A/N: Long chapter ahead to make up for my long absence. This literally took 2 years to write, mainly because I lost drive and inspiration, but real life got in the way as well. But I guess I'm back (?) so... Welcome home to me? 

Anyway, enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

44

Her mind was like a labyrinth. Every turn led to more corners, more corridors. It was dark and filled with closed doors. Each step she took produced a hollow echo.

"Stay close Ino," the older woman directed. "It's easy to get lost in these... halls."

Ino nodded obediently and followed her aunt. Yamanaka Suki was Inoichi's younger sister who had decided to follow Inoichi's career path. Like him, she worked as an investigator, and the clan head had directly trained her in the art of interrogation and information gathering. When Ino begun to show interest in her father's field, Inoichi then passed on their family jutsu and taught Ino their trade. Soon, it was evident that Ino could potentially surpass Inoichi, and when the said interrogator needed a right hand, Ino was the top candidate. That was why it surprised not only Ino but also Suki that Inoichi entrusted the mission to the latter, instead of his to daughter.

Still, Ino respected her father's decision (albeit a little hurt, since her father had simply told her to be good before he left), while Suki made it a point to carry out all the things Inoichi expected. Today, they are nearer to deciphering the secrets of Fujiwara's mind, as well as uncovering her connection to the Kageboshi.

Suki, Ino and the rest of the team performed a mind jutsu, with each member looking for patterns and stray memories that they could use to tie together the vignettes they have collected. Fujiwara's mind is not something that the team found easy to infiltrate. Just like a heavily secluded forest, it has unexpected twists and turns, with each crevice hiding a secret.

"I think I found something," Suki said as she focused chakra on the mind jutsu. Nearby, Ino tensed and watched closely.

Suki approached the memory carefully while the rest of the team stood by. She pulled it up from the other minor details and sifted through. Unlike the previous memories they collected, this one seems recent and had a dream-like quality. In fact, as the team began to decipher the images, they realized that the dream could not be older than a week.

"This one has a strange feel to it," Suki mused.

The quality of the dream felt recent due to the overall "vibe" it gave off. Firstly, the colors were vivid, without that grainy texture that most old memories have. Next, the perception is that of a participant, meaning everything that the team "sees" are seen from Fujiwara's point of view. Lastly, the images show the recent events that Fujiwara experienced, including her incarceration in the penitentiary.

Ino, who was on standby as a medic per her father's orders, glanced at Fujiwara who was unconscious. Beside her, the monitors beeped steadily, indicating the physical status of the woman. Seeing the stable heartbeat of Fujiwara, Ino focused her attention back to the ongoing investigation.

Suki pulled out the dream, and in it, they saw Fujiwara's cell in the penitentiary. It was a cold and damp room, with only a cot, a sink and a toilet bowl. The walls echoed of faint sobbing and pleas of freedom. Just then, a harsh light was turned on and everybody saw a tall man enter Fujiwara's room.

"You are summoned to the T and I. Please dress up."

The view moved from the man's face to what the investigators presumed to be the clothes Fujiwara was to wear. Suki skipped the few images in which Fujiwara was attending to her personal hygiene and moved on to the scene where Keiko was being escorted to the T and I building. Seeing the scene unfold from Fujiwara's eyes made Ino feel a little weirded off. It was as if she was seeing everything for the first time, and this feeling intensified when Fujiwara was finally seated in one of the interrogation rooms. An associate of Ibiki entered and began the questioning. Fujiwara remained silent all throughout.

"Why are we watching this?" One of the investigators asked Suki. "We already know that she had refused to cooperate before."

"We are looking at things from her perspective," Suki replied. "We may see some intel that she hides from us."

Soon, the images revealed Morino Ibiki, who was then called due to Fujiwara's reluctance to cooperate. At the sight of the scarred interrogator, a chill permeated through the team, as if they were feeling Fujiwara's fear.

"Hello, Scar-face," Fujiwara greeted under a false pretense of bravado.

Ibiki only stared at her with a blank face. The interrogator pulled out a pair of leather gloves from his trench coat and put them on. Afterwards, he walked towards the windows and pulled the shutters down, such that there was only a slit of sunlight, just enough to illuminate the small room. The dim interiors further made the man look intimidating. Then, he pulled a stool and sat across Fujiwara.

