Fateful Days

Fateful Days Part 7

Back again with chapter 7 ^_^ I’m so damn proud of me because I finally have the sixth part out and I’m already tackeling the seventh chappie. Am I good or what?! ^__^
Anyway, that I’m still writing this story is solely due to your wonderful reviews:

pen_name – You know I love you! Right after reading your review I took a look at your stories and when I saw that you updated Golden Murder (and practically inhaled the latest chapter) I instantely went back to continuing Fateful Days. That’s how stongly you inspire me ^_^ And I don’t think I even have to mention how unbelievingly happy I am that you finally decided to make a sequel to Adrenaline. *huggles pen to death*

Zenith-Kaitou – Thanks for taking your time reading Fateful Days. I thought about your suggestion to just take a bunshin as bait but I decided against it because of three things: first – a bunshin can be destroyed too easily. Just one stronger push and it dissapears in a cloud of smoke. And then the whole trap would be in vain because the murderer would know that there is someone on his track. And second – to catch the murderer, Neji and Shika had to follow the bunshin and I think that it would be a little obvious when suddenly two look-alikes were walking through the streets in such close proximity. And third – the most important aspect in my opinion: it’s much more interesting this way, isn’t it ^_^

Yersi Fanel – Glad to hear that from you! Please keep reading ^_^

Aini – I’m really glad you like it because, as I’ve mentioned many times before, I’m not very confident when it comes to my own story. I always compare them to other stories I like to read and then I often think ‘my story is really crap, so why do I even bother?’ but then you all leave such beautiful reviews and I return to writing because I would feel really bad about leaving you all hanging. So thanks for your review and I hope you like this chapter!

TillThatTime – You DO know that you reduce me to a blissfull heap of happy mush every damn time I read your reviews, right? Well, if not – NOW YOU DO!!! The praise that I deserve – oh Lord this just too much… *yaoilovergirl has officially turned to a little puddle on the floor which is beginning to get soaked up by the rug under the chair*

Anyway, on to the story ^_^


Chapter 7

Day Four:

After they had stayed out until very late – or rather early, still searching for clues and mingling with the people, Neji and Shika had fallen into a deep sleep at around four in the morning. By now it was almost twelve o’clock the next day and Shikamaru decided to kiss his sleeping beauty awake. Neji mumbled something in his sleep that sounded an awful lot like ‘not yet, basan’, before turning his back to the silently laughing Nara. Who would have guessed that the priced genius of the Hyuuga clan could be terribly grumpy in the morning.

“Oi, sleepy-head. Wake up, it’s almost noon.”

Blinking groggily, Neji sat up slowly. A stifled yawn and a long stretch of slender limbs later the longhaired man got up from the bed and padded into the bathroom. Shikamaru was still chuckling when he put his clothes on. Neji in the morning was unexpectedly cute. Good thing that his fans didn’t know that or they would be camping outside his window, trying to catch a glimpse of him.

When Neji appeared a few minutes later, Shikamaru was already fully dressed and, again, standing by the window. Neji was wandering if maybe the Nara was a little bit in withdrawal of cloud-watching.

Going over to the ponytailed man and sliding an arm around his waist, he tried to find out what was so damn interesting that Shika didn’t even spare a glance in his direction. When he saw nothing, he nudged his partner.

“Hey, is everything okay?”

Shika just ‘hmmm-ed’.

“O~kay, that was sooo convincing. NOT. But if you don’t want to talk about it that’s fine with me. I can wait until you’re ready. And by the way, I’m kind of hungry, seeing as we didn’t eat that much yesterday. Care to join me for breakfast or would you rather stay here and watch dust collect in the corners?”

Shika looked at him.

“Did you just joke?”

“No, genius. I recited a poem. What do YOU think? That I don’t have a single humorous bone in my body? I’m not dead yet, you know. And... .”

Here, Neji stopped speaking. The last sentence he had wanted to utter seemed much too mushy to him so he caught himself before he could speak it out loud.

