Undercurrents

Neji dropped low to the ground and swept Kabuto’s leg even as the asshole dropped back into a fighting stance. Neji was faster, and Kabuto went down hard on his back, the air in his lungs rushing out in a rasp.

Instead of stopping, however, Kabuto somehow managed to roll, coughing. He got his arms under him and pushed up just in time for Kakashi to step forward and kick, the top of his heavy boot curving under to impact Kabuto’s ribs and torso. With a rasping cry, Kabuto fell to his side for half a second before Neji savagely kicked him back onto his stomach. Neji dropped a knee between Kabuto’s shoulder blades and pressed the knife he’d concealed in his boot against the thin skin of the target’s throat. The knife was curved, wicked sharp, and drew a thin line of blood when Kabuto coughed, trying to get air back into his lungs.

“Move and we bleed you slow,” Neji said, voice calm and reasonable. “Stay still and you might live through this.”

“What are you-“ Kabuto began, but Neji dug the knife in deeper. Kabuto wheezed and coughed, each movement spilling a little more blood from his throat.

“Kakashi,” Sasuke said and unhooked the chain lead from his collar to hand it over. Neji unhooked his as well, and Kakashi took them both and linked them together.

“Watch the door,” Kakashi commanded as he knelt and began to wrap the thin chain around one of Kabuto’s wrists. Sasuke moved to lean against the door, casual but alert. Neji held Kabuto still, knee digging and pressing their target into the ground, knife at the ready.

Kakashi worked quickly and efficiently, securing the chain around wrists and neck. Kakashi removed Kabuto’s shoes and socks before wrapping the chain down and effectively hog-tying the man, making sure that if he went even slightly slack, his airway suffered. Once the chain was hooked and latched onto itself, Kakashi stepped away and Neji manhandled Kabuto and forced him onto his side.

“What do you people think you are doing?” Kabuto hissed, eyes murderous.

Kakashi pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and shoved it into Kabuto’s face.

“Do you recognize this man?” Kakashi asked.

Kabuto stared at the laser print of Shikamaru standing next to the sign of the Nature Preserve.

“Should I?” Kabuto asked.

Neji calmly kicked Kabuto in the kidney, making him grunt, pant, and snarl over his shoulder at Neji. Glaring death at the man below, Neji did it again, harder this time.

After giving Kabuto a second or two to recover, Kakashi continued.

“How about now?” Kakashi asked and held up a laser print of a still frame from one of the video sessions between Kabuto and Shikamaru. Shika lay on the ground, bound and bleeding, but his face was clearly visible.

Something flashed in Kabuto’s eyes.

“Ah, I see you do,” Kakashi said, smiling a terrifying little smile.

“What of it?” Kabuto hissed.

“It is very unfortunate for you that the man in the photo happens to be a good friend of his,” Kakashi said, pointing one finger at Neji.

“It is further unfortunate that the man in the photo is now more than just a good friend of his…and now we know all about you and your rather sorry predilections.”

Kabuto chuckled and wheezed. “I don’t know what you think you’re going to accomplish,” he said, voice level and eyes glaring over the rim of his glasses. “The boy signed the paperwork and did everything willingly.”

Neji leaned down, grabbed a handful of Kabuto’s hair and yanked backward to bare Kabuto’s throat. He put the blade’s point to the asshole’s Adam’s apple and slowly drew the knife lightly across the skin. A thin line of red immediately appeared, and Kabuto stopped breathing.

“That’s not the story the video tells,” Neji said quietly.

Kabuto swallowed and breathed shallowly through his nose. His eyes spun in their sockets to look up into the corner of the room.

“Oh don’t worry,” Kakashi said cheerfully. “We took care of the camera. Hell, we even let the owner know we were coming!”

Kabuto paled. “The…owner?” Blood trickled from the fresh cut on his neck, which made Neji coldly happy. He withdrew the knife from the man’s throat and carved another line down the side of his neck.

