fastrthnwind
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Chapter 5 The Search
Shino suggested to Kiba that they should first check with Neji’s own team to see if he was there along with their jounin-sensei, Gai. When they arrived at the team’s training grounds however, Neji wasn’t present at all. Instead, Lee and Tenten were both sparring in taijutsu while Gai watched on, encouraging them, “What a spectacular demonstration of my glowing with radiance pupils! Fight with the FULL POWER OF YOUTH!”
Lee responded with the same exuberance as his idol, as he continued to push Tenten back with a flurry of spinning kicks and hard punches, “YES GAI-SENSEI! IF I DO NOT WIN THIS BATTLE IN LESS THAN ONE MINUTE, THEN I WILL DO 500 PUSH-UPS ON MY FINGERS!”
Tenten became irritated at what Lee was indirectly implying, “Hey! Don’t take me so lightly! I might not be as good as Neji, but I can still hold my own in a taijutsu battle.” She almost took a solid punch to the face, though she managed to pull up her arms in time to protect herself.
It was then that Gai noticed the arrival of team 8’s Kiba and Shino flashing them the trademark nice-guy pose. “Greetings, Kiba and Shino! Have you come to join us in a YOUTHFUL sparring session to ignite your FLAMES OF YOUTH!?”
Cue sweat-drop from Kiba, “E-er no, we haven’t Gai-sensei, but have you seen Neji lately?”
“Ah, Neji is currently late for our daily training! It is unusual for him to be so late to our practice sessions. He’s becoming as hip as my ETERNAL RIVAL, KAKASHI!” Gai exclaimed loudly.
“There have been some problems that have arisen lately concerning Neji’s well-being. As Neji’s comrades and friends, we must look into this matter,” Shino adjusted the glasses on his face, “I have already dispersed my bugs to gather more info around the village. Though I do not doubt their effectiveness in tracking Neji’s whereabouts, it would be helpful if you could help us with our search.”
“Yea, we decided to tell you ‘cause you’re his team and all, though I’m pretty sure that my nose would find him before long!” Kiba puffed his chest out in confidence.
Gai put his hands on his hips, and guffawed, “That is the confidence that I like to see in such YOUTHFUL ninja as yourselves! Very well, WE AS NEJI’S TEAMMATES SHALL ASSIST YOU IN YOUR QUEST!” He gave them both the nice-guy pose, his impossibly white teeth blinding both Kiba and Shino, despite the latter wearing dark glasses.
Lee back flipped several times away from his sparring partner, “Yosh! Gai-sensei let us begin our search immediately!”
“As always Lee, your passion burns brighter than anyone! I’m proud to call you my student!” tears were already brimming in eyes of the spandex clad duo as they began their routine hug-fest.
“Gai-sensei!”
“Lee!”
“Gai-sensei!”
“Lee!”
“Gai-sensei!”
“LEE!”
“GAI-SENSEI!”
On cue, a sandy beach suddenly appeared out of nowhere complete with a sunset and rolling waves, startling all members present save for the two spandex-clad beasts and Tenten who simply shook her head and walked away.
The other two ninja were left cringing in aversion, though it was more like Kiba looking away and covering his eyes from such behavior while Shino merely stood there, the insects within him displaying clear agitation at the sudden and unwelcome disturbance in his chakra.
The two green beasts finally released each other after some time, the beach scene disappearing as well as Gai pointed off in the direction of the village, “COME LEE, LET US BEGIN OUR YOUTHFUL SEARCH FOR OUR MISSING TEAMMATE!”
“HAI GAI-SENSEI!”
With that, the two speed off into the distance leaving the two chuunin to eat their dust.
“Cough, cough… Ugh! What the hell is with those guys!? Why do they have to be so weird all the time!?” Kiba sputtered out between his coughs.
Shino didn’t even move the entire time, “What about you and Akamaru? Don’t you share a close relationship with him? After all, you two are together all the time and act like one-another at times.”
“Well yea, but not like that!” Kiba finished his coughing and reached down to pet Akamaru who had laid beside his master in boredom. “We’re great buddies, right Akamaru?”
“ARF! ARF!”
“I know right? We’re like, the best buddies ever!” Kiba gave a toothy grin.
