantern, but the Hyūga tugged his wrist again, extending a silent invitation when he cocked his head. Though surprised, Shikamaru took it in an instant, twisting his body in a lazy sway as he slouched down beside Neji, resting his back against the curve of the wall.
Silence stationed itself between them.
Fortunately, it wasn't one riddled with tension.
Shikamaru felt Neji's shoulder brush against his as the Hyūga leaned back, his rigid prop against the wall sliding a little. They sat in comfortable quiet, feeling the dust from the chaos of the past hour settle around them. It provided the Nara with a moment of detached analysis. A moment in which one thought dominated all others.
How much more screwed up could this mission possibly get?
Shikamaru felt an inappropriate bubble of amusement lighten the heavy feeling in his gut. He could only imagine it was an unconscious defensive tactic to keep from cracking his head into the wall. The laughter floated from his lips in a weak, tired chuckle.
Neji turned his head questioningly.
Shikamaru tapped his own back against the rough stone, shaking it once as he stared up at the shadows on the roof of the cave. "What a damn drag…"
Neji's snort tapered into a chuckle.
They shared a smile, angling each other with sidelong glances.
"Did you honestly almost break a leg?" Neji asked.
Shikamaru quirked his lips in response.
Neji smiled, shaking his head as he reached out, fingers tapping Shikamaru's temple lightly. "Still racing a mile a minute, Nara?"
"Yeah and it's still not fast enough," Shikamaru snorted, tilting into the touch with a push to nudge Neji's hand away.
He ended up bumping their shoulders instead. Rather than move away, Neji leaned in to balance them out. It happened so naturally that Shikamaru drew his knee up without thinking, mirroring Neji's stance as their thighs touched, pressing close like their shoulders. They leaned against each other, sharing the load of their joint exhaustion, though the sources of their stress remained divided.
"Can you imagine what the mission report will involve when we get back?" Neji muttered quietly.
Shikamaru smiled at the weak thread of humour, returning it with a lazy knock of his knee against Neji's. "I can think of a few possibilities."
He watched Neji thud his head back. "To have been so blind…"
Shikamaru hummed, shrugging. "We won't know for sure until Hibari wakes up."
Neji shook his head, the wan light gleaming off his headband. "I should have sensed it earlier. I should have known that something was wrong."
Shikamaru arched a brow, his gaze drawn to Neji's hitai-ate. "To be fair, there's way too much wrong with Hanegakure on the whole to measure it by normal standards of what's 'right', so don't beat yourself up."
"It's not that simple."
"It's stupid simple, Neji."
Shikamaru caught the barest curve of the Jōnin's lip. A fleeting smile that smoothed out into a firm line as the Hyūga shook his head again. "I should have known."
So stubborn.
Shikamaru reached up a hand, managing to tuck his fingers behind the fall of Neji's hair, rubbing the Hyūga's nape. Neji bowed his head, leaning forward a little. He accepted the touch without hesitation or reserve.
With trust.
A bitter tightness knotted inside Shikamaru. He was glad for the shadows; they were the best mask right now against the familiar struggle wanting to etch into his face.
"Either way," Neji said quietly. "We'll fix the situation."
It's not the situation I'm trying to fix…
Shikamaru's fingers stilled.
Reading his tension, Neji turned his head, the sharp fall of his bangs shifting with the movement. Shikamaru brushed them back automatically, caressing the Hyūga's head as he had earlier that morning. If he'd stopped long enough to consider how artless these actions had become, it might have occurred to him how increasingly dangerous they were, given the calculated action he might be forced to take later on.
Don't make me do that to you…
Suddenly reading more than just his tension, Neji frowned, reaching up to catch his wrist, squeezing lightly. "Shikamaru…"
The shadow-nin made no move to defend himself against that tone; it wasn't so much a warning than it was a question. He dislodged his wrist and looked away, closing his eyes.
What the hell could he possibly say in response?
Despite the murky waters between them, one thing had been made clear. The mission was Neji's priority. And the missing pieces were his. They were caught in a game that had become a gamble, a mission that no longer held the same motives…and an inescapable pull towards each other that became more painful every time they pulled apart.
Shikamaru frowned.
I never saw this coming…not like this…
He braced himself against a barrage of self-derisive thoughts; countless ways and steps he could have taken to avoid this. But then, he'd passed up that chance last night. In three steps, everything had changed.
His mind fired out reason after reason of how disastrous his actions had been. But once again, none of these thoughts could knock enough regret into him. None of them could strike hard enough to bring on the guilt or the desire to take it all back.
Not yet…dammit…just let me find what I'm missing so I can find you…
"Shikamaru?"
Let me work this out in time…
He heard Neji move, sensed the grind of sand as the canvas bags shifted beneath them. Then he felt the Hyūga's fingers at his temples, rubbing soothingly as thumbs traced his eyebrows and lips followed his hairline.
"It will be fine," Neji said quietly.
Shikamaru tensed up.
If I can't reach you in time…it's gonna be anything but 'fine'…
Warm breath fanned against the furrow in his brow, melting his frown away. Shikamaru slipped his eyes open, catching slivers of opal watching him from beneath the sweep of the Hyūga's lashes. The magnetism was instant. It pulled him in, those eyes like the moon to the hopeless tide of his blood, drawing him up as Neji leaned down.
Their mouths met slowly, lips rubbing and brushing until Neji's tongue stroked along the smooth barrier of his teeth. Shikamaru denied entry, teeth clenched. Possibly reading it as a challenge, Neji responded like a predator and moved to straddle him, caging him in against the wall. Teeth nipped sharply at his bottom lip; a demand.
Shikamaru kept his jaw set, not opening up for the tongue that teased along the seal of his lips. It wasn't the kiss he was denying, it was what it would do to what remained of his senses.
Neji smiled against his mouth. "Hmn. Now who is stubborn?"
Shikamaru would have responded, but that would have required him to open his mouth. He answered with touch instead, sliding his hands to Neji's hips, squeezing lightly as he tilted his head, pressing an open-mouthed kiss just beneath Neji's jaw.
Apparently this wasn't enough for the Hyūga.
He felt Neji's pulse shift as rapidly as Neji's hand moved, getting a solid grip on his ponytail to tug his head back. Contrary to the sharp yank, Neji's mouth settled gently against his, hovering in a barely-there touch.
The air around them hummed.
Shikamaru frowned and glanced up, wanting to scrutinize those pale eyes. Wanting to know he wasn't the only one being torn up by this thing cutting into them at the same time as it wove them together.
He tried to catch the Hyūga's gaze.
Neji caught his jaw instead, fingers digging in a little.
Control. Frustration.
Shikamaru arched a brow, not willing to humour either. His own struggle to keep a cool head was about as much as he could take right now. Just when he thought he'd need to fight, Neji surrendered the grip to stroke a knuckle along his throat, hooking under his chin, tilting his head back further. Then the Hyūga's palm pressed against the wall beside his head.
"Shikamaru…" Neji spoke his name against his mouth in a tone that must have been designed for mental torture because it collapsed Shikamaru's resolve in an instant.
