Sins on Lowered Wings

Sins on Lowered Wings: part II: Hearts Dancing

Neji could remember every detail of that day. It was the day he gave his secret away to someone. He had managed to hide his secret from so many people. Perhaps it was because even acknowledging that he had urges outside of the urge to train and fight made him seem weaker in his own eyes. But suddenly, even though he could have lied, he found himself telling Sasuke.

And then he found out that Sasuke had the same secret. And then… millions of new possibilities opened up before his eyes. But it could only be fate that Sasuke, the person everyone envied and feared and loved and hated all at once, was a possibility for him now. But what was even more amazing was the fact that Sasuke had mentioned the possibility before he thought of it.

“Now you have to deal with me,” Sasuke had said.

It was this day that Neji’s fate was really tested. Or rather, it started the chain of events that he knew would affect him more than anything else in his life right now. Somehow Neji knew what would turn out to be life altering, even if others would see it as small or trivial at first.

And then, three days later, Sasuke appeared at Neji’s door.

“Sasuke….”

“…Neji.”

Neji moved aside and let him in before shutting the door.

“Are you alone?” Sasuke asked, taking a step towards him.

“Yes. Why are you here?”

“…I’m here for you,” Sasuke said, his face still as serious as ever.

“Oh? Are we going somewhere?” Neji grinned.

The two had closed their distance without realizing it.

“No need, if you’re alone,” Sasuke responded.

They stood there in silence for a brief moment. And then, faster than lightning could flash, they dove. Both the aggressor, neither timid, they pulled, they grasped, they clung. Sasuke shoved Neji against a wall, his tongue reaching deep into his mouth. Neji grabbed Sasuke’s hair and soon had a taste of his own. Harsh breathes came, the sound of tongues dancing, the sound of fabric being ripped to shreds.

…The sound of footsteps.

Both young men pushed away from each other and stood there as if nothing had happened.

“Neji!” came the girlish voice. It was Tenten, and it sounded like an emergency as she frantically approached the house from outside.

Neji sighed deeply, straightening his hair and clothing. “I suppose we’ll have to conclude our business another time”

“…Yeah,” Sasuke responded.

Neji opened the door and walked out to see Tenten. She didn’t see Sasuke a few steps behind him as she was too busy giving Neji the details of what appeared to be an attack on the Konoha border. In her haste, she never saw Sasuke leave.

Days passed. The two were usually busy with missions. And when they did see each other it was never under the right circumstances to relieve themselves of the lust that their previous acts had caused. It was the night of the full moon that they caught each other, both returning from separate missions, both walking home in the moonlight in the same deserted field. They both stared at each other, as if not believing their own eyes.

And that’s the night they bruised each other, their fingers digging hard into flesh, their bodies pressed violently together under the cover of the tall grass. But they pulled away again that night, sensing the oncoming squads that were moving in to return to Konoha. Again, the relief would have to wait.

And then, after more agonizing days had passed, they had the fight to see who would be claimed. Neji smiled to himself and silently thanked the bird that crossed Sasuke’s path.

~~~~~~~~~~

Shikamaru yawned and stared up at the clouds from his favorite resting spot. He had things to do, but they were too troublesome to be bothered with right now. No one would miss him if he stayed a bit longer. It was then that he started to doze off.

He felt the air shift next to him, and he slowly opened his eyes, dreading the result.

“The Hokage requests your presence,” the messenger said, handing him a slip of paper. He was then gone in a flash. Probably to pass on the message to someone else.

Shikamaru yawned and sat up. “What does she want?” he muttered. “How bothersome….”

He quickly made his way to see the Fifth Hokage, the most troublesome leader the village had probably ever encountered… or so he thought. He liked Tsunade, but she was one to cause trouble sometimes. In no time, he had made his way to the large building and found his way to Tsunade’s study.

“Come in,” she said before he could knock.

He sighed and opened the door.

“Shikamaru,” she smiled. And it was THAT smile. And when he saw THAT smile, he knew there’d be something troublesome on the way.

“I’ve got a mission for you,” she said, her eyes fixed on him.