"Tell me your real name."

Fujiwara remained silent, but her fear and anxiety was palpable. She glared at Ibiki but the man remained unfazed.

"Tell me your real name."

"I'm not going to tell you anything!"

Ibiki clenched his fist and Fujiwara followed the movement with her eyes. Something dark flashed and then Fujiwara's vision blurred along with a sharp, stinging pain on her cheek.

"Fuck you! You'd hurt a woman?!"

"Why not?" Ibiki said nonchalantly. Then, he reached over and grabbed a fistful of the woman's hair. "Now, tell me all I want to know, and we won't have to mark that beautiful face."

"You fuckhead! The Daimyo will not allow this!"

"Your. Name. Now."

"Fujiwa—"

SLAP!

For those watching the whole ordeal, nothing was new to Ibiki's methods. Like all other shinobi, he's the type to kill and then ask questions later. A hardened veteran, most criminals already quake in their sandals just by hearing his name.

Ino continued to watch, and she admired the woman's determination despite her unwillingness to cooperate. She studied the present-time Keiko for any variations in her vital signs and neurologic damage. So far there were none, so she sent Suki a thumbs up to indicate that they can proceed.

As the investigators delved further into the woman's memories, Ino did some sleuthing of her own. Suki is more lenient compared to Inoichi, so she could join in the mind link, and Ino used this to her advantage. While the investigators studied Fujiwara's behavioral response to the interrogation that Ibiki was conducting in Keiko's memories, Ino studied the different cues in the memory itself, such as Keiko's thought process—the inner monologue that went on in her head while Ibiki was subjecting her to pain.

'Surprising...' Ino mused. 'She isn't reacting mentally that much... could she have shinobi training?' It was quiet in the prisoner's thoughts, as if she was a clean slate. Ino continued to observe, noting the mental blankness—

Something in her leapt, and Ino felt her throat constrict and her heart began to beat faster. She tuned her chakra closer to the memories that the investigation team was pulling up. In all the memories, Ino noticed something.

When a person is subjected to pain, several areas of the brain are activated and there is increased brain activity in these areas. Acute pain induces high mental activity in the parietal lobe, while chronic pain brings more motion in the temporal lobe and the amygdala. Another thing that a person normally goes through when it comes to pain is the body's response to a memory of pain. It has been found that even if the painful experience happened in the past, a person still reacts to it when the painful memory is remembered. Therefore, there should be some sort of mental response to these memories...

"Suki-san! Could you please continue to probe into Fujiwara's memories of our past interrogations? Preferably the ones conducted by Ibiki-san! There's a hypothesis that I want to check!"

Suki frowned. "This isn't the time to be experimenting, Ino. And may I just remind you of your role in this task?"

"Yes, I know that but trust me, this is still within my scope as medic," Ino said, although deep down she knew that what she's about to do relates little with monitoring Keiko's health. "Didn't you guys notice something? There's something off about all these memories we're looking at!" Quickly, she detailed what she had been thinking so far. "There's been no mental response from her if you've noticed. Absolutely nothing. That's strange, and medically unheard of."

"What are you trying to say?" Suki asked.

Ino took a deep breath. "I can't say for sure, that's why I want to do a sweep of her mind, see if my theory is correct."

The other members of the team looked at Keiko, then to Ino and finally to Suki. The older Yamanaka sighed and closed her eyes briefly as if contemplating. After a while, she turned to Ino.

"Alright. Do what you have to do."