The rich and resonant tumble of four syllables that turned his name into a sound he didn't recognise. A sound he wanted to hear Neji keep speaking until he lost any chance of understanding this insane language their bodies communicated in when around each other.
Let this be the one damn thing I don't have to figure out…just this once…
Slowly, Shikamaru's lips gave way beneath Neji's, the tight lock at his jaw loosening by degrees as that slick tongue grazed its way inside, followed by a quiet sigh which he drank down and returned, reaching up to thread his fingers into the soft strands hanging by Neji's face.
Just this once…before I have to—
Shikamaru frowned and broke the kiss, shaking his head. Neji cupped his jaw and drew him back into it, soft and smooth, pulling silk and seduction across his mind, drawing a veil over all the warnings.
The kiss was slow, searching – and it shook.
With every slant of their heads their breaths shivered out, shaken up by restraint. Holding back had never hurt so damn much. Shikamaru's fingers fisted in the mocha strands, just as Neji's fingers gnarled against the cave wall beside his head. Their free hands sought anchors, gripping each other hard enough to bruise, only to stroke away the ache seconds apart.
It was insane, like a poison and a cure all wrapped up in one kiss.
Shikamaru lost sense of time and place, knowing only the scant space that existed between their lips every time their heads tilted and their mouths met again. Over and over until kisses strayed elsewhere and lips swept across the angles of high cheekbones and sharp jaw lines, chasing the shadows flickering across each other's faces.
Just this once…
But the cool steel of Neji's headband bit into the moment.
The second the hitai-ate touched his brow, reality slammed back into Shikamaru and his eyes flickered open.
He found Neji's closed.
A pained look had etched itself between the Hyūga's brows.
Shikamaru frowned, concern eclipsing his face. He moved to graze his thumb along Neji's jaw. "Neji."
"You once said emotion makes what we do bearable," Neji whispered tightly, his jaw tensing though he didn't fight the touch. "God but you're wrong…"
"Neji…"
"It makes it insufferable."
Shikamaru blinked slowly, setting his hand at the junction of Neji's neck and shoulder, squeezing. "So you'd rather stop it altogether?"
At the risk of your damn life…
Neji slipped his eyes open, staring hard at Shikamaru's throat to avoid his eyes.
"It may make you and the others strong…but it makes me weak," Neji swallowed, shaking his head, his voice a bitter whisper. "And I am of no use to anyone that way."
Shikamaru frowned sharply, kneading Neji's shoulder. "Of use? You think I care about that?"
"It's irrelevant." Neji closed his eyes. "I don't care what you care about."
The words struck a raw spot Shikamaru didn't realise he should have been defending.
His hand froze on the Hyūga's shoulder before it tightened again, barely resisting the urge to shake the Jōnin. "You care what I don't care about though, don't you?"
"What?" Neji muttered and he would have sounded annoyed if he hadn't sounded completely exhausted, shaking his head. "Stop talking nonsense."
Shikamaru gripped his chin, jerking hard enough to force those pale eyes to snap open and meet his gaze.
"Things you think I should care about, like advancing, making Jōnin, progressing, ANBU. That's safe ground for you isn't it?" Shikamaru shook his head. "You care about that crap. I don't."
Neji grit his teeth, but the anger didn't reach his eyes. "What is your point?"
Shit.
Shikamaru had no answer that didn't make things more complicated, so he opted for the unplanned response, pushing it out before he could bite it back.
"Probably that I'm not in this for anything other than just being in it," he murmured, frowning.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
I don't know…I don't want to know…I can't…
"Good question. When you figure it out, let me know," Shikamaru sighed, dropping his hand away from Neji's chin. "Trying to get through to you is giving me a god damned migraine."
Neji snorted, pushing off his palm to pull away. "It's entirely mutual."
The abrupt distance that opened up between them felt cold.
"Mutual?" Shikamaru echoed, his voice dry and brittle. "Well look at that, we're making some progress…"
Neji was back in an instant. His palm slammed into the rock beside Shikamaru's head, smacking loud enough to echo. Shikamaru didn't flinch.
"Stop making jokes!" The Hyūga hissed.
"This whole thing is a fucking joke," Shikamaru seethed back, his face marginally more controlled than his voice. "This wasn't supposed to happen."
"At least we agree on that," Neji growled, shoving away violently enough that if he hadn't been so damned agile he'd have toppled.
The Jōnin passed out of reach, moving far enough away that Shikamaru felt more than the cold settling between them now. So swiftly the tide that had pulled them together had turned, ripped them apart and cast them away from each other.
Dammit…
Shikamaru sighed and rocked forward to brace his elbows on his knees, passing his hands across his face before cradling his head in a white-knuckle grip.
Fuck.
He heard Neji pacing, back and forth like something caged. Angry, confused, probably about as tangled up inside as Shikamaru felt. The shadow-nin wanted to slip away like a shadow, slide from sight and fall into black. Uncomplicated, simple black. Not this grey area they'd created. He wanted to cut and run. He was supposed to be good at that.
Neji continued to pace, his strides drawing out irately.
Good. You fucking walk away this time…
He heard Neji's footsteps slow as the Hyūga's pace changed – along with his direction.
But it wasn't towards the door.
Shit.
Shikamaru didn't need to look up to know that Neji was watching him. Just knowing this was enough to cause his chest to constrict. He'd thought the Hyūga's pride would take the reins at this point and drive the Jōnin away. Shikamaru had been counting on it; because it was the one thing he couldn't bring himself to do, for all the trouble it brought him.
Dammit…walk away.
Neji didn't.
In fact, the Hyūga might have taken a step forward, but it was impossible to know for sure because the scuff of approaching footfalls sounded beyond the door. Neji stopped moving. A few seconds later Shikamaru heard the heavy wood groan open with a light shower of grit and dust.
He dropped his hands and looked up just as Sakura popped her head around.
"Hibari is awake."

The redhead worked his jaw in silence, gingerly testing the hinge that Naruto's fist had cracked into. Discolouration had set in and the bruised skin looked more than just a little painful.
Shikamaru couldn't care less.
The shadow-nin stood opposite the Tsubasa, slouched against one of the mine carts, arms folded loosely with an expression that rivalled the stone; his face remained hard and unreadable. Hibari however, might have foamed at the mouth and gone rabid if he'd had more leeway to move. Shikamaru watched the redhead test the wires binding his wrists and feet, scowling.
"Yeah, that's not coming off any time soon," Shikamaru warned, his voice flat.
Hibari spat, eyes narrowed to grey slits. "Go to hell."
I'll even save you a seat…
Shikamaru arched a brow.
Hibari gave up the attempt to test the wire any further, only serving to cut himself in the process of attempting an escape that Shikamaru was tempted to let him have, if only to watch Naruto knock the guy flat out again. He waited for the redhead to glance up at him. When the man did, Hibari's eyes tracked over him, measuring him up before the Tsubasa snorted.