Shikamaru look quizzically at him, one slender eyebrow raised and a tiny smirk hovering at the edge of his lips. Neji sighed. Damn, he hated that look. As if his lover did know exactely what was going on in his brain. As if the Nara could read his every thought. Mendokuse...argh, now he was even starting to think like him. This day couldn’t possibly get worse.

If he had only known what was going to happen, he wouldn’t have thought that.

~*~

After a short breakfast at a small restaurant, both young shinobis made their way over to one of the vendors littering the streets.

Shikamaru leaned against his partner and brought his lips to that delectable ear, hidden behind a curtain of silky hair.

“Okay, let’s do it. I’ll now leave you and, seemingly, go back to our hotel because I have a headache. You keep on shopping. I have put the bug on you. It’s hidden in the hairtie. But don’t worry, I’ll follow you closely. About twenty metres (AN: I’m sorry, I don’t know the distance in feet since I’m from Germany and we have metres -_-‘) behind you, so I’ll always have you in my sight. Now, are you ready?”

While Shika spoke to Neji, he seemed to look like a lover nuzzling his beloved, whispering sweet nothings into his ear. And the shiver that raced down Nejis spine wasn’t fake. He just didn’t now where it stemmed from – apprehension or Shikas closeness.

Turning slightly to press a short kiss to Shikamarus lips, Neji mumbled a quick ‘understood’ before going back to checking out the goods in front of him.

~*~

Shika, after a last lingering caress, walked back in the direction they came from. When he was back at the hotel, he went up to their room and got the small container with the male bug out of his drawer and stored it in the pocket of his pants. Going back down he went for the kitchen, slipping out through the back entrance. He didn’t want to be seen by anyone.

From then on he kept to the shadows, never going out on to the full street. When he could see Neji a few metres in front of him, he leaned against the wall behind him and waited. His heart beating a mile a minute and the fingers of his right hand fisted tigtly around the small bottle with the bug. Never in all his years as a shinobi did he have such a bad case of nerves. He always automatically knew what to do, yet this time his hands shook and he had to concentrate on keeping his breathing even. The hairs on the back of neck stood on end when he saw Neji strolling down the street.

Jumping to the rooftop of the building he was hiding behind, Shikamaru followed. The entire time his gaze only left his beloved when he checked the streets for someone or something suspicious. He just hoped he had done the right thing when he made Neji the bait for that psycho.

Shaking himself and whispering a ‘stupid’ he reminded himself of the little, yet important fact that his lover was indeed a shinobi just like himself. And that he could very well take care of himself. If it came to a fight he would probably fare better than Shikamaru himself.

With that in mind, he continued to follow the longhaired man down in the street.

~*~

At the same time Neji also kept his senses on alert. His eyes seemed to look over the hand made things in front of him, yet his keen hearing recorded every sound around him. The screaming child that was being towed away from some sweets by its mother, the light laughter of the young boy who flirtet with his much older lover, the quiet murmur of the young couple a few feet away, the chirping of the birds in the trees and the almost overwhelming noise of the cicades in the bushes. He filtered everything, searching for something. ANYTHING.

It was sweltering hot again. Not a single cloud in the sky or a whisper of wind in the trees. Neji had the feeling that if he didn’t get out of the tightly packed street soon, he would suffocate. Locating a small booth, a little bit away from the others, and thankfully in the shadow of an oaktree, he directed his feet over there.

As if the person behind the stand could hear his thoughts, it turned his head in his direction. A young woman, maybe in her midtwenties, smiled at him.

“Hello, young one. You look quite thirsty. It’s freaking hot today so come here and share the shadow with me, I don’t mind. At least that way I have a little company until my partner comes back.”

A little bit irritated at being adressed so casually, yet desperate enough, Neji sat down next to the woman, leaning his head back against the trunk of the tree and sighed. This was really nice.

‘I hope Shika isn’t out there in the direct heat. If he is, he surely is one well done shinobi by now.’

A slight tapping on his shooulder brought his attation back to the woman he shared the place with. She held a mug of water in front of him, her honey-brown eyes twinkling merrily.

“Here you go. It’s not as cold anymore as it was this morning but it’s better than having a parched throat and a heatstroke.”