Kakashi nodded. “Of course…we’re many things, friend, but rude is not one of them. Pein was delighted that we decided to pay you a little visit. Seems he’s gotten more than one complaint about you and hasn’t found time to do away with you himself.”

“What, exactly, do you intend to do to me?” Kabuto asked, managing to sound calm despite the thudding pulse Neji could clearly see.

“Sasuke,” Neji said. “Show the man what’s in the trunk.”

Sasuke got up and Kakashi immediately took his place by the door. The raven spun the combination lock securing the trunk with skilled fingers and then yanked up the lid. Carefully he pulled out a long, black cloth and unrolled it on the ground, smoothing the edges. Looking over at Kabuto, he smirked and pulled out a vicious metal object covered with blunted points. Next he pulled out a cane with a carved metal handle formed into a point.

“Look familiar?” Neji said softly. “They should. You used most of those things on my Shikamaru.” He paused. “Well…similar things. I may have improvised a bit, and I think Pein might have embellished the collection.”

“You…you can’t do this,” Kabuto said, panic rising.

Neji leaned down so that his mouth was next to Kabuto’s ear. He smelled of sweat and stale cologne.

“I think we can,” Neji purred.

“This is illegal!”

Neji and Sasuke both snorted, pausing to eye one another before Sasuke looked away to continue unloading the trunk.

“Of course it is,” Neji said, standing up. He bent down to wipe the blade on Kabuto’s shirt.

“Most of the things we all like to do are illegal,” Neji continued. “Or at least highly suspect. That’s why there’s so much paperwork and precaution and rules.” He stepped around Kabuto’s prone form and glared down at him. “Rules that you neglect on a regular basis.”

Kabuto’s eyes widened. “This is insane!” he shouted. “I know who all of you are! I’ll tell everyone that you’re a deranged, perverted, vigilante!”

Neji raised an eyebrow. “It is a generous assumption on your part that you’ll live through this to tell the tale.”

“Or that you’ll have a tongue to tell it with,” Sasuke added, snapping a whip in his hands.

Kabuto choked and began to struggle. Neji waited it out, knowing that if Kakashi worked the chain into its knots and twists, then there was no escape.

Sure enough, after several minutes of thrashing, Kabuto wore himself out and lay on the floor, panting and bleeding from the shallow wounds.

“I jest,” Neji said with a sigh. “We don’t usually kill…no matter how tempting. However, your real error is assuming that anyone would actually care if you told them about us.”

“You’re the fucking Hyuga prince!” Kabuto shouted. “People would bloody care!”

Neji shook his head. “If you think my uncle would care, you’re sadly mistaken. Who do you think charged me with policing this city’s underground in the first place?”

Kabuto’s eyes widened.

“And I’m to use any means necessary,” Neji said with a cold smile. Sasuke chuckled and wrapped his arms around Neji’s waist from behind. Neji covered Sasuke’s hands with his own and laced their fingers together. It served as a grounding force for Neji, but it made Kabuto tense even further.

“Your…uncle…” the bound man seemed to struggle with the facts of his new reality.

Neji stared Kabuto down, his gray eyes like flecks of deep winter. “And when I find someone whom I deem a threat…I collaborate with a few trusted friends, and we take care of the situation. There is enough money among us to buy any pathetic attempts at libel should those become a problem. Among us, we own papers, magazines, and media. We have friends among the police, in the medical field, in law, and in government. There’s not a section of this city, nor a brick of its foundation that is unknown or untouched by one of our group. Since my uncle gained office, crime of all kinds is down, and the people sleep better in their beds at night.

“But you…Kabuto…you are a threat to my city’s peace. And worse. You’re a threat to my lover’s state of mind and a personal thorn in my side.”

There was a patterned knock on the door but Kabuto’s eyes stayed locked on Neji’s, his mouth slack with something close to terror. Kakashi turned to answer the knock, and Sasuke stepped away from Neji, his head bowed.

Neji stepped forward and went down on one knee in front of Kabuto. “You’re done with this particular scene, Kabuto,” Neji said softly. “And your life as you know it is finished.”