"You should've been skewered," Hibari muttered, swinging his hair from his face.
Shikamaru shrugged. "Lucky save, right?"
"Tch. Guess so."
"You've got a pretty impressive system working for you."
"Impressive enough that they needed you to find us."
"How many is "us"?" Shikamaru asked, eyes narrowing.
Hibari scoffed, his grey eyes flicking over Shikamaru's shoulder towards the shadows at the back of the cave. "Hn. Like I'll tell you people anything."
Such a drag…
Shikamaru rolled his shoulders with a sigh, preparing for the inevitable game this forced them into. He shook his head, closed his eyes and began.
"Apparently you took a good chunk of the military faction with you when you defected."
"Is that what they told you?" Hibari queried, almost condescending.
"Yeah, though I'm not so sure I buy that part." Shikamaru opened his eyes, setting them on Hibari's jagged sword across the cave. "If your military strength was so great, you wouldn't have waited for them to get backup. You'd have made a move before Konoha shinobi came to sniff you out."
"Which you did a little too well," the redhead muttered, following Shikamaru's gaze to the blade.
"Well enough," Shikamaru said, glancing back. "Judging from reports and past efforts, your rebels aren't easy to pin down or flush out."
Hibari studied him for a moment. "I'm surprised you didn't try to flood or gas our tunnels like they did."
Shikamaru shrugged again. "Why hit you with what you're already prepared for? I figured if you're smart enough to have evaded them for this long, you're smart enough to have accounted for those major weaknesses in your system. Then there's the fact that you've had a barrier jutsu going on and have probably made changes to your network since you were able to cover your movements."
Shikamaru paused for effect, letting his words sink in as Hibari eyed him with cold, hard suspicion, his bruised jaw clenching. He was calculating, clearly. But given Hibari's lack of options and current position, Shikamaru made no extra effort to read anything deeper into the man's face. He knew that Neji was watching from the shadows, studying every nuance of the Tsubasa's expressions and movements.
"Let me guess," Shikamaru continued. "You've got blast screens and mass drainage? Wouldn't be surprised if you used different rock sediment to your advantage too. Then there's fallback ventilation and a high probability of some contingency route that gets you outta Hanegakure." Shikamaru sighed, sounding bored. "Yeah, I could go on, but you already know this, so lets cut to the chase."
Hibari smirked; a reluctant flicker of what could have been respect touching his eyes as he leaned back. "Excellently deduced, I'm impressed. That would make you the brains of the operation, hmn?"
Shikamaru offered no response to the praise other than to turn the words around. "Was gonna ask you the same thing. Given what I've just said, you're not stupid. But considering you just launched a gung-ho attack without any thought to strategy, I'm starting to think you're not as smart as I've given you credit for."
To Shikamaru's interest, the man didn't react explosively. In fact, the Tsubasa watched him with growing calm.
"Yet I'm still alive, which means you need answers," Hibari returned, his voice steadier now, bringing himself onto the same level. "You're smart but you're not all that informed are you?"
"Still rather be me than you right now," Shikamaru smirked, testing the waters.
Hibari actually looked amused. "All sorts of lucky then, aren't you?"
Alright, I can reason with him like this.
"Must be," Shikamaru nodded. "Like I said, your network underground is pretty impressive."
"Desperation makes us creative."
"Desperation, huh?"
Hibari glanced around the cave for emphasis. "We're forced to crawl under the earth like worms, if that's not desperate then what the hell is? You think this is how we want to live?"
"Like we give a crap," Kiba muttered from the shadows.
Shikamaru bristled inwardly at the stupid comment, not wanting the Tsubasa pissed off now that he'd calmed down. Hibari however, merely snorted, turning his grey gaze in the general direction of Kiba's voice.
"Hn. I doubt you Konoha ninja give two shits," the Tsubasa uttered.
Shikamaru didn't have a chance to redirect Hibari's attention.
"We would not be here if we didn't want to resolve this," Neji said, taking a step forward until the firelight caressed along one-half of his body, pitching the rest of him in black.
The eerie vision was enough to cause an abrupt twist in Hibari's face. "You."
Shikamaru frowned.
Kiba snorted. "Whoa Hyūga, this guy really doesn't like you."
"I noticed, thank you."
"No like, really."
Shikamaru slid Kiba a subtle glare. Akamaru caught on first. The dog yipped quietly and Kiba fell silent. A good thing Hinata wasn't present or the Inuzuka's Alpha male mode might have caused more of a damn headache than Shikamaru was willing to tolerate. The Nara returned his focus to their captive.
Hibari kept his gaze fastened on Neji and sparks of his earlier rage lit the flecks in his eyes. "You want to resolve this for your own benefit."
"Peace benefits everyone," Neji reasoned.
"I'll bet they made you believe that's what they want too, right?" Hibari snorted, the sound distinctly acidic. "My mother's a good manipulator. Of course you believed her."
Shikamaru hiked a brow. "So does that suggest your rebels are fighting for peace? Unless you really are the power-hungry traitors Kitori says you are."
Hibari tore his eyes away from Neji long enough to shoot Shikamaru a glare that had absolutely no effect on the Nara.
Hibari looked away. "I'm sure you believed her."
"You're not exactly doing yourself any favours in proving her wrong."
Hibari jerked his chin toward his bound feet and hands. "You're holding me captive and you expect me to stand on civil ground? You think I'm going to negotiate with you people?"
"Negotiate?" Shikamaru's lips curved faintly at one corner, but his eyes were dead to the humour. "No, I think you're going to answer our questions if you value your life more than your mother seems to."
Hibari smirked at that. "How true."
"What do you and your rebels want, Tsubasa?" Neji asked, moving more into the light.
Shikamaru watched the instant change in the redhead.
"Your head for a start," Hibari hissed.
"That's it!" Naruto snapped, pitching himself from the darkness to stalk forward.
Shikamaru didn't even turn. "Naruto, back off."
"No way," the Uzumaki growled, stopping beside Shikamaru all the same. "I'm not gonna listen to his jerk threaten one of us again when he's the one we should be putting down!"
Shikamaru tuned out the angry rant, his gaze trained on Hibari as the Tsubasa glared hard at Neji, concentrating every ounce of venom into his next words.
"An eye for an eye, Hyūga. And I'm not talking about your dōjutsu."
Neji's response fell quietly. "Your sister…"
"You murdered her."
"And you experimented on her!" Naruto barked, stabbing a finger towards Hibari.
The Tsubasa's eyes widened and swung up, flaring at the accusation. "What?"
"Kitori said you and your father used her for chakra enhancement procedures," Sakura said firmly, her voice drifting from somewhere to the left of the cave.
"And you believed her," Hibari snarled to the shadows.
Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Instead of sounding all broken record with the "and you believed her" crap, why don't you fight your damned case. Got any evidence why we shouldn't believe her?"
"My sister was that evidence." Hibari's voice dropped, his eyes targeting Neji. "Toki came to you people for help and you killed her."
Shikamaru cocked his head. "And the weird thing is? She supposedly came to us to stop you."