Ino nodded dutifully. "Hai." She stepped forward. "For this, I need to be on top of the mindlink."

~~~~~~~~

The fire was cackling quite merrily when Akira arrived.

"Traps are all set," she reported. "The wolves had also been sent to watch."

Neji turned to her. "Thank you, Akira." He motioned for her with a curt nod. Akira approached the group. For a split second, she was about to settle beside the jounin—as if it was the most natural thing to do—but then her eyes strayed to the brunette kunoichi who was watching their exchange, and Akira sat instead beside their ward, Nishida Miho.

She took out a kunai and snapped the woman's restraints off. "An hour, inclusive of time for personal hygiene," she said. Miho nodded and received the bowl that Lee offered her.

The group had decided to rest for the night in a small, secluded section of the forest, just several miles from a river that separates the Land of Fire from the Land of Wind. Their destination was the bridge connecting Ishigakure to the Land of Wind's southernmost territory. The said village was situated between the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth. Seeing as the alliance between Konoha and Suna had strengthened over the years, Neji had thought it wise to approach Ishigakure via the Land of Wind, using the treaty between Konoha and Suna as some sort of "protection" in case Ishigakure tried some dirty moves. Should anything happened, their team could easily retreat to Suna where help is available.

"Isn't that dangerous though?" Akira voice her doubts as they ate dinner. "True, the Kazekage will be gracious enough and honor the treaty, grant us refuge and might even help us if anything bad happens. But we'll be involving them in something that they shouldn't be. Who knows that Ishigakure could come up with?"

"What do you mean?" asked Tenten.

"Isn't it that Ishigakure uses Akatsuki?" replied Akira. "Hokage-sama said this in the briefing. What if we encounter Akatsuki and then flee to Suna? We'd bring Akatsuki to their gates, and worse, Suna might actually refuse to help us."

"Gaara honors his word," said Neji with conviction. "He'll help."

Akira couldn't help but roll her eyes. "It's not a question of faith in Gaara. He might be faithful to the treaty, or to Naruto, or to whoever, but when it comes to the safety of his people against Akatsuki over ours, who do you think the Kazekage will choose?"

There was a pregnant pause within the group. Lee watched the exchange happen, while Tenten mulled silently, brows furrowed. Miho slurped her soup in silence, eyes warily watching Akira and Neji who locked stares. Everybody in the group knew of the strength of Akatsuki, and what had transpired when they took the Kazekage's bijuu. What Gaara had done to protect his village is no secret to anybody.

It was obvious. Should Akatsuki be in Suna again, regardless of reason, the Kazekage's choice would always be Suna over anything.

"We've made it this far, are you suggesting we turn back?" Neji demanded. His voice was level but there was an undercurrent of irritation and displeasure.

"If you had considered my suggestion miles ago, then there wouldn't be this dilemma," Akira retorted as calmly as she could manage.

Neji visibly scoffed at Akira and crossed his arms. "You mean through Kusagakure, then along the rocky mountains of the Land of Earth? How long do you want this mission to go, a month?"

Akira dropped the calm façade and frowned openly. "At least that route avoids Amegakure and Akatsuki. I don't know about you but I still fancy living."

Neji didn't reply, but the two exchanged glares. Initially, the group had agreed on a route prior to their departure from Konoha, but as they neared the western border of the Land of Fire, they encountered one of Konoha's ANBU teams, who advised them to avoid the south-west parts of the border because new Akatsuki activity had been spotted in the area days ago. This bit of information made Akira think of a new route, one that goes northwest instead of southwest, and passes through Kusagakure and the mountain range of the Land of Earth. It was obviously a longer way, but to Akira, it was better than possibly encountering Akatsuki. It is known that Akatsuki's base is in Amegakure. Besides, that part of the planet still had unresolved internal conflicts, which makes it a dangerous village to be in.

Neji disagreed with her. While he acknowledges that there is a higher possibility of engaging Akatsuki in Amegakure, he thinks Akira's proposed route is longer and riskier because it passes through two foreign villages who aren't really in good terms with Konoha. Kusagakure isn't exactly neutral, as it is known that Orochimaru has a base there. Meanwhile, the Land of Earth's mountain range isn't a good place to travel with a special cargo. The unfamiliar territory would make it easy for enemy ninja to spot and ambush them.