~~~~~~~~~~

Sasuke stood at the bridge, staring out over the water. He watched the ripples caused when even the smallest leaves hit the surface. The breeze blow through his spiky black hair, and time seemed to stand still in the very spot he was standing.

“Sasuke!” Naruto yelled, shattering the tranquility. “We haven’t seen each other for a while!” he said, slapping his friend on the back.

“…Yeah. What’s going on?”

“What?! You mean besides the giant festival that’s going on for the next several days?!”

“…Oh yeah….”

“Come on! Come on! Let’s do something! We’ve both been working hard! Let’s get Kakashi and Iruka-sensei to buy us dinner!”

“Naruto, I’m going to be busy tonight,” Sasuke said, smiling weakly.

Naruto frowned. “Aww! What the hell are you doing?!”

“…I’ll join you guys tomorrow.”

“Come on, Sasuke! You’ve been hiding something! What’s going on with you?!”

“It’s nothing important. Stop worrying.”

“It’s important to me!” Naruto said seriously. “Come on, Sasuke! It’s not like you to give a shit what people think about you anyway!”

“I’ll tell you one day,” Sasuke said, glancing away from the water and looking to Naruto’s blue eyes.

Naruto stared back at him for a moment before joining him to stare at the water.

“Hey, hey… Sasuke?”

“Hm?”

“Do you think I’m getting weak?”

Sasuke blinked and looked at him for a moment. “What a stupid question,” he said. “Of course not, moron.”

“Well… uh… Is something bother you? Besides this thing you aren’t telling me about?”

“…The usual.”

Naruto nodded. The truth was that he missed Sasuke’s company. He missed him a lot.

“So… tomorrow you’re going to come with us right? Sakura and me and Kiba and--”

“Umm, excuse me!” someone called out from the edge of the bridge. “Sasuke,” Hinata said softly as she approached. “Um… Neji said that he’ll be too busy tonight to… to talk about your agreement.”

Sasuke blinked, and Naruto swore he saw a look of relief wash over him.

“I think,” Hinata said very softly, “He has an important mission to go to. He might miss the festival.”

“Eh?!” Naruto exclaimed. “The whole thing?!”

Hinata nodded. “Oh… well… he might be here for the next couple days. But he usually meditates a lot before something important happens….”

Sasuke nodded. “Thank you, Hinata.”

Hinata smiled her sweet smile. “Neji says to enjoy the festival. You too, Naruto.”

“Alright! It’s settled! Sasuke! Hinata! We start tonight! We’ve had missions and more missions! And while I love missions, this is the best time of year!”

Sasuke grinned and Hinata smiled bashfully. They both nodded and started to walk towards the busiest part of the village.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Why?! Why during the festival of all times?!” Kiba yelled, digging his hands into his brown hair. “I’ve been working so hard lately that I needed this festival! I look forward to this all year!”

“Kiba, Akamaru grinned as well as a dog can. “You heard the scope of this mission. After completing it you’ll feel more fulfillment than you would going to this festival.”

“I guess you’re right,” Kiba sighed. “This is pretty gruesome.”

“This is more than a little troublesome,” Shikamaru sighed. “This mission is downright dirty. But I’m sure you can understand why I need you two to come.”

“Yeah,” Kiba nodded. “You need people with elevated senses to find what we’re looking for.”

“Exactly,” Shikamaru nodded, crossing his arms. “I’m going to Shino’s place next. He’ll be helpful. I need people with good senses and good tracking abilities, which everyone on this team has. Everyone except for me anyway. How bothersome….”

“Me and Shino and Akamaru?” Kiba grinned. “Our good old team! So I guess that means Hinata is--”

“I know you two know Hinata very well, and it’s true they both have Byakugan, but I’ve decided that we’ll have a higher chance of success with Neji. I’ve already given him the assignment.”

“Shino’s bugs and sense for detail, Neji’s eyes and sense of intent, my sense of smell combined with Akamaru’s sense of smell and Chakra, and your IQ.”

“And one more,” Shikamaru sighed. “It’s a pretty big team for a mission like this, but we’ll be taking Sakura along. We’ll need a medical member.”