The transformation in Hibari would have been apoplectic if the redhead hadn't been tied down. "No! That's what they want you to believe! My sister and I were part of the rebellion against our parents and Ozuku!"
Sakura stepped forward. "But Kitori is your mot—"
"My mother came to hunt me down and kill me," Hibari hissed, teeth bared. "My mother let my father pass my sister over to Ozuku for experimentation."
"For chakra enhancement procedures, right?" Shikamaru clarified. "To develop those pills?"
Hibari squeezed his eyes shut. "Yes. Toki, despite being Genin level, had advanced chakra control."
The side of Naruto's fist slammed into the cave wall. "So they thought that made it okay to just experiment on her!"
Hibari's eyes drifted open, his anger caving beneath his grief. "They didn't care – they needed to develop those chakra pills."
Shikamaru glanced at Neji. The Hyūga was frowning, his pale eyes tracing Hibari's face for deception. Shikamaru returned to his agenda.
"They needed these chakra pills for your clan's forbidden jutsu, right?"
"Yeah," Hibari croaked, swallowing as he blinked the sheen from his eyes. "Ozuku told you that much I guess. Bet he didn't tell you that he's the one casting it and not us."
"And Kitori?" Neji pressed.
"Supports him."
"Why!" Naruto shook his head. "Why would she support those creeps?"
The question served their cause, so Shikamaru let Naruto take the proverbial floor. All the while the Nara watched Hibari's face, noting the bitterness and pain taking root in every crease.
"Because it's her duty to be obedient and act accordingly," the redhead muttered, shaking his head. "That's what Tsubasa shinobi do. We act like a flock and fall into formation, without question – it's the way laid out for us."
"Laid out for you?" Shikamaru asked.
Hibari nodded. "Yeah. By your First Hokage."
"WHAT!"
Shikamaru jerked his shoulder to his ear as Naruto's voice blasted like canon fire, reverberating off the walls of the mines and echoing down the tunnels. He reached out a hand to grip the Uzumaki's shoulder, tugging him back a pace to calm him down.
"Naruto, take it easy."
"Why the hell are you so surprised?" Hibari frowned at the dramatic reaction. "It is engraved in our Temple. The words of your First Hokage."
Shikamaru didn't get the chance to ask. Neji beat him to it, quoting quietly.
"'Those who stray from the path of justice have no courage, but under the wing of a strong leader cowardice cannot survive'. It is on a plaque below their monument of Kin-Washi," Neji said, glancing at Shikamaru before elaborating. "The Golden Eagle. Kitori showed me their Temple. I knew I recognised those words."
"Yeah, I'm sure she took you on the abridged village tour," Hibari scowled, glaring before he controlled himself. "Anyway, those words are the founding principle of our clan name and way. Wing, strength and power."
Shikamaru felt Naruto radiating enough indignant 'power' to shake the foundations of the cave. He glanced across at the Uzumaki, prepared to step in.
Naruto's scowl outdid Hibari's. "But Hanegakure have totally twisted up the meaning of our Hokage's words!"
"Totally and completely twisted it," Hibari agreed. "Over the generations, leaders took what they wanted from the meaning, forgetting justice altogether…which basically comes down to having a strong leader who doesn't tolerate cowardice."
"Tyranny," Sakura supplied, stepping up beside Neji.
Hibari nodded. "Only way they can maintain this rule is to get stronger."
"Which is why your uncle and father were after kekei genkai from Konoha," Neji surmised.
"Yes. So my sister and I formed the resistance group deep underground." Hibari paused there, taking a breath before continuing. "Our Tsubasa rebels are trying to bring peace and freedom back to Hanegakure, not destroy it."
Well, shit…
Shikamaru sighed, bracing his palms against the mine cart. The information fell into place quickly, but it still wasn't enough. He glanced across the cave. Neji's look suggested he was thinking along the same lines, or at least Shikamaru assumed so until he caught a better glimpse of the Hyūga's face in the lantern light.
If he hadn't learned to read the subtle shifts in Neji's expression, he'd have missed it. But there was no mistaking the pinch of pain around his eyes and the hint of hurt confusion pushing through the Jōnin's cold mask.
It surprised Shikamaru, in a distinctly foolish and oddly protective way.
Neji blinked, shaking his head. "But Kitori…"
Hibari cut the Hyūga off with a snort. "Kitori just sold us out. So they took my sister when I wasn't there to protect her and they experimented on her."
Neji shook his head again, no longer looking at Hibari, or anyone. "But she was pregnant…"
What?
Shikamaru's eyes flew wide, the air leaving him in a whoosh. He ignored the other sharp intakes of breath and stared hard at Neji, trying to draw the pale eyes toward him. His brain automatically raced along the timeline of events, flipping forward a memory in an instant. A memory of a very drunk Neji, sprawled on the grass, staring up at the night sky, lips moving in a slur to shape the words…
"She was pregnant…and it died…"
Shikamaru's eyes widened further.
He'd thought no more about those words after Neji had spoken them. He knew his brain had catalogued them, but he hadn't seen the sense in examining something that at the time had no context and wasn't his problem. But now, understanding came like an electric shock rather than a light bulb. It had Shikamaru wincing inwardly. The realisation of just why Neji had been in such a strange state after that mission.
Shit…dammit, Neji…that wasn't your fault.
Hibari was speaking again, forcing Shikamaru to rip his gaze away from the Hyūga.
"I could never get to my sister because she was so well protected. The only way she could get out of experimentation was if she were pregnant."
"Of course," Sakura said sadly "Foetuses interfere with chakra levels."
"Exactly. But before they could abort the child she stole our clan's forbidden scrolls and fled."
Neji stared at the shadows on the wall. "And Kitori knew that her daughter was pregnant…"
"Yeah, my mother didn't just betray her children," Hibari seethed.
"But…" Sakura started, stopped and then shook her head, looking to Shikamaru.
The Nara caught her gaze and shrugged, not knowing what she expected him to say in Kitori's defence. He harboured no intention to give a shit about the woman's excuses or motives – at this stage, they were irrelevant.
Sakura frowned, looking to Hibari. "But when Kitori speaks about this, about you and her daughter, it clearly upsets her."
Hibari's brows arched upward. "So what? She sheds a few crocodile tears. Like that makes a difference. She abandoned the nest or whatever."
"That's bullshit," Kiba snarled, Akamaru backing him up with a growl. "Even animals don't normally abandon their young like that."
Shikamaru shook his head. "Some do."
"Too true," Hibari frowned. "Anyway, that's Hanegakure's nindo."
"To abandon your kids?" Naruto choked out roughly.
"To put the flock – not the fledglings – first."
"It's a load of crap!" Naruto exploded, directly into Shikamaru's ear. "What the hell kind of village way is that?"
"Why the hell do you think we formed a rebellion?" Hibari sighed. "I was too late to save my sister, but I won't let anyone else in our village suffer."