"We're nearing the Land of Wind, so I think going with Neji's plan would be best," Tenten remarked.

Neji watched Akira for a reaction but the kunoichi only maintained a flat affect and continued with her meal. Lee only looked on at the exchange between his teammates while noisily munching his own dinner. An awkward stretch of silence ensued.

Later, as he took his post for the night's watch, Neji watched as Akira settled in her sleeping bag, a few paces away from Tenten. The Weapons Mistress had already succumbed to sleep, and to her right, sandwiched between her and Lee was the spy, Miho. Lee was still awake, doing his nightly stretches before bed. The Taijutsu prodigy just couldn't settle without completing his routine, and Neji let him be. Soon enough, the camp was quiet, with only the moonlight dotting the sleeping figures.

He scanned the forest with his Byakugan, and the enhanced vision allowed him to see one of Akira's wolves scouting the perimeter. By its size, Neji figured it was Kuroi. The Ookami walked among the trees, paws barely making any sound, doing its own watch as per Akira's bidding. The kunoichi had volunteered her wolves to do the night watch so that all shinobi could rest, but Neji insisted to do his own patrol. It was not because he was being gallant, but he knew he wouldn't be able to rest easy without sorting out his head for a while.

His eyes strayed towards the red-haired kunoichi, and he could still that she was still awake. Even with the colorless vision the Byakugan afforded him, Neji could make out her green eyes looking ahead the dark treeline. She was lying on her side, using one arm as a pillow, red hair freed from her ponytail. She painted a pretty picture, and despite their little spat earlier, Neji welcomed the sight. To him, it feels like ages since he had just sat and simply watched Akira.

He was tempted to call out to her, ask her for... for what, exactly? A moonlit stroll? Neji scoffed at his own absurd idea. That wasn't his style. Sure, he probably has a romantic side, but he'd rather show it in an indirect manner. Besides, seeing as how Akira was averse of him made him question if it would be a good idea to engage her in a conversation. She may not say it, but he knew the kunoichi was less than pleased with him.

'That's an understatement,' Neji pondered. He then directed his Byakugan at the camp, and saw that Akira had sat up, obviously unable to sleep. Neji knew that they must settle their differences one way or another, and terse silence between them won't solve things. Also, it wouldn't be beneficial for the mission if they were always disagreeing with each other. Akira can be quite hard-headed and while Neji was confident that the kunoichi wouldn't deliberately disobey him as team leader, he doesn't want to take any chances.

Besides—and even this reason was more important for him that the others—he knew he had hurt the girl. That's one truth that he couldn't bear in his conscience.

Finally making up his mind, he jumped down from the tree he was perched on and landed as quietly as he could. It was an advantage that Akira chose to lay her sleeping bag near a thicket of trees. Neji used the dark and the foliage to conceal himself from the other ninjas.

He approached her silently. He knew she's aware of his presence.

She spoke first. "What is it?"

Still in the shadows, Neji answered, "Can we talk?"

Akira's eyes found his even in the darkness. "About?"

He shrugged, unsure how to proceed. Fortunately Akira understood what he was trying to do.

She nodded and followed him away from the campsite and into the forest.

Neji led her a good distance from the camp. Now that Akira was in front of him, Neji was suddenly—surprisingly—at a loss for words. He cursed at himself inwardly for this sudden selective mutism. He used to be able to speak his mind, but who knew that the kunoichi alone can silence him with just her presence?

'Shit I've turned into an absolute mush,' he thought. His Hyuuga pride was stung with the realization.

Still, he tried to break the silence. "What's going on?"

Akira cocked an eyebrow. "You're asking me?"

Neji sighed and kept his temper in check. "Yes, Akira. I'm asking you."

"What do you mean?"

"You're mad at me."

"Oh, so you've only just realized."

"No, I've—wait, what?"

"And you're supposedly a genius. Great."

He had forgotten that Akira's sarcasm can make even the Fifth Hokage lose her temper.

'This isn't how I planned it to go,' he thought. 'Damn Akira, why do you always make things complicated?'

He sighed once more in slight exasperation. "Could you stop being sarcastic for once?"

"I wouldn't be if only you weren't so thick," Akira retorted. "Or are you just playing dumb?"