“Sounds about right!”

“And all our abilities combined will get us through this,” Shikamaru grinned. “And it’ll probably make it a bother telling you about this mission first, but try to enjoy at least some of the festival.”

“No problem there!” Kiba grinned. “Let’s go, Akamaru!”

~~~~~~~~~~

“This ruins the whole festival!” Chouji sighed, stuffing potato chips into his mouth.

“Tell me about it,” Ino frowned, playing with her blonde hair.

“What’s with this?!” Naruto yelled. “Can’t Tsunade give us a moments piece?! Five of our friends… and Akamaru… SIX of our friends!”

“Tsunade knows best, Naruto,” Lee smiled. “I’ll miss them during this festival. I was looking forward to finally getting to see everyone in one place again. But someone has to do the missions during this time, right?”

“And look who’s going,” Tenten nodded. “They’ll be back in no time.”

“Hey, hey! Hinata!” Naruto said, turning to her. “Did Neji tell you anything about the mission?! How long’re they gonna be gone?!”

“I… I don’t know,” Hinata shook her head. “But Neji seemed calm about it.”

“He seems calm about everything!” Naruto yelled. “For all we know they’ve got a suicide mission and are on their way to get blown up right now!”

“NARUTO!” Sakura said, appearing behind him and whacking him on the head. “Stop trying to jinx us!”

Naruto rubbed his head. “Sakura?! I thought--”

“We don’t have to go for a couple days!” she glared. “And it’s not a suicide mission. Seriously!”

“Then you five will come out tonight at least?” Chouji asked.

“It shouldn’t be a problem,” a deep, smooth voice said. They turned to see Shino approaching. “I’m not very worried about this mission.”

“After all we’ve been through,” Kiba said, walking up behind him. “This’ll be a snap.”

“Neji is the only one who won’t be coming,” Shikamaru said, arriving last. “He said he’ll be busy until the time of the mission.”

It was only then that Sasuke lifted his eyes. He had been staring off into space until that moment. And it was only Naruto who noticed. But Naruto couldn’t figure out if Sasuke was relieved or bothered by the fact that Neji wasn’t there. Ever since the night he found out they had fought, he had been confused about what Sasuke was thinking. Normally he was one of the few who could read the stoic Sasuke, but now….

“What are you staring at?” Sasuke asked, not even looking directly at Naruto.

“N… nothing!” Naruto yelped, snapping upright.

The music started for the big dance under the fireworks. Everyone who wanted to drink was fully drunk, and everyone who didn’t was still floating on air. The stars were twinkling beautifully and everyone felt more relaxed than they had in a very long time.

Sakura grinned, ready to ask Sasuke to dance. Of course, Ino had the same idea. And so did Tenten. Of course, all of them had given up on having a romantic relationship with the young man, but he was still more than a little easy on the eyes. And it was always a big deal when someone got close to Sasuke. But more importantly, everyone always wanted to be the one who could make Sasuke smile. For the young women, it was a way of proving that they had a certain charm that others lacked. Of course, this sort of thinking only came about on nights like this when everyone was dressed up and fighting was the farthest thing from their minds. But of course, they all approached at the same time, coming slowly from all directions. But before they could make it…

“Um… um… Sasuke,” Hinata whispered. “W… would you like to dance?”

Sasuke blinked, surprised that Hinata actually had the guts to ask him. “…Sure.”

He stood up and walked her out into the crowd, leaving the others scattered, frozen in the crowd, and with their jaws lowered in surprise.

“H… HINATA?!” Naruto pointed, eyes wide.

“She is a bolder person now,” Shino nodded.

“I would have been more surprised years ago when she fainted more easily,” Kiba grinned.

“Lee!” Tenten yelled, grabbing the green clad, bob-haired ninja and dragging him out to dance.

“The women here are so pushy,” Shikamaru yawned. “It’s bothersome….”

