Inbred

Yay! I finally got my computer back and I managed to finish this chapter. I had a first draft but I hated it soo much so I had to make major changes to it and I prefer my second attempt a lot more than the first. I still think it could have been better but it will definitely do based on what’s going on in the story so far.


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Chapter 48

"Son of a bitch!"

Sasuke swore loudly when, for the third time that week, the path to his door was obstructed by a barricade of gift baskets, 'Get Well' balloons and sympathy bears and he wondered if the student body at his school didn't have anything better to do with their time and money than annoy the hell out of him.

Those persistent fan-girls didn't let the fact that he was in the boy's dorm deter them and he knew that they asked some of the male dormers to leave their gifts on their behalf and the other guys got a good laugh out of it. He'd never caught them in the act, since they preferred to work whenever he was out, but if he ever did he was prepared to give them an earful.

Sasuke waded through the colourful pond of objects and swore again when a protrusion on a shoddily woven basket scratched his ankle and he picked up the offending object to see who he should channel his vexation towards.

"More bonfire material?"

"Hn," he replied without having to look behind him to respond to Shikamaru's question before letting the basket drop to the floor.

"How wasteful," replied the Nara and locked his hands behind his head to use as a pillow as he rested against the wall but even though he was only teasing his tone was serious.

"What else am I supposed to do with all this?" Sasuke asked with a wave of his hand before adding with a grin, "unless you want it."

Shikamaru chuckled and shook his head. "No thanks. It's your mess so feel free to do what you want."

"I don't care," he countered. "Take whatever you like, I don't want any of this stuff," and to emphasize his point, Sasuke uncaringly sweeped away a few of the sentiments with a swipe of his foot.

"And what makes you think I'd have a use for them?"

The boy, mired in presents, leaned over to pick up a large, white teddy-bear holding a big, red heart framed with lace and approached his friend with the fuzzy creature in an outstretched arm but Shikamaru just gave him a quizzical look and made no move to take it. "Here," he insisted and shoved the bear into the other boy's chest forcing the lazy teen to quickly grab it before it fell to the ground.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" he asked, furrowing his brow.

"I dunno," Sasuke replied with a shrug. "Give it to that pretty blond you're dating."

"Eh! I can't do that!" he exclaimed, shocked by the suggestion.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "And why the hell not?"

"This is a sympathy gift from someone to you. It's not like I bought this just for her."

Sasuke balked at his explanation but he admired his honesty and he figured the other boy must really have a thing for that girl if he wasn't comfortable giving her something that wasn't intended for her in the first place. He knew lots of other guys in the dorm would have jumped at the opportunity for 'free gifts' to give their girlfriends but apparently, Shikamaru wasn't like the other boys and Sasuke liked that about him.

"It's okay Shika," and the taller boy placed a reassuring arm on his shoulder. "It's not marked so she won't know if it came from you or not."

The other boy remained a little hesitant and Sasuke added, "someone gave that as a gift to me and I'm giving it as a gift to you to give as a gift to your girlfriend," and before he could protest Sasuke turned back to the ocean of presents. "Let's see what else we have here," and he rummaged through the pile for a few moments before retrieving a bouquet of daisies. "Does your girlfriend like flowers too?"

"Don't get carried away," he scolded.

"Gomen," was his apology and he tossed the unwanted plants over his shoulder.

Shikamaru's eyes followed them when they landed a few feet away from Neji's apartment door and Sasuke followed his gaze to the enviable empty space before it and his anger returned a hundred-fold.

No one needed to do a popularity survey to know that Neji was one of the most disliked people on campus, even he, himself, had despised Neji at one point but what pissed him off the most was that even though the entire school knew by now that Neji was involved in the accident with him none of the other students offered their condolences or asked how he was doing besides Shikamaru and Shino, who had even asked to come see him one afternoon but Sasuke politely refused them because he didn't want anyone to see Neji yet. He'd been told that a few of his indignant classmates were glad it had happened and had the gall to say that the Hyuuga should've died in the accident but Shikamaru and Shino refused to reveal who had said such heartless things in fear of what Sasuke would do to the gossipers.

"Huh?" Sasuke's head snapped around to face the other boy. He was so caught up in his murderous thoughts that he didn't hear what he just said.