"Look, I want us to sort things out, not throw around rhetorical questions."

"It's not me who needs to 'sort things out', Neji," Akira glared at him, but beneath that, Neji saw undertones of hurt. "I know exactly where I stand. It's you who needs to get things straight."

"Well, I am trying to," Neji returned her glare. "Right now, we are in a mission and you keep disagreeing with—"

It was at that importune moment that they heard a sharp howl. It was as if some divine force snapped their fingers and the world tipped in its axis. A chorus of howls and shouts of alarm from the campsite, and the sound of feet moving.

Akira and Neji shared an alarmed glance, and in unspoken agreement, both shinobi sprung to action. Akira whistled for the nearest Ookami, and when a blur of white heeded her call, Akira wasted no time and mounted the wolf's back and headed straight to the campsite.

She looked back to see Neji spinning in a Kaiten, effectively deflecting a barrage of weapons aimed at him. She barely had time to mutter a short prayer to whatever god for his safety, when she arrived at the clearing where Lee and Tenten, along with Kuroi and Yuudai, was guarding Nishida Miho from a group of shinobi who were about to attack.

Sachiko dashed and in a spur of adrenaline and chakra, Akira swept Miho by the waist, lugged her on top of the white wolf, and ran towards the forest.

Her arrival caused a slight interference in a battle that was about to ensue, creating a few seconds of opening for Lee and Tenten to coordinate a defensive move against the enemies.

It was apparent that this was an attempt to get the prisoner. Unfortunately for the enemies, Team Gai had prepared for this possibility. The traps they laid out around their campsite was designed to let the enemies "in", only to be caught in a more lethal trap that Tenten had devised. Akira spared her teammates a swift glance, just in time to see their previous campsite ablaze—an indication that Tenten's exploding tags and wires did their job.

Sachiko continued to bolt along the route that Neji had directed in case Miho did try to escape. It was a covert trail that rested just outside Amegakure. The trail ends in a waterfall and following the course of that river, they would end up in the Land of Wind's borders, where hopefully, Suna shinobi would be patrolling.

Another loud explosion sounded, and Akira glanced back. A flood of relief washed over her when she saw the familiar figures of her teammates. Everything's going according to plan—they trap the enemies, she'd take Miho to this route and the rest of the team would join her in not more than 5 to 7 minutes. From the look of things, it was Neji and Lee who were meters away from Akira as she and Sachiko escaped.

However, this sense of relief that Akira felt was short-lived when something hard hit her square in the face. The force caused her to be thrown off Sachiko's back. She fell on the rocky ground and rolled unceremoniously. From a distance, she heard another commotion, and Sachiko's distinct bark that indicated pain.

"Fuck!" Akira yelled as she skidded and bounced on the rough earth. Sachiko was going on full speed before Akira fell, and so the impact had caused the kunoichi to bounce off quite hard on the gnarled roots and stony forest floor.

Grimacing, she stood up, ignoring the sharp pain to her sides and the trickle of blood from her temples. Her main concern was the prisoner and her wolf. Her eyes did a quick sweep of her immediate vicinity. Her teammates were not around, nor could she sense them. Sachiko was also missing.

"Sachiko!" she called out. Akira ran towards where she felt Sachiko's presence. However, before she could reach her Ookami, a punch landed on Akira's jaw.

She turned towards her attacker, simultaneously drawing her katana just in time to block a kunai. Akira leapt back and put enough distance between her and her enemy. The moonlight illuminated Nishida Miho's face and the glint of a kunai in her hand.

Miho's victory was short-lived, because Akai and Kishi emerged from the shadows and barreled towards the woman, their large forms overcoming the prisoner.

Akira spit the troublesome blood in her mouth ('Goddamn, that woman can pack a punch,' she thought) and took out a small scroll where she had sealed the chakra ropes that were issued to them to keep the prisoner in check. It's a special kind of rope that weakens a person's chakra.

Miho continued to resist the two wolves, but the Ookami's strong jaws were locked on the woman's arms.

"I'd stop if I were you," Akira said gravely, "unless you want them to tear you apart." She sheathed her katana and took out the ropes.

"Don't be cocky," Miho retorted. She grunted in pain when Akai bit harder on her arm. "D-do y-you think you're safe j-just b-b-because of your dogs? Y-you have no fucking idea!"