“Hey… where did Sasuke learn to dance?” Chouji asked, pointing at the dark-haired ninja who seemed to be having a good time with Hinata, even though his smile was only slight.

“What the hell?!” Naruto boomed. “If there was one thing I would have been sure that Sasuke couldn’t do, it was that!” He stood and pointed at Sasuke. “YOU WON’T BEAT ME!”

Sasuke couldn’t hear him over the noise of the crowd and the loud music though. And he and Hinata were the most graceful couple in the crowd, despite the fast tempo of the music. Especially when they were compared to Lee and Tenten, who were now bumping into this person and that.

“Hinata looks so beautiful out there,” Sakura smiled, returning after her moment of shock at Hinata beating her to the punch.

“All that training on the water,” Kiba nodded. “She’s always been graceful. She just hardly showed it before that training.”

Out in the crowd, Hinata smiled shyly at Sasuke.

“Sasuke,” she said as she passed by him like a breeze. “Thank you for dancing with me.”

“…Did Neji set you up to this, Hinata?” he asked, as she spun in front of him before taking his hand.

“Uh… oh… he….”

“I thought so,” he smirked, his eyes accidentally meeting those of a very annoyed looking Naruto before turning his attention to Hinata again.

“No!” she said, slowing her pace a bit. “I wanted to! He mentioned making sure you had a good time… but… but I wanted to ask anyway, Sasuke. You looked lonely….”

Sasuke stared at her for a moment, then grinned. “…I get it,” he nodded, before putting his hands around her waste and lifting her into the air, spinning a couple times before the song ended. When it was over, he bowed to her and they walked back to the group. Hinata sat next to Naruto, blushing slightly. Sasuke stood, placing his weight on one leg and shoving his hands into his pockets as he watched the next dance. He realized the others were being a little quiet, so he turned to meet their eyes. He found the girls blushing and grinning and the boys staring at him wide-eyed. (Except for Lee and Tenten, who were ready to give dancing another try.)

“…What?” he said, his face as serious as ever.

“WHAT?!” Naruto burst. “Where did you learn to move like that?! You’re too arrogant to know how to dance! You’re always acting like you’re so cool! Sasuke! Stupid Sasuke!”

“We had to learn these things,” Sasuke replied flatly. “Everyone had training that dealt with blending in as normal townspeople. This was years ago. Maybe you were sleeping… dropout.”

“Gee,” Chouji blinked. “I just took the farming class.”

“As did I,” Shino nodded.

“I took a veterinary class,” Kiba grinned.

“Weapon making!” Lee yelled, as he was flung close enough to the group to listen. But it wasn’t long before he was pulled back out into the crowd.

“Home repair,” Shikamaru and Naruto said at once.

“Figures,” Chouji grinned. “It’s the easiest!”

“All the others were too troublesome,” Shikamaru shrugged.

“So let me get this straight,” Naruto grinned. “Uchiha Sasuke took a dance class of his own free will?!”

It was silent for a moment before the snickering began. Soon it turned into roaring laughter. As hard as Ino, Sakura, and Hinata tried, they couldn’t help but laugh too.

Sasuke groaned. “I took almost all of those classes. And being able to interact with society is important… dropout.”

Everyone else continued to laugh… except Naruto.

“You took almost all of them?!” he yelled, a little envious.

“Yeah, they were all so easy that I took almost all of them,” Sasuke smirked. “…Dropout.”

“…Stupid Sasuke…” Naruto said, crossing his arms.

“Naruto,” Ino smirked. “Aren’t you a little old for this kind of rivalry?”

“THIS TIME KAKASHI!” they heard Gai-sensei yelling in the middle of the crowd. “I will defeat your moves with my dance of the springtime of youth!!!!”

“…Nevermind,” Ino sighed. “Those two are still at it, so why shouldn’t you be?”

Sasuke and Naruto glared at each other for a minute before breaking into smiles.

“It’ll always be this way,” Naruto grinned.

“…No use changing it now,” Sasuke smirked.