"I asked how Neji was doing today."

"He's doing alot better thanks," he muttered. "I just came back from the pharmacy. I had to buy more pain-killers."

"He's still in pain?" he asked with a little incredulity.

Sasuke nodded. "Yeah but it's not as bad as before," he replied and raked weary fingers through his hair.

"If this continues you should really take him to a doctor."

"Yeah," he agreed with the pharmaceutical undergraduate and as much as Sasuke wanted to he couldn't. He couldn't let some anonymous physician examine Neji and he was sure that the Hyuuga compound had their own live-in doctor but he couldn't take Neji there either especially after Itachi told him the main branch was trying to kill him. The only thing he could do was hope, and pray, that Neji got better on his own.

At first he tried the Asprin, which he made Neji take during the day, with some sleeping pills to help him get through the night but one morning Sasuke woke up and Neji's arm had turned blue because he'd been lying on it in such an uncomfortable position but was too sedated to shift his body. It took nearly thirty-five minutes of rubbing his arm to circulate the blood again and Sasuke had never been so scared in his life when he felt those icy-cold fingertips and feared the arm would have to be amputated(1). After that, he stopped giving Neji the sleepers but the over-the-counter painkillers alone seemed to be doing the job so far.

"Well, I don't have a degree yet, so I'm not qualified to say if it's serious or not but you shouldn't take risks that could become troublesome later," he added while absent-mindedly poking the hard, plastic nose on the teddy bear.

Sasuke caught the gesture and used it as an opportunity to shift the topic of the conversation. "You sure you don't want anything else?"

"No, it's fine," he reiterated firmly.

"Too bad," Sasuke sighed as if to say 'It's your loss'. "I'll clean this up later, so let Shino know too and if you change your mind you can take whatever you want."

"Yeah, I'll do that," but his tone revealed that that was highly likely and with a wave he headed back downstairs before the Uchiha made him carry more load.

Sasuke unlocked his door but as an afterthought picked up another teddy and a purple vase with long-stemmed roses before stepping into his dorm. Naruto looked up from his place at the computer and waved to him and Sasuke wondered where his usually noisy greetings went when he noticed the supine figure stretched out on his sofa.

Neji probably grew bored laying in bed all day and Naruto must have helped him into the front house so he could watch television but it didn't seem to provide enough entertainment for him and Sasuke chuckled to himself when he noticed that the boy had fallen asleep. He turned off the TV with the remote and was glad to see that he hadn't been watching any news channels.

Neji didn't know about the events that took place at the hospital after they left and Sasuke had no intention of telling him either. He didn't want him to know that his family had placed a hit on him especially when he should be using this time to recover and he didn’t need to receive any more bad news but it was easy enough to keep it a secret since he told Naruto not to mention anything about it and the Hyuuga was confined to his apartment twenty-four seven.

"Aww how sweet," Naruto cooed and rose from the chair so he could investigate the gifts in Sasuke's hands. "You're so thoughtful."

"Whatever," he spat with a slight blush, feeling a twinge of the same guilt Shikamaru did when he'd given him the bear. "Here, give these to Hinata when you see her today," and he shoved the bouquet in Naruto's face.

"Hey thanks, man," and he graciously accepted the flowers, glad that he didn't have to turn up empty-handed. Sasuke debated with himself whether he should tell his friend where he really got the flowers but
he was sure the boy would figure it out when he stepped outside and was met with others just like it but Naruto was pretty dense and if he was too stupid to realize it then he'd leave him in his blissful ignorance.

"Sorry for keeping you waiting so long but the line at the store was a hassle."

"It's no problem," Naruto replied after taking a large whiff of the fragrant flowers. "Kurenai-sensei said she'd be home all day so I could pass anytime I wanted and me and Neji had lots of fun together while you were out," and when Sasuke raised a skeptical eyebrow Naruto huffed in offense. "It's true!" he yelled and Sasuke quickly brought a finger to his lips to remind him of the sleeping boy in the room. "Sorry," he mumbled.

"You'd better get going, and tell Hinata her cousin and I said 'Hello'."

"Will do," the blond grinned and slipped into his coat before heading to the door and swearing loudly when he nearly tripped over a basket. "What the fuck? Again?" he groused before slamming the door shut and Sasuke heard the lock click into place from the other side.