Shikamaru rubbed at his temple, wondering if he had a perforated eardrum before sighing, his dark gaze sharpening. "Why was your sister bringing those scrolls to Konoha? Why not just destroy them when she got hold of them?"
"Because we needed proof of our clan's forbidden jutsu to gain your support. We aimed to come directly to your Hokage for help and warn you about my father and uncle's intentions to harvest kekei genkai from the Leaf, using the forbidden jutsu."
Shikamaru hummed. "But your old man beat you to it."
Hibari nodded. "By stealing the scrolls we gave Fukurō an opportunity to approach you too."
"And he got to us before your sister could," Neji said quietly.
"And made us believe that you were the enemy," Shikamaru added, cocking his head toward Hibari. "Great."
Hibari's jaw twitched, his eyes burning with controlled anger. "He hired you to wipe us out, before we could tell you the truth. By the time Toki reached you, you were already our enemy. All they could try to do was protect those scrolls."
Shikamaru's gaze strayed to Neji as the Hyūga shook his head.
"She never had a chance…" Neji murmured.
"No thanks to you," Hibari snapped.
Shikamaru's head turned sharply at that, but Naruto's voice bowled over whatever he might have said.
"Hey!" Naruto growled, lunging forward to grip Hibari by his mesh vest, jerking the man up until they were nose to nose. "Say that again and I'll pulverize you!"
Neji blinked slowly, his voice detached, faraway. "Naruto…"
"No! It's not your fault that she didn't get there first!" Naruto leaned in, his blue eyes flashing. "I don't care if we're on the same side, you open your mouth about that again and I'll break your jaw this time."
Hibari cocked his head, sobering a little. "Hn. Loyal. I can respect that at least."
Shikamaru made no move to step in this time, his gaze fixed back on Neji. That distant look in the Jōnin's eyes was more disturbing to him than Naruto's anger.
Naruto snorted, shoving Hibari back as he stepped away. "I mean it."
"Hibari," Shikamaru said, reluctantly shifting his attention back to the Tsubasa. "If what you're saying is true, then why the hell did Fukurō attack our village two months later? If he and Ozuku wanted us to believe they were the good party then that kinda blew his cover, didn't it?"
Hibari chuckled wryly. "Never said my old man was smart. Ozuku is the brains, my father was the brawn. Fukurō just wanted power. Apparently your Hyūga over here," he jerked his chin towards Neji, "offended him, so he singled him out. Said he'd collect the dōjutsu himself."
"And got his ass kicked," Naruto snickered.
Hibari smirked slightly. "Good."
"So Ozuku and Kitori covered up Fukurō's slip by selling him out as a rebel," Shikamaru thought aloud, his eyes straying up. "To keep them looking like the innocent party, huh?"
"Exactly," Hibari frowned. "Besides, they needed your help again to wipe us out. So they're selling you the same story Fukurō did, making it seem like we're the enemy."
Kiba sighed from the shadows. "And we bought it."
Hibari didn't even look in his direction. "Yeah, you did. Real smart."
Akamaru growled lowly, his feral eyes catching the light as Kiba stepped forward. "Screw you."
"Hn. You're one to talk, Hibari," Shikamaru drawled, relaxing back against the cart as he reached into his flak jacket to extract the two winged pendants he'd taken off the Tsubasa earlier.
"What?" the redhead frowned, his eyes flicking up. They widened the instant his gaze fell on the glinting pendants. "What the hell are you doing with those?"
Shikamaru smirked, wrapping the chains around his wrist with a swing of the links. He turned one of the silver pendants over in his fingers like a magician preparing for a sleight of hand trick.
Hibari watched him, transfixed, angry.
It didn't take much to assume one of the wings had belonged to the Tsubasa's sister.
"We weren't the only ones who played into their hands," Shikamaru said. "Just like they played us, they played you. By having Leaf shinobi kill your sister…" he held up one of the winged pendants for emphasis, "it gave you enough hatred towards us to make it look like you really were our enemy when you went all avenger and attacked us."
"Yeah," Kiba snapped. "Popping up outta the ground like that? That wasn't too fucking smart either."
Hibari kept his eyes on the pendants. "Fine. So I acted hot-bloodedly and I don't have any warm feelings towards your Hyūga right now…" he shot Neji a glare. "That doesn't mean I don't want to stop this."
Shikamaru pursed his lips, shifting his hips in a sway that rocked him away from the cart. He stepped over to Hibari, letting the chain slide from his wrist as he set the pendants into the Tsubasa's tied hands.
"Then we've got the same objective," he said quietly. "We want this over with too."
Sakura spoke up, hugging her arms with a frown. "I just can't believe that Kitori wouldn't want to stop this too."
"In the Tsubasa clan, you don't question tradition," Hibari explained, his face calmer as he closed his fingers around the pendants. "And you don't question what they do at the Temple."
Shikamaru frowned, straightening up. "Which is what?"
"Betcha it's not praying, that's for sure," Kiba muttered.
Hibari hummed, nodding. "Far from it. They do all the dirty work there. Experiments, jutsu development and they have a chamber for our clan's scrolls."
Shikamaru sighed. "Like the forbidden ones your sister tried to get to us."
"Yeah," Hibari sighed, closing his fist around the pendants. "Ozuku has them back in the Temple under Kitori's strongest guard."
"So she's willingly a part of this," Neji said, drawing a collective gaze before the group looked back to Hibari.
Hibari frowned, glaring at Neji in confusion. "I've already told you she is. She does what she's told. She's too scared to change despite her bitterness. She'd sooner see us dead. Same goes for Ozuku. He wanted me dead the second I questioned his rule, just like my sister."
"Man," Naruto sighed, looking sympathetically at the man he'd almost pummelled a few minutes ago. "All of your family just sell each other out, huh?"
Hibari shrugged, a weak, bitter laugh tumbling from him. "They've sold out more than just family. Even the land itself. The birds, everything."
"The birds?" Naruto frowned. "How?"
Shikamaru was already the necessary steps ahead. "Your clan's forbidden jutsu, right? Well I'm done respecting clan secrets. You gonna talk?"
Hibari looked insulted at the suggestion that he wouldn't.
Shikamaru wasn't taking any chances. "Well?"
"Considering I want to destroy this clan secret, I've got no problem sharing the information," the Tsubasa said at length. "Our forbidden jutsu involves mass mind control. We can infiltrate group consciousness."
Naruto blinked. "You can do what now?"
Hibari smiled, but his amusement was short lived as he looked back to Shikamaru, frowning. "Hanegakure's birds share a group consciousness. Our forbidden jutsu taps into that group consciousness and allows for mass mind control of the entire bird population of our forest."
Shikamaru's brows arched, an impressed sound catching in the back of his throat as he shook his head. That sure as hell explained a lot.
Of course...
"Whoa," Kiba whistled. "That's a lot of birds…"
Naruto shuddered. "Yeah, try havin' them blow up all over you."
"Uh, didn't you do that?"
Naruto held up a fist in warning. "I didn't know they were real!"
"Shut up," Shikamaru snapped, refocusing. "Ozuku said it was like a Swarm Jutsu."