~~~~~~~~~~

Neji slipped into the bath after hours of meditation. The water was hot, and steam rose all around him. He could see it perfectly even though he only let one candle light the bath room. It curled around him like a dragon rising out of a green sea. The herbs in the water creating the emerald tint relaxed him, and he closed his eyes, eager to let them rest.

Right now he regretted sending Hinata away with that message for Sasuke. He would have no complaints if Sasuke was there at that moment. But he knew it was best to let Sasuke have several more days of peace. Because once Neji claimed him, he wouldn’t let the other young man forget it. Perhaps Sasuke didn’t realize, or perhaps he did being so dominant himself, but his loss meant more than one night of submission. It meant that Neji wouldn’t rest until his mind, heart, and body all ached for him.

He smirked, his eyes still closed. It was amusing because Sasuke probably thought the same thing about him. They both excelled at whatever they did, their personalities so dominant. If they found someone stronger they usually made it a point to defeat that person. They demanded the most of themselves. And now that dominance would spread to this relationship. It was fated to become a rivalry. It would always be a battle to see who could force the other into a greater submission.

Some of his long hair stuck to his back, and the rest was flowing all around him in the emerald water. As he took notice of his hair he became more aware of the rest of his body as well. He glanced at himself, brushing his fingers over his bruised wrists, arms, shoulders, and back. Sasuke had managed to pin him down that night, hadn’t he? Somehow, in his different state of mind, Neji hadn’t noticed or cared as he was pinned, Sasuke’s weight crushing him to the ground as their eager hands dug into each other. The only gentleness Sasuke gave him occurred when he removed Neji’s mask and the white ribbon that held his hair back. But soon after they were grinding against each other, hands roaming each others perfect bodies, mouths tasting whatever flesh they could find.

Neji touched the bite mark on his neck and pressed gently, remembering the soreness from being marked.

How bad did you want to win, Sasuke? he had to wonder. Are you scared now?

Neji half considered being gentle, but decided that neither of them would have it. His mind started to wander to what he wanted to do to his unfortunate lover, but he interrupted his own thoughts as he brought Sasuke into his mind.

This rivalry he and Sasuke would have would be a strong and determined one. It would probably carry into other aspects of their lives. But Sasuke already had a rival….

Naruto….

Neji couldn’t help but think of the blonde young man. He had been by Sasuke’s side as his best friend for so long. And their rivalry had always been such a strong one. Perhaps, at one point… they were…

…No. It couldn’t be. He almost laughed at himself for even considering it. If Naruto and Sasuke had ever been together he would have noticed. And Naruto had always liked Sakura anyway.

He would have noticed.

…He was sure he would have noticed.