Sasuke removed his wallet and the container of pain-killers from his coat before, uncharacteristically, tossing it to one side of the room and Neji stirred when the buckle thudded loudly against the wall. Sasuke winced at the sound and cursed himself for disturbing his slumber and immediately got to his knees before the other boy to stroke his dark head. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” he whispered.

Neji said nothing but rested his bleary, half-lidded gaze on the clothed chest before him.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, to which the other boy just nodded his head slowly to let him know he was fine.

Sasuke really didn’t need a verbal acknowledgement from him, he knew that Neji was gradually getting better but he desperately wanted one. Neji hadn’t said much since that night, in fact, he’d hardly spoken at all within the past few days but Sasuke understood why he had become so withdrawn. When he had lost his parents he’d been the same way and he imagined Neji was feeling likewise over his loss as well.

He lifted the teddy bear towards Neji's face to rub their noses together and a faint smile touched his lips as reached out to take the stuffed animal so he could cuddle with it and Sasuke believed he'd never seen anything more adorable and wished he had a camera at that moment.

Rising to his feet, he headed into the kitchen to get a glass of water then made his way back into the other room where he helped Neji into a sitting position so he could take another dose of the two tablets. Sasuke watched him as he took the pills into his mouth and stared at his creamy throat as he swallowed them with sips of water. Neji returned the half-empty glass to him and he placed it on the coffee table then took a seat next to the other boy.

Neji sat, hunched over with his elbows resting on his knees and he cradled the bear in his hands, caressing its soft, fuzzy stomach with the pads of his thumbs and squeezing it occasionally as if he expected it to squeak. His hair formed a curtain around his face and Sasuke couldn’t tell what his facial expression was like at that moment. He suspected he was still smiling at the toy, assumed that he had found some amusement in it but when he saw that pale, lean frame convulse and heard a strangled sob catch in his throat he knew he had guessed incorrectly.

“Neji?” He leaned closer and combed the wisps of hair that obstructed his view of his lover’s face to see it contorted in anguish and his pained, round eyes locked with the empty glass beads of the stuffed animal. “Neji, don’t-“ and he immediately closed his mouth because he knew that no matter what he said, no matter how he said it, it wasn’t going to stop him from crying. Sasuke grabbed Neji and pulled him into his arms, burying his round face into the column of his neck and enveloping him securely. His hands administered soothing strokes along his head, back and shoulders while Neji’s warm tears soaked his cotton shirt and his rough sobs shook his own body as well.

Sasuke sincerely wished he could cry with him, and everytime he had to watch his lover break down like this it made him want to take a knife to his chest and carve his own heart out.

He hated to see him like this, was willing to sell his soul if only he knew how to make Neji happy again and it made him feel so useless to know that nothing he did calmed his lover down and once he started it was damned near impossible to make him stop, but what made it worse was that the slightest thing set him off.

He found that whenever Hinata called to speak to him he didn’t cry as much and Sasuke was glad that she called fairly often but when she wasn’t available, like right now, the only thing he could do was just hold him and let him know he wasn’t suffering alone.

Neji clutched at his shirt and Sasuke lifted him closer until he was sitting on his lap so he could lay comforting kisses against his forehead. Sasuke’s deep, even breaths were drowned out by Neji’s loud, harsh sobs and after fifteen minutes they had diminished to soft, tiny hiccups.

“Sasuke,” he whispered between breaths. “I’m sorry.”

The younger man was shocked that Neji had finally said more that two words to him but even more surprised they were an apology.

“What for?” He asked quizzically, tilting his chin upwards with one hand so their eyes could meet.

Neji’s bottom lip quivered slightly when he inhaled. “For everything,” he confessed. “I’m sorry I’m such a burden to you. I’m sorry I’m so useless to you and I’m so sorry…I,” he broke off and his voice caught in his throat before new tears fell and he had to force the words out on a loud voice, thick with emotion. “I’m sorry I lost your baby, if I was stronger then it would have survived, I’m sorry I’m so sor-.“

“Neji, shut up!” he interrupted with deadly conviction, pushing the boy away at arm’s length and gripping his shoulders almost painfully. “Nothing’s your fault and you’re an idiot if you think I feel that way so don’t ever let me hear you say stupid things like that again.”