Shino turned around and started walking away, “We should head back and find the other jounin. With more people looking for him, there is a greater chance that he will eventually be found.”
Kiba stood up, “OK, Let’s go Akamaru!”
“ARF!” Akamaru stood up as well, letting his partner hop on his back before riding away, with Shino in tow.
Tenten jumped from rooftop to rooftop, scanning the ground for her missing teammate. It didn’t seem very strange that Neji didn’t show up for training in the morning. As a jounin, he wasn’t obligated to train with his team anymore, and he often had special jounin-level missions that required him to leave unexpectedly, sometimes even by himself.
However, if Kiba and Shino had appeared to ask for his whereabouts without Hinata, then she might know a little bit about what happened. It probably wouldn’t hurt to pay her a visit, that is, if she was still at the Hyuuga compound. It was more likely though, considering she needed to train more in the Gentle Fist taijutsu to regain her proficiency in the art.
“Hey, Tenten! What’s the rush about?!”
Tenten looked below to see Shikamaru in the middle of the street, lazily waving his arm to catch her attention. She dropped to the ground in front of him, “Shikamaru, would you mind helping me out?”
Shikamaru’s overly-relaxed posture straightened slightly, his free arm reaching behind his head to support it. “Uh… well, I guess if it isn’t too much trouble. What’s up?”
“Neji is sort-of missing, and I’m on my way to the compound to talk to Hinata about this. You think you can talk to Shizune or maybe even Shikaku-sama to find out if he had any missions today?”
Shikamaru looked to his side a bit and sighed, rubbing his neck out of habit, “Well, I guess I could.”
Tenten smiled in return, “Thanks Shikamaru, it would definitely be helpful to have more people on the lookout for him.”
She hopped onto the rooftops again and sped off towards the Hyuuga compound.
Shikamaru mumbled to himself as she left, “Geez… I didn’t say I would look for him. This is so troublesome.”
“Hey Shikamaru!” Shikamaru turned to see Chouji walking up to him, his bag of chips being rapidly depleted of its contents.
“Munch, munch… what’s going on Shika?”
“Oh… Tenten was asking me a favor.
“What kind of favor?”
“Well, apparently Neji has been missing for some time and they’ve been looking for him. I was asked to check with
Shizune or my old man to see if he had taken on any missions. Wanna come with?”
“Munch….Sure…..Munch, munch” Chouji replied between bites of his snack. He held out his bag to his best friend in a sharing gesture.
“Nah thanks, I’m cool for right now,” Shikamaru smiled good-naturedly, “Alright, let’s go. We should talk to Shizune in the hospital since she’s closer.”
The two leapt onto the rooftops, their destination already in sight.
As usual, the hospital was busy treating the sick and wounded, the place bustling with activity from the fight with Pain. It wasn’t pleasant having to be reminded of the destruction and death left by the enemy, and it wasn’t right either to feel guilty about being able to do more for the village, but it was all over and in the past. Fortunately, Naruto was there to save them before any more destruction could be inflicted upon the village.
There was a bright spot to all of this, though. Kurenai and her baby had been safely evacuated from the village before Pain had devastated the village with his powerful shockwave technique, and for that he was grateful. He didn’t know how he could live with himself if anything ever happened to his sensei’s loved ones; he did say that he would take more responsibility for and even become the sensei for his sensei’s unborn child.
He forced himself from amidst his thoughts. Right now he needed to find Shizune and ask about Neji’s whereabouts.
Fortunately, she wasn’t too hard to find, as several helpful medic-nins were able to point them in the direction of her office.
There they found Shizune busy shuffling through a small mess of documents, probably trying to look for something.
“Ahem, Shizune?” Shikamaru cleared his throat to catch her attention.
Shizune looked up at her visitors and gave them a friendly smile, “Oh, hey Shikamaru and Chouji. Did you need something?”
“Yea, we were kind of helping Tenten out right now. Apparently Neji’s been absent for some time and we were wondering if you, as the Hokage’s assistant, knew if he had been sent on any missions recently.
Shizune took a few seconds to think, before responding, “No, I haven’t sent him on any missions recently. Why, Is there a problem?”