Right?

~~~~~~~~~~

“I AM THE BEAUTIFUL GREEN BEAST OF KONOHA!” Lee yelled.

“V… very good Lee,” Tenten said nervously. “Now… give us the sake bottle….”

“Grab him!” Kiba yelled before the group jumped at Lee, who had mistaken Gai’s sake for water once again.

Soon they were a mass of limbs before they realized that Lee had escaped.

“Watch what you’re grabbing!” Chouji yelled.

“Trust me,” Shino said calmly, “My hand being there is my last intention.”

“NARUTO!” Sakura yelled.

“H… hey! Hey! You’re chest on in the way of my hand!” Naruto yelled back.

“GET OFF OF ME!” Ino yelled. “My beautiful outfit!”

“Bothersome…” Shikamaru muttered.

“Where’s Hinata?” Naruto blinked.

They heard a little muffled voice coming from the bottom of the pile.

“Found her,” Shino said, nodding towards the sound.

“…Get off of us,” Sasuke groaned, caught at the bottom with Hinata and Shikamaru.

“Bothersome…” Shikamaru muttered again.

“Well,” Kakashi-sensei said, walking up with a wave. “I see my trip over here paid off.” They could all see him smiling, even though he had the usual mask on that covered the lower half of his face. His eyes smiled so often.

“Konoha’s finest,” Gai-sensei teased. “And what caused this beautiful outburst of youthful energy?”

“Lee…” Tenten groaned, still caught in the dog pile. “…Drank… sake.”

“HE WHAT?!?!?!?!” Gai yelled. “Kakashi! If you help me retrieve him I will buy you a ticket to the new movie that was based on that book you always r--”

He turned to see Kakashi running after Lee before he could finish his sentence. And soon both teachers were running after the rampaging young man.

“…I think I’m going to call it a night,” Sasuke muttered, looking off into the distance and seeing a wave of destruction in the direction Lee ran.

“Me too,” Shikamaru nodded. “This is too troublesome….”

“I’ve been dancing all night,” Tenten yawned. “It’s time for bed.”

“Oh, is that what you were doing?” Shino said softly.

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” Tenten yelled.

“…Can’t breathe!” Hinata whispered.

“Hurts too much to move,” Sakura groaned. “All of our attacks in one spot…. Not smart.”

They heard footsteps approaching, and looked up slowly. A strong pair of hands helped to sort them all out, pulling one person off gently, helping another to stand, and finally making his way to the bottom. The last person he made it to was Hinata, and he turned his back to her knelt down on one knee.

“Get on,” Neji said gently.

Hinata blinked, but knew better to argue. She smiled and wrapped her arms around Neji’s shoulders, allowing him to lift her up.

Neji turned and met Sasuke’s eyes for a moment before looking at the others. “You’re all amusing as always,” he grinned.

“Neji!” Kiba elbowed him. “Why the hell didn’t you come out earlier?!”

“I was meditating,” Neji said calmly.

Suddenly Kiba was standing very close to him. “You smell good,” he muttered.

Hinata shyly buried her face in Neji’s damp hair.

Naruto ran up to sniff because… that’s just what Naruto does. Easily amused, he wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

“If you’re all done smelling me,” Neji said, looking slightly disturbed, “I’ll be on my way.”

Sasuke could smell the herbal scent from where he was standing. He wasn’t next to Neji, but he had been so close to him in the past that he remembered that scent. It was relaxing, soothing, and even sensual. He looked at tired Hinata and watched as she rested against Neji’s back, her face pressed against his hair. He almost envied her. But he only envied how close she was to Neji. Innocent Hinata could never be a threat. She and Neji had grown close over the years as if they were siblings. But why did he come out for her tonight?

“Goodnight,” Neji said, carrying Hinata to her home.

After they were far from the group, Hinata spoke up.

“Neji,” she whispered sleepily. “Why did you come out?”

I had to see him, Neji thought to himself. I had to see him… and how he was interacting with those around him. Especially Naruto. I let my thoughts get the best of me, Hinata.

“…I’m not sure myself,” he said softly.

“Did you want to see someone?” she asked gently.

Neji didn’t respond. He only stopped walking.

“You didn’t come earlier tonight because something is distracting you,” she said softly, tightening her hold on him. “That’s why you were meditating before this mission, isn’t it? Everyone else thinks it will be easy… but you don’t want to take any chances, do you?”

Neji stood there a moment, then started walking again. “Your perception has grown stronger,” he said, almost to himself.

“I asked Sasuke to dance,” she said, blushing. “I think he had fun.”

“…That’s good, Hinata.”

It was silent for the rest of the walk until they made it to Hinata’s house. He knelt down and let her slide off of him.

“Neji,” she said, wringing her hands together. “D… did you want to talk?”

Neji looked at her for a moment with gentle eyes, but then he only smiled. “I should rest,” he said, placing a gentle hand on her head. “As you should.”

Hinata nodded as he turned to leave. She watched him carefully as he went, sensing that a distraction was hanging over him. It wasn’t a bad distraction, but it was something. And whatever it was, it was new to Neji.

~~~~~~~~~~

Sakura went to bed that night with a smile on her lips. She had a lot of fun that night. She even got to talk with Ino, who she hadn’t seen in so long. And Naruto and Sasuke were both there, and she loved them more than anything. And then all of her other friends were having the best of times. She loved the festival. It always brought people together.

Since tonight went so well she didn’t feel so bad about leaving for a mission in a couple days. Because it was just as Lee had said: someone needed to do the missions during this time. And this time she was picked. She couldn’t complain. At least most of her friends would be having fun. It had been years since she needed to worry about any of her friends. They were all skilled now, all fully alert about their surroundings and themselves. Now, Sakura just wanted them to enjoy their lives.