The long-haired brunette said nothing after that but leaned forward so he could burrow his head deeper into Sasuke’s muscular chest and rub his tear-streaked face into the already damp material.

Ever since that day he'd visited with Haku and came home to find Neji awake, a weight had been lifted off his shoulder when the other boy had forgiven him for the entire thing, in fact, Neji had never even blamed him for forcing him to accompany him for the drive but here he was, blaming himself for the entire ordeal instead.

To forgive was a powerful and courageous act, but to be forgiven was one of the most liberating sensations anyone could ever experience and, Sasuke’s heart had become surprisingly light and he’d felt as if he would sprout wings at that moment and fly and the last thing he wanted was to have his lover shouldering the burdensome guilt over something he had no control over or something that he could never resent him for.

As he took care of Neji he became more and more possessive of him and he didn't think it was possible that his love for the other boy could grow any larger, but it did.

It almost felt as if their relationship had hit a whole new level, a level that extended higher than just ordinary lovers, a level that exceeded more than physical intimacy and verbal assurances of togetherness forever.

It was a level that practically declared them soul mates.

Sasuke had a hard time accepting that since he wasn't the type to believe in such mumbo-jumbo, but he couldn't deny how right it felt to be with Neji, as if Neji was made just for him, as if he was meant to be with Neji...only Neji!

Eventually, the older of the two cried himself to sleep again and Sasuke returned him to bed and as he watched that beautiful, relaxed face he almost felt like slapping him for ever thinking those things but instead, he traced the outline of his lips and felt his warm breath tease his fingers.

At least now he knew what attributed to his unsociable manner but he’d suspected that was the cause in the first place, he just didn’t think Neji was the kind of person that would willingly place blame upon himself like that and Sasuke chuckled inwardly.

Apparently, there was still so much more he had to learn about his lover.

With Naruto spending the day with Hinata at Kurenai-sensei’s place that gave Sasuke a few hours of peace and quiet to finally catch up with miscellaneous items on his memoranda but he found it hard to concentrate on his tasks when his thoughts kept diverting towards Neji and the ringing of the telephone snapped him to attention and he tossed the clothes he was sorting to wash aside so he could rush to answer it before the noise woke Neji.

“Uchiha!” was his curt greeting.

“Hey kid, how’s it goin’?”

Sasuke sighed and scratched the back of his head. “It’s been better but I can’t really complain.”

“Hm…did you get a chance to talk to that kid yet?”

“Haku? Yeah, I passed by him a few days ago.”

“That’s great and I’d love to ask you how it went and everything but listen, I’ve got some really bad news for you.”

Sasuke stiffened and felt his stomach tighten into an unbearable knot. “Bad news?” he echoed.

“Yeah. I can’t work on this case anymore,” Danzo admitted regretfully. “I think we’ve stumbled onto something that’s bigger than the both of us here.”

“What do you mean?” he asked, already dreading what the other man was going to say.

“You know that car of yours? I finally traced it to some junkyard forty-odd miles from the site of the crash. The owner there was co-operative enough and was willing to meet with me and said I could come see it but when I got there the next day the guy’s missing and the new owner claims no one worked there by that name and needless to say there was no car there either. When I got back to the department the Chief warned me to quit my moonlighting or I’m out on my ass. Somehow he found out I’m working double shifts.”

“Or someone told him,” Sasuke suggested with a snort.

“Heh, you’re sharp kid,” he chuckled wryly. “Anyway he confiscated a few of the files I had and I’m still kicking myself for leaving them in my office but get this; he tells me, in no uncertain terms, that if I don’t drop this case that he won’t be responsible for what happens to me or my family.”

Sasuke froze and his breath became trapped in his throat but when he remained silent for another minute Danzo continued.

“You know me, I don’t let things like idle threats stop me from doing my job, but my wife called me today and she was hysterical because she said she lost Mayumi.”

“Lost Mayumi?”

“Yeah, that’s what I asked her but she said she went to check on the twin and one of them was missing.”

“Missing?” Sasuke said on a soft gasp.