Taking the mug and smiling thankfully at her, he covertly sniffed at the clear fluid in search of a poison or drug. Detecting nothing, he took a small sip, tasting only the clear water and the slight earthy undertone of the mug. Taking another, larger gulp he soon finished the drink and handed the mug back to its owner.

“Thank you, that was very good. I just hope I didn’t take too much of your ration.”

She just shook her head and smiled again.

“Well, I guess I’ll be on my way again. Thanks again and I hope you have a good day.”

Standing up, he took a few steps when suddenly his vision went fuzzy. Shaking his head, he tried to clear it but it only got worse. The sounds around him seemed to come from a great distance. Hot and cold shivers alternately raced down his spine. And slowly, as if in slowmotion, his world began to tilt and then to fade. He didn’t feel it when his body fell and he landed hard on the ground. He didn’t hear the concerned whispers around him and the voice of the woman who told the passers-by that he obviously had a heatstroke and that she would tend to him in her room. He didn’t feel it when his limp body was lifted by someone helpful and a little while later put on a bed. He didn’t see his hairtie slip from its place to land forgotten on the dusty ground somewhere between the booth and the appartement he was brought to. And he certainly didn’t hear the anguished groan of whoever had helped carrying him when his throat was being slitted. He was out cold, in the hands and at the mercy of the one who he had tried to capture and eliminate. He couldn’t defend himself, he couldn’t scream for help and he definitely couldn’t hope for living another day of his life.

~*~

Shikamaru had watched as Neji made his way over to a lone booth in the shadows. There were no more roofs over there and he was forced to jump down again, into the packed streets. In the process he temporarily lost sight of his partner but was unconcerned for he had seen Neji settle down next to a young woman who seemed to own the booth. Just as he was about to emerge from the crowd, a man about twice his own size bumped into him from the side. With a mumbled ‘sorry’ he tried to go around the man but the mountain of human flesh didn’t seem to like being brushed of so casually because the next thing Shikamaru knew was that his back hit the wall with bone-breaking force, pressing the air from his lungs. Wheezing and coughing, Shikamaru made it to his feet again only to be grabbed by two strong hands and lifted into the air, his feet dangling a few inches above the ground. The smell of strong alcohol hit his nostrils and in that instance the urge to get out of here – and fast – hit him full force. Something was wrong, terribly wrong. He instinct was screeming at him to get to Neji. Fuck being discovered, fuck blowing the mission. Something was happening to Neji and he was determined to get to him – NOW! He may be only half of the other man but he was a God damn shinobi, trained to kill from earnly childhood.

Tensing his slight frame, Shikamaru kicked out, slamming his foot between the legs of the one holding him, making him drop to his knees with an agonized groan. Whirling around his foot connected with the skull, nailing the giant to the ground. A well placed, chakra-infused press to a point on the thick neck send the attacker into unconsciousness.

When he was sure that the burly man wouldn’t be getting up any time soon, Shika turned around to find a crowd had gathered, blocking his way. Hissing in annoyance, the Nara glowered at the people. Obviously they got the message when they parted like the Red Sea had in front of Mose.

Sprinting through them, Shikamaru came to a screeching halt. Panik made itself known, crawling through him like a poisonous snake, coiling in the pit of his stomach. Neji, where was Neji? He couldn’t see him. Where had he gone to? Had he been standing in the crowd? Had he missed him?

Shikamaru turned back around, scanning the crowd. But there was no sign of his fellow shinobi. No telltale swish of coal hair, no silvery eyes locked onto his own. It was as if his lover had vanished, leaving no trace behind.

Just when the swirling void that seemed to have opened up in front of him almost consumed him, his brain came to his rescue, reminding him of the little bottle nestled inside his pocket. Taking a deep, shaking breath, Shika pulled out the small flacon and let the bug inside crawl out of its prison onto his hand. A few seconds ticked by, agonizingly slow, before the little black thing started to flap its tiny wings and took off into the direction where Shika had last seen Neji. His heart soared. It worked!