Hibari chuckled grimly. "I'll bet he did. It's a little more intense than that. He played it down. It involves way more chakra than that to cast and maintain."
"No kidding," Shikamaru brushed his thumb along his jaw, thinking. "He said the casters are kept out of range."
"Yeah, way out of range."
"Where?"
Neji answered. "Inside the Temple…"
Shikamaru glanced across. Neji wouldn't look at him. Shikamaru had to tighten every damn muscle against the urge to move over. He leaned back firmly until the edge of the cart bit into the small of his back.
"Your Hyūga's right," Hibari confirmed. "One of the dirty works going on in there. They constantly have people maintaining the forbidden jutsu in a chamber."
Shikamaru sighed. "So, a constant mind transference jutsu."
Sakura turned her head. "Like what Ino does, right?"
Shikamaru rubbed at his nape, suddenly wishing the blonde Yamanaka was at hand for insight – if not for some kind of Team Ten support. Stupid, but he might have taken some odd sense of reassurance from one of her normally troublesome bolsters right now. Asuma's words about keeping a clear head came back to him.
Shikamaru drew a slow breath.
He offered Sakura a weak nod. "Yeah, like what Ino does, only on a mass scale with birds…and with a load of casters safely out of range in a well-protected dome."
"And with the casters taking those chakra pills," Hibari added, glancing up. "They can keep it going constantly. My rebels only have a small stash of pills to keep our protective barrier jutsu going on underground. It's the only way they can't find us."
Sakura hummed, moving over towards Hibari with a canteen of water. "That's why you were protecting that stash point so heavily."
"Yeah. Aside from my chakra-enhanced blade," Hibari nodded to his weapon, "the pills are the only defence we have right now."
As Sakura offered the Tsubasa water, Shikamaru pursed his lips, his mind taking every frame of the past few minutes and adding them to the insane reel that this mission was turning out to be.
"Right," he sighed. "So these casters in the Temple, I'm guessing it's risky to constantly keep up that kind of forbidden jutsu."
"Yeah," Hibari nodded, gripping the water canteen in his bound hands. "If the casters don't end up dead from chakra overdose or expenditure, they stay so long in the birds' group consciousness that they have trouble coming back."
Naruto cocked his head. "So what the hell happens to them?"
Shikamaru read the blunt answer in Hibari's face.
The Nara sighed. "They die, right?"
Hibari confirmed it with a nod. "Yeah. And their minds get stuck inside the birds."
"Guess that explains the weird behaviour of your birds."
"That's right," Hibari looked disgusted, clearly bothered by the treatment of the animals his clan supposedly revered. "It's why so many of them are aggressive, psychotic or sick."
"I see." Sakura's eyes softened. "That's why so many are poisoned and killed."
Hibari frowned, handing back the water canteen with a nod. "Yeah. Two minds in one body permanently like that? One animal and one human? Enough to drive the host crazy, both bird and human."
"Ha!" Naruto barked, snapping his fingers and stabbing his index towards Kiba. "Told you they were possessed!"
Everyone stared.
Shikamaru shook his head at the highly inappropriate outburst. However, he let it slide, warning Kiba to do the same with a sideways glance. Kiba held up his hands innocently.
The brief lapse was cut short when Neji spoke up, his pale eyes turning to Hibari. "So with human consciousness inside the birds via mind-transference, you can monitor across the whole of Hanegakure."
It'll bet it stretches further than that.
Shikamaru's eyes narrowed as he followed up the Hyūga's words. "I'm guessing you could even monitor across nations."
Hibari smiled bleakly, making no excuses for the powerful jutsu. "That's right. That was the initial purpose of our forbidden jutsu, to use it for surveillance. Ozuku made sure it was constantly perfected and constantly cast. Hundreds of Tsubasa shinobi have died, serving as casters, sacrificed to perfect it."
Neji folded his arms, rolling his left shoulder. "And just how perfected is it?"
Hibari shrugged. "It's gotten to the stage where Ozuku's casters can observe through any of our birds over an ever-increasing distance."
"Subtle and flawless espionage," Neji clarified, finally looking over to Shikamaru. "Which is how they knew we'd entered their borders without a single man or woman present…and how we didn't see their attacks."
Shikamaru nodded. "Using the birds to watch us the entire time. Sneaky."
"That's right," Hibari said. "They have eyes everywhere. This is why we had to go underground. The forest never sleeps above the surface, even at night."
"Scops-owls, huh?" Kiba muttered, yet his eyes widened. "Hey, can this mind-transference crap cause birds to drop dead?"
Shikamaru smiled slightly, already knowing what Kiba was referring to. To be honest, it had entered his thoughts more than a couple of times since that night.
Hibari frowned at the odd question, but answered either way. "If a shinobi withdraws his or her mind too quickly from a bird, then yeah. They'd only do that if they risked getting caught."
Figures.
"Thinking of that dead owl Akamaru found, Kiba?" Shikamaru glanced over.
Kiba nodded, scratching Akamaru's ear. "Yeah, he sensed we were bein' watched. He hasn't been able to relax since we got here."
Hibari snorted. "You think that's bad? Hanegakure has been spying on Konoha remotely through the birds for a very long time, waiting to isolate kekei genkai."
Shikamaru had no doubt about that. It made complete sense, as well as explained how Ozuku could afford to let ties between the villages go. He'd always been a step ahead; omniscient in a way that Shikamaru couldn't have predicted without understanding the level of this jutsu. Suddenly, what Tsunade wanted him to do with the Akatsuki took on a whole new definition of insanity and impossibility.
Great…
He shook the thought away, refocusing with a sigh. "Dammit."
Hibari smiled weakly. "Ozuku is about power and politics. He's not stupid."
"Clearly not," Neji said. "Considering he almost killed two birds with one stone."
Kiba growled. "Yeah, we almost wiped each other out."
"So what now?" Sakura asked, looking between Neji and Shikamaru.
Naruto answered with a shout, shadow-boxing his enthusiasm. "I say we pick up a few stones and chuck 'em back!"
Shikamaru smirked and his dark eyes took on a sharpness that made the Uzumaki settle down a little and scratch at his head, grinning nervously. The Nara smiled then and his eyes cut across to Hibari, meeting the grey orbs steadily.
"Hibari? I think it's time you had a family reunion."

The vote carried.
All in favour for the shared objective; peace.
It was with this objective in mind, that the next two hours unfolded smoothly.
Hibari surrendered his sword into the Konoha team's possession, a gesture of trust on his part that didn't entirely surprise Shikamaru. Given the Tsubasa's earlier venom towards Neji, it was only natural that some suspicion remained between them. That kind of peace making would either come later, or not at all. Either way, it wasn't to affect the mission. The same mission the Tsubasa's sister had lived and died for. Hibari had seen the sense in this and Shikamaru had worked on his core belief of justice, using it as a means to reason.
It laid the foundations of a tentative understanding – and alliance.