“Uh huh. It took me near twenty minutes to get her to calm down and look again but when I hung up and before I even got the chance to put on my wind-breaker and head home I got a call from an anonymous man who told me that if I didn’t cease the investigation I’d have one less mouth to feed.”

Sasuke was speechless and the only thing he could do was shake his head in disbelief. “Danzo…I-I’m sorry…” he stammered and his guilty conscience flared again. How many more people were going to suffer because of him?

“Hey kid, relax. It’s not your fault,” the man laughed but Sasuke clearly heard the despondency there. “When you’re a cop with a family you gotta expect these kinds of things, besides,” he added on a lighter note. “They want to exchange the file for my daughter tonight so if you don’t hear me tomorrow then you know that the deal went sour.”

“Wait…shouldn’t you alert the cops or something, I mean…you can’t expect to do this alone.”

“Sasuke…these are the cops.”

Sasuke’s throat became bone dry and Danzo heard his breath hitch slightly from the other end. “The Chief, he’s in on it too, I know it. That spineless mother-fucker’s been crooked since the day he crawled out of his mother’s guts. But listen, this isn’t something I want you concern yourself about, I’ve lived my life and old farts like me have to roll over and die someday to make room for the younger generation, I’m just sorry I can’t be of anymore help to you.”

“Danzo, you’ve done more than enough, I just wish this hadn’t happened.”

“Like I said, stuff like this happens to guys in my line of work all the time, don’t worry about it,” but his reassurance didn’t pacify the Uchiha in the least. “I’ve got a name for you.”

“A name?” Sasuke asked.

“Yeah. The guy I was supposed to meet, the same guy that went missing, when I spoke to him on the phone that day he mentioned a company, Tochika Trading.”

Sasuke stiffened. “Tochika?”

“Yeah, you’ve heard of them, right?”

He had. Tochika Trading was an offshore freighting company that specialized in transportation of goods by land and sea. From what Sasuke remembered they had become bankrupt within their first fiscal year due to bad management but after the takeover it became a subsidiary for the company that had bought them out and was now owned by Hyuuga Inc. Sasuke bit back a curse and clamped his eyes shut in despair when the link was made between these events and Hyuuga once again.

“I believe they used one of their trucks to transport your vehicle along with the other one,” the older man continued, “but the higher ups were pretty tight-lipped about it and swore they didn’t have any trucks on that route at that time but I’m skeptical. It seems we’ve reached a dead end, kid,” he sighed in hopeless admittance.

Sasuke ‘hmphed’ at his choice of words but agreed with him none-the-less.

“Listen, it’s getting late and I’ve gotta get that file together for my ‘meeting’ tonight but I just wanted to warn you, as one man to another, stay away from this.”

Danzo never backed away from any obstacle placed before him and had attacked each case like a rabid wolverine but Sasuke knew these guys meant business if they were prepared to go so far as to murder an innocent child just to make a point and the older man wanted to make sure that nothing untoward happened to the youth that he held a certain respect towards, like a son.

“Don’t worry about me old timer,” the Uchiha joked with a grin. “I know how to pick my battles.”

He wasn’t sure if that response was a confirmation of defeat or otherwise but he of all people knew that when the Uchiha’s mind was made up that nothing short of Divine Intervention could get him to change it. “Hmm…, just keep your eyes peeled and your nose out of trouble,” Danzo advised before bidding the boy farewell and hanging up.

Things were starting to heat up and Hyuuga was making bold moves to ensure that his involvement remained covered-up. They had an agenda and although Sasuke didn’t know exactly what it was he did know that it involved killing Neji and they had been lucky so far but how much longer would this luck hold out?

Keeping an eye on the boy was going to be a full time job from this moment on and with he, Naruto and even Itachi watching over him he feared it wouldn’t be enough and already there were too many innocent people attached to them and Sasuke couldn’t risk the lives of his student body if Hyuuga decided to take more drastic measures.

Sasuke quickly headed into his bedroom, his heart in his throat, to check if Neji was still there and his body sagged with relief when he found him still asleep on the bed. He closed the window and locked it securely before picking up the phone and dialing the cellphone number of his best friend.

“Yo!” Naruto answered in a chipper voice.

“Where are you?” he asked, getting directly to the point.