“You’re not really going to hurt me,” Kabuto said, rallying the last bit of bravado. “It’s not what we do.”

“It’s not what I do, no,” Neji agreed. “I’m not really into pain.” Neji stood and then smiled down at Kabuto with all the warmth of dead suns.

“But they are.”

Naruto stepped around Neji, and the dim light in the room made his eyes look nearly red. A feral grin graced his usually kind face, and he reached down to pet Sasuke, who knelt at his feet with his cheek pressed against Naruto’s thigh. The look on Sasuke’s face was glazed and almost passive, but in one hand he held a long, silver cane with a fox’s head for a handle. He stroked the cane’s length and shivered.

Flanking Neji on the other side was a mountain of a bald-headed and badly-scared man. Morino Ibiki had been one of the first people to petition for membership at Club Break, and he often came to Haze when his needs grew a little…darker.

He was also in law enforcement with many, many connections.

“Ibiki,” Neji said without looking at the man. “I trust this one will serve your purposes?”

“I think he’ll do, yeah,” Ibiki said.

“And after you’re done with him…?” Neji asked casually.

“Don’t worry…I’ve got him a nice, sweet little holding cell all ready.” Ibiki took a step toward Kabuto. “There’re several men who are dying to make your acquaintance,” Ibiki said.

Kabuto shook, the chain rattling.

“I think they’ve been waiting a long time for a new bitch,” Ibiki said.

“What the fuck?! You can’t do this! You people are fuckin-“

Neji turned and casually kicked Kabuto in the face, effectively silencing him and breaking at least two teeth. Neji stared down and panted for a moment, red anger threatening to block out all reason.

“Sure you don’t wanna stay?” Naruto asked from behind him.

Neji shook his head. “No. I much rather leave this creature to the professionals.” He smiled down at the spitting, bloody, and gasping Kabuto.

“You are all very, very good at what you do, after all. Enjoy.”

Neji turned and walked out of the room. Kakashi followed, and the two men descended the narrow staircase. Neji kept his head down to maintain the illusion the trio created upon arriving. At the bottom, Kakashi put a gentle hand on the back of Neji’s neck, and Neji let Kakashi steer them down to the main floor, back by the front check counter, and out the door.

Outside a faint mist fell, seeming to appear as though by dark magic from somewhere above the sickly glow of the buzzing safety lights. Cool drops formed in Neji’s hair and beaded on his leather sleeves. He shivered but didn’t really feel the cold.

Kakashi’s hand dropped away, and Neji half-collapsed against the wall near the front door. After a moment, Kakashi walked past Neji before stopping to lean back, too. He reached inside the leather coat and pulled out a pack of smokes, carefully flipping open the pack to remove a cigarette before placing it between thin lips.

Neji concentrated on breathing. Naruto, Sasuke, and Ibiki would do more terrorizing than actual hurting, he knew.

Well…Neji corrected himself. Naruto and Sasuke would terrorize. Ibiki, on the other hand…he was always a bit of a wild card.

Regardless, they would work Kabuto over, get the names of anyone else he hurt…perhaps inspire confessions. There would never be a real trial, thanks to Neji’s connections – which was really his part in all this. Kakashi planned and gathered, the muscle broke down resistance, and Neji made sure there were no problems along the way or afterward.

Any evidence Ibiki learned tonight would go away in a file as evidence as to why Kabuto was in jail for his next six life sentences. A cruel system, perhaps…but an effective one.

Neji tilted back his head and watched the rain mist around the lights; felt the moisture on his skin. His insides crawled with tension, and he couldn’t seem to focus. It was over…done…the man who hurt Shika and countless others was never going to see daylight again.

…so why wasn’t Neji calming down?

Kakashi blew out a puff of smoke and coughed, the noise startling Neji and making him jerk a little.

“Iruka’s going to kill me.”

“Then why smoke?” Neji asked, turning his head a little to look at Kakashi.

Kakashi shrugged. “Gives him a reason to punish me tomorrow.”

“He’ll wait until tomorrow?” Neji asked, thankful for the distracting conversation.