It turned out that Hibari was relatively bi-polar in his nature. When angry, he was a force to be reckoned with, but when calm, he was as level-headed and reasonable as any tactician the Nara had dealt with. Consequently, Shikamaru had taken measures to keep Naruto and Neji away from him, just in case.
Oddly enough, it wasn't Hibari that Shikamaru doubted; he could read the man. He'd clocked the level at which he operated and could work with him. It was Neji that worried him now.
Dammit.
Shikamaru glanced across at the Hyūga, running beside him a few paces across.
Neji's eyes remained fixed ahead, the Byakugan veins tightening around his pale orbs as he scanned. Shikamaru wondered if the limit of the Byakugan's range had anything on the limit of how far Neji could withdraw when he wanted to.
I doubt it…
Shikamaru frowned, tearing his concern back behind his ribs before it could spill into his blood and poison his focus.
Focus.
The Konoha team banded closer together as Hibari led them north, along a steep ravine towards one of the hidden entrances to their tunnel system. They were met half-way by a hawk, one which perched on Hibari's shoulder with a familiarity that suggested it was friend not foe.
Naruto eyed the bird warily.
Kiba prepared for a round of abuse.
Shikamaru cut him short. "Later."
They followed Hibari into the tunnel system, stepping through an entrance that shimmered into view after the barrier jutsu was released. Shikamaru hadn't expected them to be met by children.
Hibari firmly turned the youngsters around, but not without care in his eyes. "You're not supposed to be here. It's not safe."
A young girl looked up at Shikamaru, squinting in the dim light of the tunnel. "Your hair is funny."
Shikamaru smirked, shrugging. "Thanks."
The girl looked him over. "I like it."
Shikamaru blinked, not knowing how to respond to that. "Thanks," he parroted.
The girl smiled brightly, looked him over again and then dashed off down the tunnels after the other laughing kids.
Shikamaru frowned, looking to Hibari. "Where are their parents?"
"These are the children of the shinobi who died casting that jutsu. We save who we can," Hibari explained as he hefted one of the kids onto his hip, a child no more than three who attempted to get a grip on Neji's hair.
The Hyūga swayed out of the way, but offered her his finger in compensation. She examined it, but lost interest, clinging to Hibari's red mane instead as the man led the team deeper into the tunnel complex. It was more than impressive, hollowed out into inhabitable areas and rigged with the very measures Shikamaru had predicted they'd take for ventilation, protection and necessary storage. Lanterns and torches burned everywhere.
Hibari navigated the group without pause.
Shikamaru kept pace at his shoulder. "Those birds they're gathering at the aviary. I take it they're planning on a massive hit with that forbidden jutsu, right?"
"That's right. They're going to wipe us out once and for all, provided we don't get there first." Hibari nodded, turning suddenly to pass the child into Hinata's arms so his hands were free to work a few seals to different doors.
Shikamaru smirked at the terrified expression on Hinata's face as she held the girl awkwardly, staring at the small fingers curling into her hair. Neji watched out the corner of his eye, keeping out of range as the girl eyed him over Hinata's shoulder. Naruto distracted the child with funny faces.
Kiba snickered, elbowing Hinata. "You make such a cute family."
"Kiba!" she blushed.
"Give her a break," Shikamaru drawled, only to add. "Hinata? Just don't drop her on her head. You see what that did to Naruto as a kid."
"Oi!" Naruto attempted to slug Shikamaru, missed when the Nara ducked and cracked Hibari across the face instead.
Fuck.
Kiba smacked a hand over his mouth, cheeks puffed and eyes flying wide in the attempt to hold in his hysterics. Shikamaru froze, not sure whether he wanted to burst into laughter or bolt. Neji just shook his head. The rest of the team stared in shock.
Hibari turned, very slowly, towards the Uzumaki.
Ah crap.
Just as Shikamaru entertained several awkward ways he could get Naruto out of this shit, the little girl came to the Uzumaki's rescue, bursting into giggles that alleviated the tension immediately.
Hibari scowled, but there was no threat in it as he reached over to take the girl back, snorting at Naruto. "You hit me again and we're going to have a problem."
Naruto grinned disarmingly, waiting until Hibari turned his back before he glared at Shikamaru, mouthing 'you jerk'. The Nara arched a brow dryly.
"Yeah, I'll just stand still next time," he deadpanned, following Hibari down the tunnel.
The Tsubasa lead them into a large room, which opened out into several smaller dens, all equipped with futons. Children had painted the walls, judging by the stick figure artwork and colourful splashes of pictures quite unlike the grim reality they were living in.
Hibari gestured to the different rooms. "I can only give you a couple of hours before we need to strategise and make a move. I'll have them bring you whatever food we have to spare. I need a little time to make the others understand that you're not our enemy."
Shikamaru nodded, glancing at Hibari's bruised jaw with a weak smile. "That should help, right?"
The Tsubasa shrugged, smirking. "I've had worse."
Shikamaru didn't doubt it. He glanced around again, scanning the rooms and assessing the momentary reprieve they offered. He cocked his head to the team, nodding. On cue the Konoha shinobi disbanded, each heading into respective rooms either in pairs or alone.
Neji, however, remained by Shikamaru's side, pale eyes watching the girl in Hibari's arms as she peeked at him between her fingers. He didn't smile, but his eyes softened.
Shikamaru looked to the kid, then back to Hibari. "Can't be good to keep them down here like this."
Hibari sighed, shaking his head. "No. It's driving us crazy to live this way. Not to mention the fact that despite our rebellion we're not generating enough support above the ground. We've been hiding for so long because of those birds that the people think we've abandoned them and the forest to Ozuku's rule. We need to take control back."
"You will," Neji said. "We will see to it."
Hibari studied the Hyūga a moment and Shikamaru watched behind deceptive disinterest. When Hibari held out his free hand, the Nara almost moved on instinct to come between the two of them. It was ridiculous, considering the gesture was one of peace.
Neji glanced at the extended palm, sealing the handshake cautiously.
Hibari nodded. "I can't forgive you for what you did. Not in my heart. But my mind is clear on our shared objective here. And peace is more important to me than anything else at this point."
"I understand," Neji said.
Hibari hummed. "We are no longer enemies, Hyūga. But I'm afraid we can never be friends."
Shikamaru's jaw tightened at that, but apparently his thoughts on the matter of misplaced blame didn't even enter into Neji's thinking. The Jōnin accepted Hibari's words without hesitation.
Neji inclined his head. "I understand that as well."
Hibari nodded again, shifting the girl carefully in his arms. He took his leave then, not needing to say anything more. Shikamaru watched him go, waiting until his footsteps receded, though Neji had already turned towards one of the den rooms.
Shikamaru watched him, marking the uncomfortable roll of the Jōnin's left shoulder. The grim reminder turned Shikamaru's steps toward the opposite den where he'd seen Hinata drift over to. It was as close to a damned x-ray as he'd ever get. Smacking his knuckles in a lazy knock against the sliding panel he waited for the paint-splattered wood to draw back.
"Shikamaru-kun…" Hinata said softly.