“I’m in Kurenai-sensei’s garden,” he replied. “Dude! Did you know she has a green-house? It’s huge and it’s got over forty-seven species of plants and twelve hybrids. She’s also got this ginormous tree in her backyard that’s over one hundred years old and has been in her family for three generations.”

“That’s great Naruto,” Sasuke said flatly, not really in the mood for his incessant chatter but not wanting to dampen his excitement either. “Listen,” he cut in quickly before Naruto could go on about the perfectly manicured lawns. “I need you to get back as soon as you can-“ Naruto cut him off with a disappointed whine at having to shorten his visit but Sasuke didn’t complain because he didn’t know the seriousness of the situation. “Sorry to do this to you but I need you to pack your things.”

The other end was silent for a long moment and Sasuke almost thought the call had been dropped. “What did I do?”

Sasuke heard the dejection in his voice and he actually felt like laughing then. Naruto was so paranoid that he wanted to send him back to the States. “You didn’t do anything wrong, dobe,” he confessed while absent-mindedly playing with a few strands of Neji’s hair that lay on the mattress. “We’re moving.”

“Moving?”

“Yeah, so bring your ass home so you can pack your shit cuz I’m not packing it for you.”

“Wait…if we’re moving…then what about Neji and- and Hinata-chan?”

He heard when Naruto pulled away from the phone to speak to someone when he said her name and he assumed that the girl was standing nearby.

“Neji’s coming with us, actually…we’re taking Hinata too,” he added after much thought.

He could tell the other boy was ecstatic about the news in the way his voice took on a higher pitch when he started talking again. “Great! But what about Kurenai-sensei?”

“Tell her thanks for looking after Hinata but we found a place for her to live and I’ll pay for any expenses incurred while she was there, but Naruto,” he warned and relayed his orders slowly so Naruto’s hyperactive brain could process it carefully. “Don’t tell Kurenai-sensei, Hinata will be living with us.”

“Got it!” he confirmed with a nod of his head.

“Good! Now bring Hinata-chan with you and let me know when you get here, I’ll help you sneak her in.”

“Roger!” and before Naruto properly ended the call he was already telling the young girl he had great news for her and Sasuke sighed and hoped the big-mouthed idiot remembered not to tell Kurenai-sensei anything.

He had only one more call to make and Sasuke had to sift through his little, black phone-book he kept in the bedside table. It had been so long since he’d called that number that he couldn’t remember all of it.

“Good evening!” answered a soft, deep voice.

“Deidara, it’s me.”

“Uchiha-sama? Is that you, yeah?” and he sounded just as surprised to hear from his employer as Sasuke was that he’d actually called.

“Yeah it’s me. Listen, I need you to do me a favour,” he said, once again getting directly to the point.

“Sure, what is it?”

“I need you to pick me up along with a few friends of mine.”

“Sure, where are you?”

“I’m at the college.”

“No problem! I’ll be there in an hour, yeah.”

“Actually,” he suddenly had an after-thought. “Can you come for us a little later?” It was still fairly early in the evening and students were still strolling around the campus and if they saw him with Naruto, Neji, Hinata and all their luggage people would ask too many questions.

“What time did you have in mind, Uchiha-sama?”

“Uhh…one-thirty should be fine.”

“Hmm…” the other man thought that was a fairly odd time as well but he knew better than to question the Uchiha. “one-thirty it is,” he re-confirmed and Sasuke heard a faint beeping as he logged his duty in that personal organizer of his before hanging up.

He still had a few hours to go before Deidara arrived and that gave him more than enough time to gather his essentials into an overnight bag and pack most of Neji’s belongings from next door into a few suitcases. He didn’t mind leaving most of his things behind, besides, he still had his classes to attend so he and Naruto would be coming back during the day but Neji would not. Neji would be safer where they were going and if the main branch was looking for him then he didn’t want to endanger the other students as well and as long as he let the faculty believe that Neji was still bed-ridden then they wouldn’t have the need to ask about him.

Naruto called him about an hour and a half later and after successfully getting Hinata into the dorm without arousing too much suspicion she helped Naruto gather his things and with the task completed she spent the remaining time with her cousin who she hadn’t seen since the day Kurenai-sensei took her away.