Following the small creature, he noted that the woman at the small stand was nowhere in sight but it was only a minor detail at the moment which his brain choose to store in the back of his memory.

After a few twists and turns he suddenly saw the bug flying towards a small, dried up bush at the side of the street. Irritated he went over to investigate why it stooped there. What he saw let his blood run cold. His heart felt like it was being squeezed by a giant fist and his throat closed up on him. He choked, falling to his knees as his fingers plucked a horribly familiar hairtie out of the the bush. Two bugs were on it and a few long, dark, silky hairs clung to the elastic material.

With an anguished cry Shikamaru sunk to his knees. Fear and selfloathing battling for dominance in his mind and heart. If he hadn’t made Neji the bait this wouldn’t happened. It was his plan, his decision. He was the leader on this mission. It was his fault. His responsibilty. And again he had failed. And not only did he failed the mission, no, he had failed his lover. He had sworn to protect him, to keep an eye on him. And now? Now, Neji was gone and he had no idea what he should do. Neji could be dead by now. His breathing hitched. Dead. Neji, dead. Neji’s body, mangled. His blood splattered against walls. His eyes, his beautiful eyes, closed forever.

“Oh God no, please, dear God no…it can’t be. Not him…not now. Not like this.”

His head flew around, his eyes, the panic clear in them, searched frantically for any sign of his lover. Tears were running down his face but he didn’t care. He only cared for Neji at the moment. But there was nothing out there. No clue as to what happened. Nothing. No one. He was alone. Neji was gone.

~*~

Minutes passed. Hours went by. The sun slowly set, basking everything into an orange glow. The heat finally sank down to a bearable level. The first lights went on in the houses.

Standing up on numb, shaking legs, Shika started to stumble through the streets, looking into every alley, into every shop and behind every bush and tree. His mind was numb, his body on autopilot. He didn’t feel hunger, nor thirst. His eyes burned and his throat was parched.

When night fell he still was searching. Only few people were up and about. The heat leaving everyone drained and most had turned in early.

A chilly wind had picked up, causing goosebumps to break out across his overheated skin. But he didn’t feel the cold. Suddenly lightning split the sky in half and only seconds later the loud rumbling of thunder could be heard. But Shika’s ears were deaf to it. The last remaining people hurried along to get inside before the storm hit. It wasn’t long until dark clouds, the color of lead, hung directly above the city. The smell of ozone filled the air as lightning after lightning cut through the sky, illuminating the surroundings for brief moments with an eery light. The thunder boomed deafeningly. And then the first few drops of cold water hit the earth, harbinger of the masses of water contained within the clouds above.

And still Shikamaru searched. Ignoring the rain that soon enough poured down on him, drenching him to the bone, he ran through the streets. Until he returned to the place where he had seen Neji for the last time. That was where his knees gave out under him, sending him crashing to the ground. The tears had stopped a while ago. But his heart still screamed in agony. His mind tormented him with images of Neji’s broken and battered body. His breath leaving him in great sobbing heaves. His whole body was shaking. From pain, from exhaustion and from the feeling of total loss.

Blindly he stared at the hairtie, still tightly clasp in his hand, the two bugs crushed in his unforgiving grip.

‘Shino will have a fit’, he thought. Macabre, really, how that was all his brain could come up with at this moment. Where was his genius brain, huh? What good does his 200+ IQ do now? Why does he have a mind that can come up with a hundred different ways too kill a man and yet he can’t help the only one person in his life that he had ever and will ever love? If this was all he could do with his genius than he really was better of with no brain at all.

Just when he was about to get up and return to the hotel, the blurry outlines of a person came into his line of sight. Looking up, he saw into the concerned face of an elderly woman.

“My dear, what are you doing here at this hour? And in this weather? This is not the right place for a nap. Now come, run along, back to your house.”

Shika blinked. His mind cleared a little and he managed to croak an answer.

“Sorry, ma’m. But I’m searching for a friend. I’ve lost him this afternoon and I think he is in danger.”

The woman looked surprised. But then something like recognition seemed to lit up her face and she said something that let Shikamaru believe in miracles.