Shikamaru braced his shoulder against the frame, dark eyes cast to the side. "Did you manage to get a look?"
He heard the kunoichi's soft inhale before she sighed. "Yes."
"And?"
"The blocks won't hold if he uses his jutsu."
Shikamaru's eyes narrowed. "You mean the Palm Rotation?"
"No. I…" Hinata glanced over his shoulder. "Anything that requires chakra."
Shikamaru snapped his gaze up. "What?"
Hinata looked down. "He's blocked too much. It's holding. But it won't if he…" She looked back up. "When we fought, he only used taijutsu."
Shit…
Shikamaru stared at her for a moment as his mind filed the information into its critical category. "So he can't even use the Gentle Fist?"
Hinata shook her head. "I doubt it, but I…I don't know for sure."
Shikamaru swallowed uncomfortably, glancing away. "How much time do I have?"
Hinata frowned and he felt her gentle gaze, but also the weight of her questions. "As long as he can control it for."
Shikamaru clenched his jaw. "How much time, Hinata?"
"Shikamaru-kun…"
He met her gaze reluctantly, finding a softness there that made it all the more difficult to pretend to be detached. "Tell me I have more time."
Dammit…just a little longer…
"You don't have long," was her sad reply.
Then I'll work with whatever I have…for as long as I can spare…
Shikamaru nodded. "Alright."
Hinata watched him, but she didn't push him. Which made Shikamaru all the more grateful that Sakura wasn't present. He was pretty sure she'd have taken a swing at him that would have put Naruto to shame. Worst part was that he might have let her.
Without offering another word, Shikamaru moved back towards the opposite den, hearing Hinata slide the panel shut. He paused outside the room Neji had taken, tapping his brow against the closed door, gritting his teeth. It took him a few moments to smooth out his expression.
Then he slid the door open and braced a shoulder against the frame.
Neji didn't look up.
The Hyūga remained seated on the futon, lowering his hand from his chest, breathing deeply.
Shikamaru shook his head, clearing his throat. "Why is this mission so damned important to you?"
Neji blinked slowly, settling his palms on his thighs as he released his breath, staring ahead. "I will not allow these people to live this way. In a cage."
Shikamaru frowned at those words. "Don't make this personal."
"Don't be ridiculous," Neji said, completely calm. "It's not personal."
"Is it because you feel guilty about Hibari's sister?"
"No," Neji shook his head, rolling his shoulder before drawing another slow breath. "It's the Hokage's orders. To secure peace. We finally know who our enemies are and now we will put an end to this. This mission remains imperative, Shikamaru."
"And what about the rest?" Shikamaru tried to force some bite into his words, but they fell blunt. "What about everything you said you heard me say to you?"
"I did hear you. You aren't hearing me."
Shikamaru snorted, not buying it for a second. "You're right. I tend to tune out bullshit."
"The mission is what matters. Everything else at this point is inconsequential."
Shikamaru moved into the room in a sharp, sudden movement, slotting the door closed in an angry yank.
He tried to lower his voice, but it hissed out all the same. "Dammit. You can't fight. You can't use your jutsu and you're going to end up in a deep end you can't pull yourself out of."
Neji blinked calmly, unaffected.
Shikamaru wanted to throttle him.
"Do not underestimate me, Shikamaru. I know my limits and I can accommodate for whatever I need to."
"Yeah, until you're dead."
He stared hard at Neji, even though the Hyūga wouldn't look at him. Neji gazed off into that distance he seemed to keep retreating to, his face closed and remote. It was a distinct kind of apathy that left the Nara with a chill.
Shikamaru clenched his fist and had to fight hard to push down the hot rush of anger with cold logic.
What the hell is worth killing yourself over? It can't just be ANBU. Blocking off your emotions for a fucking ticket into the Black Ops…you're smarter than that…
"ANBU isn't worth this," Shikamaru ground out with fragile calm. "Neither is denying whatever you feel about what those elders did to you. So what the hell is it, Neji?"
Tell me what I'm missing.
Neji didn't reply.
No rebuff, no response, no resolution.
Nothing.
And no matter how hard Shikamaru tried to tie this back to Neji's trauma as a child, it just didn't make sense on its own. It should probably have been enough, given what kind of damage that would have done to him on a psychological level, never mind the fact that those bastards had almost killed him.
The thought drew the sharp angles of Shikamaru's face into rigid flint.
You were just a kid…
A kid who'd been punished for protecting something it had already lost. Shikamaru frowned.
Shit…did they take something else away from you too? Is that what I'm missing?
Despite his efforts, the shadow-nin felt that pain tugging behind his ribs again, betraying itself in his eyes as he cast his gaze over Neji's face.
"Gods, stop looking at me like that," Neji whispered suddenly, his voice hoarse, rough with the emotion that wouldn't break into his face. "Stop making it harder."
Shikamaru shook his head sadly, his anger dissolving into a horrible ache. "Why the hell can't you understand that you don't need to do this with me?"
Neji clenched his eyes shut. "Why can't you understand that it is you more than anyone else that I need to do this with?"
The pain those words pulled up felt like Neji had uprooted something vital in his chest and squeezed mercilessly. Shikamaru didn't know how to process the feeling. He'd never felt it before. It took him a moment to realise that his ribs hadn't folded inward and crushed him.
He drew a tight breath against the ache and shook it off sharply. But whatever words he might have worked out in response stuck like rocks in the back of his throat.
Shit.
The smarter part of him, which wasn't lacking, would have taken this bizarre pain as the reason to cut and run. To take back those three steps he'd crossed last night. The smarter part of him would have and did tell him to run so damned far and fast that he could forget that he ever chased Neji down that night and all those times after.
Unfortunately, he'd stopped listening to that smarter part…which left him with a part he didn't know what to do with other than to let the impulse take over. So not for the first time, he didn't question his body's instinct to move.
He stepped over to invade personal space he expected Neji to evict him from.
It didn't stop him.
Neither did Neji.
Without pause, he crouched down directly in front of the Hyūga and dropped one knee to a half-kneel, his dark eyes shuttered but not guarded. Neji's eyes slipped open at the proximity.
Shikamaru reached up, expecting to be shoved back. He wasn't.
He settled his hand at Neji's shoulder, waiting to be shrugged off. It didn't happen.
So he touched their foreheads, ignoring the hitai-ate's bitter steel. Neji allowed the contact, only to reject it a few seconds later, pushing his head forward to force Shikamaru's back.
Shikamaru made to move away…but stilled in shock when Neji leaned into him without a word, rigid and cold…
But not out of reach.
Shikamaru's throat locked.
I can't keep waiting for you to let me help you…God…I'm running out of time…
Swallowing against the tightness closing around him, Shikamaru lifted his hand and calmly rubbed the mocha head as Neji's brow came to rest against his shoulder. He turned his head enough to stroke his lips against Neji's hair.
I won't let you die…and even if you hate me by the end of this…that's fine.
It felt like a lie. But he could believe it.
I can live with that…if that means you live.
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Break to Breathe