“I think I can convince him to, yeah,” Kakashi said. He looked at Neji from the corner of his eye and grinned. “I plan on manipulating my way into sweet sex when I get home.”

“Sweet sex?”

“Sure. You know – the kind with lots of whispered affection and gentleness.” Kakashi pulled another drag and let the smoke stream out his nose. “All that good shit.”

“And how do you manipulate Iruka into this?” Neji asked with an arched eyebrow.

“It usually involves lots of begging, a few tears, and Iruka knowing I had this kind of night.” Kakashi smiled at Neji, a little impishly. “Blowing him doesn’t hurt.”

Neji shook his head, honestly not sure what to do with this sudden insight into Iruka and Kakashi. The two rarely actually played at Break or in public, preferring instead to appear and then silently retreat into a private room.

“You know,” Kakashi said, dropping the cig and snuffing it out with his boot. “You could do with a little affection tonight, too.”

Neji gracefully shrugged one shoulder thinking Shika’d seen enough of him for a while. He didn’t want to crowd the man, after all.

“Thank you for your opinion, Kakashi, but I really don’t think it’s any of –“

“My business, yeah, Oh Princely One, I know,” Kakashi interrupted.

Neji frowned at Kakashi, eyes a little wide in shock.

“It’ll help is all I’m saying.”

“Help with what?”

“The anxiety. The nerves. The shaking. The feeling like you’re going to come out of your skin at any moment and run screaming through the parking lot.”

Neji refused to admit he felt any of those things. At least…not out loud.

“Kakashi, I appreciate the concern but this is hardly my first-“

“I know,” Kakashi interrupted again, and anger flashed through Neji.

“Hear me out,” Kakashi appealed as he turned to lean sideways against the wall, arms crossed. Neji grimaced but stayed silent.

“I’ve always sort of admired your ability to coldly complete any task that you concocted or that your uncle ordered,” Kakashi said. “I’ve seen you do everything from face down drug dealers to sign the hospital release paperwork for a battered woman. Sure your job is 90 percent pushing paperwork or advising some counsel on emission codes…but ever since your uncle learned about what you enjoyed doing in the bedroom and agreed it wouldn’t be a problem so long as you managed some of the shadier parts of this town, I know that you view this work as the important part of your job.

“And you’re right, of course,” Kakashi continued. “This is the important shit. Putting men like Kabuto behind bars with only the cursory nod to the legal system is something that you can do with Ibiki’s help, and it’ll surely save someone else from being his victim. We’re pretty sure we can connect that asshole with at least two murders, and we’ve got enough video footage and evidence and strings to pull that he’ll never come up for parole or make it through an appeals process.”

“All excellent reasons why your concern is unfounded,” Neji commented, intensely uncomfortable with this line of logic and desperate to make it stop. He felt himself dangerously close to unraveling for whatever reason, but he’d be damned if he did that with witnesses.

Kakashi shook his head. “I saw you in the car, Neji, and I heard you on the phone. You’ve done a lot of shit for your uncle and this city, but this is the first time it’s personal, and it’s hitting you hard.

“So take my advice: go to your Shika and let him help you as much as you’ve helped him. I know the kid’s had it tough, and I know you’re trying to go slow, but Neji – one look at that kid’s face the other night at Bliss and any idiot with two brain cells can see he’s crazy about you.”

Neji licked his lips and thought about what “taking it slow” meant so far. He didn’t think he’d done a fair job at that, overall. Sure, Shika seemed to be okay…happy. And Neji knew seeing Shikamaru would make him happy and ease his mind. But Neji didn’t want to push his luck. Let him have a few days to digest and then let him come to Neji. It was the smart thing to do.

The controlled and careful thing to do.

“Thank you, Kakashi,” Neji said and pushed away from the wall. “I’ll keep that in mind. Now, I assume all the arrangements were made?”

Kakashi stared at Neji for a long moment and then sighed. “Okay, have it your way. As usual.”

“Kakashi.” Neji’s tone carried warning.