“Do you, by any chance, mean that beautiful young man with that long, dark hair and these strange white eyes? The one who sat under that tree over there?”

Shikamaru jumped to his feet, startling the elderly woman badly enough that she took a step away from him. Bridging the distance and catching her slender shoulders in an almost bruising grip, Shika nearly sobbed in relief.

“Have you seen him? Where is he? Please, tell me!”

The desperation was obvious in his voice and the elderly woman studied his face for a short moment. Then a gentle smile touched her lips when she answered.

“Your beloved had a heat-stroke. He broke down right after his little rest in the shadows. The woman who owned that little stand took him with her. She said she would take care of him. A man carried him to that building over there. I didn’t think much of it at that time but now I find it strange because that house was abandoned a few months ago. I don’t know what happened after that because I had to get back home but maybe someone in there knows what happened to that young man you are so desperately searching for. I pray to God that you find him. Good luck.”

That last sentence was carried away by the wind as Shikamaru ran towards the building the woman had indicated. His breath rattling in his chest and his blood pumping hotly in his veins, slipping and sliding he made his way through the mud until he stood directly in front of an old and worn door. Now, with his hoped at least a little bit restored, his brain functioned like a clockwork. Examining the situation, going through several possible scenarios and coming up with the best plan. It was like a high-stake mission. One mistake will cost you your life and the life of your team. Or, in this case the life of the one person he loved with all of his heart. Adrenaline was running through his body, leaving him high strung and alert although his body was at the verge of giving out on him. But he had to make it. He had to save Neji. He just had to.

Slipping quietly into the house through a broken ventilation shaft, Shika took stock of his surroundings. Dust lay thickly on every surface. The air was stale and musty, the wood was mouldy. This house was abandoned all right. There was a staircase leading tothe next upper floor. Squinting in the darkness, Shika was able to make out two different kinds of footsteps in the dust, indicating that two people had walked this way not so long ago. Just when he decided to to first look for an escape route he heard something that let his blood run cold and bile rise in the back of his throat.

The scream was telling of pure terror and pain beyhond everything imaginable. Long, drawn-out and high-pitched.

Shikamaru’s brain short-circuited. Taking two stairs at once he burst through the only door where he could see a faint light spilling into the hallway.

In the short time it had taken him to get there he had already flung together a deadly mixture of strung-together kunais, exploding tags and smoke bombs. His hands, only minutes ago shaking in fear, now flew through the often exercised motions. Creating a net of weapons and traps. His eyes scanned the room in a split second, taking in every detail and the exact position of the people in the room. He wasted no time on the state in which said people where in. That would come later. Now he had to focus on the situation so there could be a later.

Letting his hands come together in a familiar gesture, his shadow raced across the floor towards the one person that would not survive this day, splitting off into numerous sharp tendrils so as to pierce her heart, lungs and other vital points.

But it would have been too easy of course. She wouldn’t have been able to wreak that much havoc if she had been an ordinary woman. Oh no, she wasn’t, not by far. Amazing reflexes kept her from being captured or punctured by shadows. Spinning, twirling, jumping and twisting in a deadly dance that could end any way. Death for her or death for her hunter.

Shikamaru felt sweat run down his spine. Damn, she was good. This took longer than he had anticipated. Too long.

The sinister smile that suddenly twisted delicate features showed that she knew of her advantage. With a crazed mockery of a laugh she spun around again and then suddenly leaped right at the bed where her pretty, pretty prey lay still and quiet. Pale eyes closed tightly. She started to say how beautiful he was, bleeding like that. And that he didn’t have to worry about the little interruption. She wanted to tell him to wait just a minute longer until she had disposed of the nuisance, when she saw the little smile playing around the sensual lip of her prey. Stopping dead in her tracks, irritated beyhond believe, her head whipped around to the other one in the room.

His triumphant smirk was the last thing she saw in her wreched life as everything around her blew up, engulfing her body in flames, burning her down to the bone. Leaving nothing behind except the acrid smell of burned human flesh.