She shut her eyes, giving a few thoughts to the upcoming mission. It seemed so simple that she couldn’t figure out why Tsunade wasn’t simply sending a team of genin with their teacher. It was a simple retrieval mission. They only had to locate kidnapped people who were being held in a newly forming country. She couldn’t help but think it would only take a very short amount of time with the amount of people on the team who were experts at tracking.

Suddenly her eyes snapped open. Tsunade wasn’t telling them something. And Neji had probably already figured it out, which is why he was going through routines that he normally went through before a very serious or life-threatening mission. Normally Tsunade gave more than enough information for them to deal with their missions, which is why people thought it odd that Neji was taking things so seriously. But this time, something was off. Also, the amount of people going was probably simply to cover a lot of ground, but the immense power of the people who were involved with this mission meant that Tsunade and Shikamaru weren’t taking any chances. That also explains why Hinata was replaced by Neji even though the rest of her old team was going.

But why would Tsunade keep secrets? Sakura shook her head against her pillow. She was probably just thinking too hard.

~~~~~~~~~~

“You told them it was a simple search and rescue mission?” Kakashi asked, eyes wide.

“That’s all they need to know,” Tsunade said, shrugging her shoulders and signing one of the many papers on her desk. She looked up at Kakashi briefly.

“The less they know about it, the better,” she said softly. “I know you’re concerned about the lack of information, but you have to understand that I’m working with the information my sources have given me.”

Kakashi sighed softly, his mind wandering to Sakura. He liked all of the students, but she was one of his own. And this mission was a bad one.

“Did you receive word from the sand village?” Kakashi asked.

Tsunade stopped writing and put her pen down. She took a deep breath. “Their team never made it back,” she said. “They were instructed investigate and free as many as they could. I decided to give our squad more detailed instructions, informing them that they need to find only a minimum amount of people and bring them back here for questioning. There was evidence that the sand village squad found people, and then continued an investigation. I want our team to leave as soon as people are found.”

“So what do you think will happen if they find the bodies of the sand village squad?” Kakashi asked. “The information you aren’t giving them now may come into light later. And when it does the effects could be worse.”

“They need to do this mission quickly,” Tsunade said firmly. “If they know too much they will be detected. These people have illusionary techniques that outdo anything the mangekyo sharingan can do. And if my sources are correct, they’ll search out any murderous intent they can find and destroy it. It will be a lot harder for them to detect a squad who is simply searching for people. Hopefully, they will pass by unnoticed.”

“And if they don’t?”

Tsunade picked her pen up again and started to work. “It’s time for you to start your next mission,” she said softly. “I have work to finish here.”

Kakashi sighed softly and nodded, heading for the door.

“Kakashi,” Tsunade began. “Why didn’t Hyuuga Neji attend the festival?”

Kakashi didn’t turn around. “According to Gai, Neji knows better than to take these things lightly. While it may have been your intention to send them in with few worries, people like Neji can read situations better than others.”

“I see,” Tsunade nodded. “Keep in mind, Kakashi, that Shikamaru has a little more information than the others. But I know that he can keep a level head in these situations, so I wasn’t worried. If he sees things getting too bad, he has been instructed to pull everyone out of there and return to Konoha.”

“I see,“ Kakashi said, sounding a little more relieved. And with that, he left.

~~~~~~~~~~

The young man breathed heavily as he trudged through the sand. Something about this place made him feel safer, but he couldn’t place what. He gasped for air after wandering for so long. And he wanted to sleep, but for some reason, he found himself fearing it.

Finally, he collapsed, breathing heavily, letting the chill in the air take him.

“Over there!” he heard voices yell. “I saw him over here!”

He tried to push himself up on his hands to look up. People were approaching, but he didn’t know how much longer he could stay conscious.

“Get him back to the sand village! Quickly!” he heard the voices yell. And then it went dark.


~*~*~*To Be Continued*~*~*~

(Hi everyone! Normally in my stories I try to give more information about each character when the cast is so large. I'd like it if anyone who wanted to read could enjoy it without getting confused. But for this story, it's almost impossible to give details for everyone! I hope I'm not spoiling it for anyone! And as always, feedback is GREATLY appreciated.)