“I’m not sure exactly, but if his even his teammates are looking for him and are asking other people to help, then it might be more serious than we think.”
Shizune’s light expression changed to one of suspicion, “You don’t think that he left the village do you?”
This made Shikamaru pause for a few seconds to think, “While it is unlikely that Neji would leave the village without
telling either you or his teammates, we can’t disregard the idea completely. I think we should gather more information from Tenten to see if we can glean any more information about what’s happened to him.”
“While it seems like a good idea, I’m currently unable to leave the hospital with you because of the amount people we have that require medical attention, and I have no one to fill my position while I’m gone,” Shizune said as she began stacking the cluttered medical sheets together again.
“Maybe I could take over for a little while?”
Everyone on the small room turned to face the familiar voice from outside the doorway.
“Are you sure Sakura? You’ve already done more than enough around here for me,” Shizune asked slightly concerned.
“It’s ok Shizune, I’m sure that as a fellow apprentice of Tsunade-sensei that I can handle more than what is necessary for your average medic ninja. It be good practice to spend as much time as possible learning about how to run a large medical facility if I want to become a well-known medic ninja like Tsunade-sensei has.”
Shizune sighed briefly and walked up to her, “I appreciate your enthusiasm, and your help is more than welcome. I won’t be gone for too long, so that you don’t have to work as long as last time.”
Sakura bowed slightly to her senior, “Arigato Shizune, I will do my utmost to keep this place running as efficiently as possible.”
Shizune turned to the two best friends waiting for her to finish, “OK then, now that I have been freed, we can go sort this out.”
“Right, Tenten was headed in the direction of the Hyuuga compound last I saw her, so we might get some answers there,” Shikamaru lead the small group out, towards the direction of Tenten and the Hyuuga estate, leaving Sakura to stare at the small mess Shizune had left in her office.
"Tell us what you saw while you were there, Hinata," Hiashi spoke evenly, "You say this occurred after I had left for the Council meeting?" Tenten who had caught up to Hinata before, was also listening for what happened to her teammate.
"H-hai Oto-sama. When Shizune-san had finished examining me, she pulled Neji outside of the compound to speak with him about something privately. I was curious, but also worried too, so I followed him just in case, making sure that they couldn't sense my presence. When they had stopped outside the village walls in a small clearing, Shizune-san was transforming into this white body with green hair and yellow eyes. I-It was so disturbing and I have never seen anything like it before in my life. Then this masked man from the akatsuki appeared out of thin air right beside the transformed man. Clones of the white man started appearing from the trees around the area completely surrounding him."
Hiashi's brows furrowed slightly at this, Tenten's expression showing slight concern at the notion of her teammate being ambushed when she wasn't around, she was usually always there to cover for his blind spot, but this apparently wasn't the case.
"They talked about something for a little while and Neji attacked him and ran away. Thats when I came up to him and asked what had happened. He told me to come back to the compound and let the rest of the shinobi take care of it, so I came back. Now that he's gone, I realize that I should have stayed with him and-"
"No, Neji fulfilled his duty as a branch member to protect you from falling into enemy hands, however, I am disappointed in you for not notifying either the elders or any other shinobi of the situation upon your return."
Hinata's gaze fell even farther at her father's harsh words. "H-Hai, Oto-sama. I promise it will never happen again."
"You are forgiven. This matter will need to be reported to the Council as soon as possible." Hiashi's byakugan activated at that moment before he could leave, Hinata activating her byakugan as well.
"We have company. Be on guard at all times Hinata, we do not want another incident like this to occur again."
"Hai, Oto-sama," Hinata and Tenten followed the clan head to the main gate
The three visitors did not have to wait very long before they were met by Hiashi who was accompanied by his daughter and Tenten.
The elder ninja spoke up, his formal tone laced with a slight undertone of hostility, "State your business with the Hyuuga"
The older of the three visiters spoke up,"Hiashi-sama, my comrades and I have recently heard of the incedent that has arisen with Neji and we wish to help"
Hinata's eyes furrowed slightly at the sight of one of them, byakugan activated "Should we trust them Oto-sama?"
Hiashi's reply was brief, but sharp, "For now, Hinata."