Akira cocked her head, a signal for the two wolves to drag the woman closer to her. Akira hoisted Miho to her legs and the prisoner took this chance to try to fight back, but it was futile.

"Stop struggling, I tell you," Akira muttered as she bound the woman again. Miho spit at Akira. Pissed off, the kunoichi gave the prisoner a sharp punch in the gut, causing Miho to double over.

Akira ignored the woman's groans and motioned to her wolves. "Anybody saw Sachiko?"

"No, Hime."

Akira felt an ugly sensation at the pit of her stomach. Sachiko's injured somewhere, Kuroi and Yuudai are with Neji and the others. She wanted to look for her wolves, but she knew that time was of the essence.

However, before she could do anything else, she sensed movement and the ground shook beneath her as the tall blades of grass turned sharp. Akira and the wolves barely had time to seek higher ground.

Akira managed to land on a tree's branch, so did the two wolves.

"We probably overestimated you Konoha lot," a male voice said.

In the darkness, Akira tried to scout her surroundings. Nishida Miho is now nowhere to be found, and she's surrounded by 5 shinobi. She could sense both her wolves being alive and conscious, but Kishi's wavering chakra told her he was injured somehow.

A feeling of dread crept up in Akira's spine. She's isolated from her team, one of her wolves' is injured somewhere, the other two cannot be summoned, and she and Akai and Kishi are surrounded and outnumbered. The prisoner had already fallen out of their grasp.

Akira knew the priority now shifted from the prisoner's safety, to her own. As Akira tried to conjure the best plan to safely get her and her wolves out of the dire situation, the enemy launched their offensive. From atop the trees, Akira could feel the earth beneath shaking.

"You can hide, Konoha scum, but we'll find you!" one of the enemy shinobi taunted.

Akira hopped off the branch and evaded the kunai thrown her direction. She ran deeper into the forest, hoping to lose the enemy in the thick foliage.

"Akai, Kishi! Are you guys okay?"

Kishi gave a low growl, while Akai answered, "I'm good Hime, but Kishi is hurt. Those grass turn to sharp blades and it got him good."

Akira felt her heart pounding. She has affinity to earth chakra but given that it's five against one and she can't even land on the ground without being slashed to pulp, the situation seemed hopeless. Right now, she and her wolves are trapped.

Akira tried to summon the other wolves, but she refrained. If she summoned them, that might leave Neji, Lee and Tenten in a worse situation. Akira figured out that Yuudai and Kuroi might be in a skirmish with other enemy shinobi, helping out the rest of the team.

'What am I going to do?'

"Ohh little shinobi.... Come out, come out wherever you are...."

Akira pressed herself closer to the tree trunk, using the shadows to hide her presence, and masking her chakra. She prayed to whatever deity that they did not have a sensory ninja with them.

She appraised their location. She was at a pure disadvantage. Although the forest provided cover and shadows to conceal her, it also hid her enemies. Akai and Kishi can be extensions of her senses, but Kishi is injured, and based on the wavering chakra flow of the blue wolf, he seemed to have sustained deep wounds. Akira felt her heart clench, wanting so much to help Kishi but unable to do so without revealing her location. She could only tell the blue wolf to hold on.

She couldn't get back on the ground to fight because one of the shinobis has the ability to manipulate the earth and turn them to sharp spikes, and Akira knows that the moment her feet touch the ground, she'd be impaled.

Her only choice was to retreat.

Or use the Kageboshi to go into a rampage and hope it kills the enemies, not her nor her wolves.

"H-hime..."

"Kishi! Conserve your energy! I'll get us out of here!"

"Listen, hime. There is a body of water nearby... if we follow it downstream, we can reach Suna."

"How—"

Just then, Akira felt a flicker of movement. Before she could react, an exploding tag lodged next to her feet.

The explosion sent Akira falling. Panic rushed through every cell in her body. Instinct kicked in and she flipped on her back mid-air and tried to throw a kunai with a wire to a nearby tree to save herself. But it was futile as she was hit by something sharp and jagged. Her vision blurred and blood filled her mouth. She had enough strength to look down and saw a sharp rock protruding from her side. She had been impaled.