Sasuke waited patiently in the living-room for the appointed hour while Naruto lay, bored out of his skull, on the sofa. Neither boy spoke and Naruto never thought to ask why they were leaving the college in the first place but instead, passed the time by counting the squares carved into the light fixture overhead.

At a quarter past eleven, Sasuke got his expected call from Deidara and told him they would be down in a few minutes. He went into his room to get the others and came upon both Hyuugas, stretched out across the bed and holding each other in their arms while they slept.

It was almost a shame to wake them.

He shook Hinata slightly and she stirred. She made a soft noise of protest at the disturbance but sat up anyway and rubbed her eyes.

“We’re ready to go, Hinata.”

She nodded twice and turned to wake her cousin but Sasuke stopped her. “No, I’ll carry him,” and after he said that he slipped his arms under the sleeping form and lifted him, bridal-style off the bed. Sasuke had no trouble carrying him, Neji was a lot lighter than he looked and Hinata followed him into the main room where Naruto carried their things, two cases at a time as Sasuke led the way downstairs.

“Get the door Hinata,” was Sasuke’s whispered order when they reached the main door and she pushed against it to open the way to the dark car-park illuminated with a faint orange glow from the street-lights and a black Honda Civic parked a few feet from the bottom of the stairs. When the man in the driver seat saw them approaching he stepped out of the vehicle and walked around it so he could bow formally before the young Uchiha heir.

“Good night, Uchiha-sama,” he said politely with a broad smile before straightening to his full height and even Naruto had to look up a bit at the blond haired stranger that stood just a few centimeters above him.

“You made good time, Deidara.”

The other man shrugged and opened the car door with one hand so Sasuke could place Neji in the back seat while he whipped out his PDA with the other so he could mark his task complete. “I didn’t have anything else to do,” and his electronic assistant confirmed it with blank entries until nine o’ clock the next morning.

After making sure Neji was strapped in he made Hinata wait in the car with him while the three of them went back upstairs to get the rest of the luggage.

“If I knew you were bringing so many things I would have brought the Range Rover, yeah,” Deidara mused wryly at his lack of forethought as he barely managed to stuff a third case in the trunk.

“It’s not your fault,” Sasuke apologized. He shouldn’t have been so vague when he’d asked the man to do the favour in the first place.

“Hey blondie,” Deidara called over to Naruto. “Sit in the back with the ladies and hold this, will you?”

The teen didn’t quite like the way the other man addressed him but instead of asking him if he thought he could get away with talking to him like that he obeyed and took the overnight-bag from him.

“It’s gonna be a tight squeeze, yeah,” he beamed and before Naruto could say ‘Y’think?’ he’d crammed another bag next to his feet. Deidara then reached out to take the last duffel bag from Sasuke but he shook his head.

“I can hold this up front,” he volunteered. Naruto looked uncomfortable enough as it was while he tried to make sure he left enough breathing space for Hinata.

“You’re not driving, Uchiha-sama?”

Sasuke shook his head again. “No it’s fine, I haven’t been having much luck with cars lately,” he replied with little humor.

Deidara nodded and reclaimed his place as the designated driver while Sasuke slipped into the passenger’s seat beside him. “You guys buckled it good, yeah?” the older man asked, turning to look at the three behind him and Hinata and Naruto nodded but when his dark eyes rested on Neji he raised a thin eyebrow. “Is he sick? Should I drop him at a hospital or something?”

Sasuke looked behind him as well to see Neji slumped against the car door with his head slightly tilted forward and resting against the glass and it did look as if he was unconscious.

“Nah, he’s fine he just sleeps heavy.”

That explanation satisfied Deidara and he gunned the engine then drove out of the car-park towards the school’s gate. “By the way, Uchiha-sama,” he said when he reached the end of the drive-way, not sure which direction to take. “You never said where you wanted me to take you.”

Sasuke shifted the weight of the heavy bag upon his other thigh and sighed when he thought about their destination.

“I’m going home.”

-----

(1) This happened to me once and I freaked out. I thought I was gonna have to get my arm cut off. It's not a nice feeling either and my fingers were so cold and I couldn't feel my hand. O_O;

Don’t worry, Deidara’s role in all this will be explained in the next chapter.