"I'm sorry, Hiashi-sama, is there something that we have done to cause such distrust with you?"
Hiashi turned away, "Everything will be explained inside."
Shizune and her two companions were shuffled inside. Shikamaru and Chouji had never really been in side the Hyuuga compound before, so they curious when they saw the interior, which was filled with many various paintings and pottery, all which looked very expensive.
The three were lead into a small room, Hiashi turning to meet them once they were inside.
"This room has a barrier jutsu set up within it that only the Hyuuga know of so that no other person can look into it, nor look into it. We can discuss to you here the reason for our...distrust."
The trio were then filled in on the details of Neji's kidnapping. Of course, Shizune, when she heard of the news, was more empathetic of their situation after listening them. Shikamaru had a more serious look on his face, but it was still noticeable how much of a bother this was to him. Chouji, being the more sensitive of the three looked a bit more worried, though he kept a calm composure in front of the Hyuuga Head.
It was quiet for a few moments before Shizune decided to speak up, "I understand now, and I am willing to prove my innocence in this matter."
She carefully stepped back from the small group, pulling out a small kunai from her small pouch on her back, and placing it against her forearm. Taking care not to make a mess of herself, she dug the blade into her skin and pulled it across, leaving a thin trail of blood in its wake which trickled down her arm slowly. After placing the kunai into her mouth, she raised up her hand, which had started glowing green from the medic-nin signature, mystical palm healing technique. She placed her palm on her forearm and the cut closed itself up, stopping any more bleeding.
Shizune raised her arm up, revealing skin that looked as it had never been broken, despite the small trickle of blood that had dried in her arm.
"As you can see, I am able to use healing techniques, something that only another medic-nin could use."
Hiashi and the others stood quietly for a while, though Hiashi spoke for them, "Hmmm....your actions have proven yourself to be a medic-nin. I believe that we can trust you for now, though you will have to explain yourself again to the Council when this situation is brought up."
Shizune bowed lightly in gratitude, "Thank you for believeing me, Hiashi-sama. Your trust is very valuable to me after knowing what has taken place earlier."
Shizune then turned to the other three in their midst, "I'm assuming that the other three of you will be able to vouch for yourselves with your family techniques?"
"Hai, Shizune-san," Shikamaru replied for the other three chuunin present, "I'm very sure that we would be able to perform our respective signature techniques."
Hiashi spoke up to the group," It is decided then. I will inform the Council of the recent events. I woud advise you not
to further involve yourselves in this matter any more than already have until the Council has come to a decision on how to deal with his disappearance."
"Hai, Hiashi-sama. We will indeed take heed to your words," Shizune replied for the group once more, "If you will excuse us, I do believe that I will be needed back at the Hospital."
Shikamaru rubbed his neck once again, "Yea, I think we should probably tell our parents about this since they'll be going to the council meeting too, eh Chouji?"
"I guess so."
Hiashi turned to the door to lead them out, "Very well, then. Your help has been greatly appreciated. Hopefully this matter will be resolved soon."
The three left the Hyuuga compound, each going their separate ways, hoping that the Hyuuga clan leader's parting words would be true.
Hinata turned to her father, "You think Neji will be alright, Oto-sama?"
Hiashi sighed, while he was confident in his nephew's ability to survive on his own, it troubled him that the clan's most gifted member was likey involved with the Akatsuki.
"As a gifted member of the Hyuuga clan, I believe that he is perfectly capable of surviving by himself, but it troubles me to know that the Akatsuki have taken a sudden interest in him; it makes things a bit complicated."
He turned to his daughter, "However, I would insist that you do not dwell on it too much and instead focus on catching up with your usual training excercises and fully recovering."
Hinata nodded her head and left to do as he said, leaving the clan head to his thoughts.
What is it that the Akatsuki would want with a branch member of the Hyuuga clan?
AN: Hey guys, I apologize for taking FOREVER to update this story. It was a combination of writers block, computer crashing, and someimes just a lack of motivation. PLEASE leave some comments on what you guys think. Motivation plays a HUGE part in how quickly I can make more chapters (shout-out to KGB Kakuzu for the encouragement 
I would have never finished so fast without you )
I would have never finished so fast without you )