“Everything’s set. Naruto drove one of your cars here, so you’re good to go. Ibiki’s going to take Kabuto over to a holding cell tonight for medical before transferring him to jail in the morning.”

Neji nodded. “Excellent. I’ll make the report to my uncle. He’ll be very happy that another dangerous influence is off the streets.”

“Sure,” Kakashi said and smiled one of his many fake smiles. He handed Neji his car key.

Neji sighed. “Thank you, Kakashi. Your planning and information were excellent.”

“And your connections are without parallel,” Kakashi replied, mimicking Neji’s tone.

Neji let it go with a small smile and turned to head to the black Range Rover parked under one buzzing light. He kept his back straight and his steps controlled as he unlocked the car and climbed inside, inwardly cursing the damned skirt for lack of maneuverability.

Knowing Kakashi was watching, Neji calmly started the car and eased back out of the space. He made it all the way to the highway before he started to tremble, his blissfully blank mind suddenly full of the images from the videos, the sound of Shika crying, and Kabuto’s sneer.

“Stop being a fucking idiot,” he said in the silence of the car. “It was just another job, and the asshole’s never going to see daylight again. Case closed.”

But his brain wouldn’t stop replaying the way Shika looked crumbled on the floor of Haze, no matter how harshly Neji reprimanded himself. Then he saw the look on Shika’s face last night in the mirror…heard those words again…

Master…my master…

…and Neji saw Shika kneeling in front of that monster with his mouth around Kabuto’s dick…

Neji actually growled and reached for the stereo. He turned the volume up loud enough to make his ears ache, and he forced himself to take several calming breaths.

I just need to get home, Neji thought. Just make it home, sleep it off…I’ve had the shakes before after a particularly long night. This is just one of those times. Kabuto was dangerous, Sasuke came along, things weren’t simply routine…and Haze always smells like a stale urinal.

Just. Get. Home.

The racket from the radio and the steady mantra about home managed to calm Neji down enough that by the time he made it to his driveway, his pulse was back to normal. Mostly.

But when he stopped the car in front of the house and looked at the darkened windows and thought about how his bed was still unmade from this morning…when he woke up with Shika…after one of the best nights’ sleep in years…and danced around his kitchen while Shika watched, amusement in his dark eyes…

An ache filled Neji that made him want to curl in on himself, and he leaned forward to rest his forehead on the steering wheel, mouth suddenly dry. What the hell? Shika was fine. He was fine this morning when Neji dropped him off, and he was still fine. Kabuto would never hurt him again, and Neji would make it his personal mission to keep Shika happy and healthy for as long as possible.

Neji and the others got the bad guy. It was over…and now he was home and needed to -

And then Neji realized with a shocking flash of clarity that this was just his house…

…his “home” was lying in his own bed, miles away, probably sound asleep.

Neji sat up and was at the end of his driveway again before his brain caught up with his body.

What the hell am I doing?

Neji thought about how Lee started all this; imagined the look on his face when Gai entered the dojo. How he wished Shika would look at him like that…

I’m wearing a goddamned skirt…and eyeliner. What the hell is Shika going to think?

Kiba’s voice echoed in his head, telling him he really ought to let himself go more often. He could feel Shika’s hand on him, could remember the way Shika felt in his arms.

How am I going to explain where I’ve been? What I did? What will he think once he knows?

Neji’s skin recalled with amazing clarity how Shika felt lying against his chest last night in the tub.

It’s the middle of the damned night. This is going to look…desperate at best.

And right then Neji realized he really just didn’t give a good damn how it looked. He wasn’t even entirely sure what he wanted…but he knew it involved Shikamaru. Knew that if he wanted a chance in hell of sleeping after a day like today, then he needed his Shika.

And he also knew that he would never – not even on his death bed – admit that perhaps Kakashi had been right.

The man was entirely too cocky as it was.

~*~

A/N: Never fear: Ibiki will make sure that Kabuto gets exactly what he deserves. And perhaps then some.

Thank you again for reading! More coming soon!

Much love & vigilante justice.