Quietly Shikamaru went to the bed, fearing what he might see. He had risked a lot just now and he hoped it hadn’t been in vain.

Reaching the bed, he looked down at the slender figure that lay on it. Blood had soaked the mattress, dripping through it to the floor. So much of it, too much. Nobody should be able to survive that much bloodloss. There were cuts and holes. And it seemed like there were pieces of flesh cut out from the body, leaving gaping wounds. Broken bones were sticking through flesh and the breath rattled in punctured lungs. The hair, that beautiful, long, shining hair was matted with blood. But Neji’s eyes, his brilliant silvery eyes were wide open, looking at him, recognizing him. Thanking him.

Shikamaru, still somewhat in field mode, began ripping his clothes to shreds, using them as makeshift bandages. Afterwards he made a bunshin of himself and transformed it into a messenger bird, sending it to Konoha with an urgent request for Tsunade-sama to get here as soon as possible.

And then the waiting began. Minutes ticked by. The sun rose as the new day began, shedding light on the horrible scene. Neji’s breathing started to get shallow, his pale complexion became deathly white, his eyes slowly closed and Shikamaru prayed. He prayed to every deity that had ever existed. He begged Neji to not give up, not now. Not when help was only a few minutes away. When nothing seemed to get through to the almost unconscious man he started to threaten him that if he died now then Shika would find a way to follow him. At that Neji slowly cracked his eyes open a little bit. But the look in them made Shika wish he had kept them closed. It was a resigned look. A look of defeat. Of someone who knew what the situation was like. Of someone who had accepted death. Of someone dying.

Tears burned their way down Shikamaru’s cheeks, falling unbidden and unheeded to the sticky floor. He couldn’t take it. He just couldn’t. The agonizing hours he had spend searching for Neji, the hopelessness, the moment his heart broke only to be healed when he learned that there was still a chance. The fight and his victory… all that, only to fail now. Only to be unable to do anything but sit by and watch his love die. It was in that moment, in that fraction of time where Shikamaru was about to break, that he heard the sound of wings flapping.

Looking up he saw a falcon sitting at the windowsill, bearing the Konoha sigil and a small scroll. He tried to stand up but his legs failed him. Extending his arm towards the bird he waited. The falcon flew over to him, settling on his outstrechted arm. Shikamaru unbound the scroll and read the message.

‘We are almost there. Don’t give up.”

He could have screamed in joy but his sore throat prevented that. Turning around he looked at Neji – who was lieing still on the bed. No lifting of his chest indicating that he was still breathing.

“NO! Damnit, no. Don’t you dare, Neji! You hear me? You stubborn fool, listen to me. You cannot die now. Tsunade is almost here to save you so don’t go and fucking die now. Neji! I need you! I love you! So please stay with me. Please, Neji, don’t go..please, please…don’t.”

At the end his voice was gone but he kept mouthing his plea silently over and over again until he felt a strong hand on his shoulder and he looked into the concerned face of Shizune. Then, and only then, when he realized that Tsunade was there, did he stop pleading with Neji to stay alive.

Tsunade pressed her hand against Neji ribcage, sending strong pulses of chakra to his heart, concentrating her full knowledge on reviving the young Hyuuga. And then suddenly there it was, only a slight flutter but enough to work with, enough to strenghten further into a steady albeit weak pulse.

Turning her head, her hands continuing her work on the horribly tormented boy, she took one look at the genius sitting beside the bed. The worry etched into his features made her smile and she nodded to him that, yes, he’s going to make it.

Then, and only then, did Shikamaru Nara let darkness surround him as unconsciousness claimed him.

~*~

TBC
Well, that was it. The grand battle and the most angsty part of the story. I hope I didn’t overdo it or ruined it in any way. It just kept coming and coming and now I’m dead tired. My eyes are burning, my fingers hurt and my neck is killing me but I’m happy to have this chapter behind me. I think it didn’t turn out too bad but let me know what you think. And of course I apologize for whatever mistakes I made. I re-read the whole damn thing but I couldn’t, for the life of me, find anything. That’s typical for me. So, if you find anything just tell me ^_^