Before she could sense anything else, a loud growl echoed from the forest and Akira had a brief second of clarity. She saw Akai barge through, flames streaming from his mouth as he aimed a fireball at the enemy nearby. The trees caught fire. Burning leaves and branches fell and Akira weakly tried to cover herself with her arms. From a distance, she could hear another series of growls and barks, as both Kishi and Akai tried to fight back. Desperate to help her wolves, Akira tried to free herself, but the more she struggled, the more she bled. Blood and chakra were quickly leaving her.

"Fuck you demon wolf! Where are you now?!"

The ground shook and the forest echoed the hurt howl of the Ookami.

"No! Leave them alone!" Akira yelled in desperation, struggling against the big sharp rock than protruded from the ground up to half her body. She forced her chakra, tried to blast the heavy rock that pierced her side, tears blurring her eyes. "Akai! Kishi!" With whatever was left of the little chakra she had, she formed summoning seals.

"K-K-kyuch-chiyos-se n..."

Her strength faltered. She couldn't finish the jutsu. Coughing up blood, Akira tried to summon whatever strength she has left. Spread-eagled on the ground, impaled by a huge sharp rock, she could only listen helplessly as the enemy shinobi fought her wolves.

She could feel Akai furiously fighting them off with fire ninjutsu, while Kishi was farther up ahead, using the moisture in the ground to defend himself. The enemy shinobi had the good sense to separate Akira from her wolves, knowing that even with the wolves' advanced abilities to use chakra, without her they have lost a pack leader and could only do so much individually.

Akira's vision begun to blur. In a matter of seconds, everything turned black.

'Neji...'

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Neji looked back to see Lee not too far behind him. The taijutsu user looked tousled but nevertheless well enough to resume the mission. The Hyuuga's eyes didn't linger too long at his teammate though, and he used his Byakuugan to search for the rest of the team.

His confidence to the plan was starting to wear off and worry began to creep within him. At first, everything went accordingly: Akira had escaped with Nishida, and 3 of her wolves were at her disposal, giving him the assurance that she would be able to go to their rendezvous point. Yuudai and Kuroi had stayed behind to offer Neji, Lee and Tenten support, and the plan was to hold off any enemy that might come after Akira and the prisoner.

But as Neji, Lee and Tenten fought off enemies, he soon realized that the enemy shinobi were not intent on following Akira and Nishida. Instead, their attacks were meant to keep Neji, Lee and Tenten from pursuing Akira and the prisoner.

"It's an ambush!" Neji yelled as he fought off an enemy and strike it down with Jyuuken. "They're planning to ambush Akira!"

When Yuudai heard this, he bit off the head of one enemy shinobi and barked furiously. "Then we should be heading to where Akira-hime is! She needs us!" The gray wolf had started to leap off into the forest towards the direction where Akira and Sachiko and gone. He motioned to Kuroi who barked in agreement.

Neji turned to Lee and Tenten who were each having their own battles. "Lee, Tenten!" He gave the signal, and the shinobi darted to the forest.

The three shinobi dashed as fast as they could, still evading the enemy that pursued them. With his Byakuugan he could see Yuudai and Kuroi ahead of them, with Lee close behind Neji. When he saw Tenten, Neji felt his heart drop.

"Lee! Tenten had fallen behind!"

Alarm, panic and worry flashed across the taijutsu master's face. "We should go back!" He stopped in his tracks. "Neji! We can't leave her!"

Explosion sounded in the distance, and with his Byakugan, Neji could see how Tenten was overpowered by enemy shinobis. The Weapons Mistress was fighting them off, blades out and slashing as furiously as she could. His enhanced eyesight could see how Tenten's chakra levels were low.

"I'm coming Tenten!" Lee screamed as he prepared to run back to help their teammate. Meanwhile, the enemy shinobi had closed in on them, as kunai attacked them. Neji and Lee leapt back to put distance between them and their assailants.

"Lee wait!" Neji took a second to catch his breath. "Look, they want to keep us here, to make sure we don't get to Akira."

"But we can't leave Tenten!" Lee protested.

"And we can't leave Akira-hime either!" Yuudai growled. "She's alone right now, defending herself and the prisoner!"

"She's not alone, she has the rest of you guys!" Lee reached over to grab Neji's vest. "I'm not leaving Tenten!"

Neji freed himself from Lee's grip. "We're not leaving anybody behind!" he retorted. He did a quick appraisal of the situation, and worry filled every cell of his body. He felt conflicted, as if his mind and heart were being pulled in different directions.

Just then the wolves' ears perked up and the Ookami began growing restless and increasingly agitated. "They got Akira-hime, and Sachiko and Kishi are down!"

Dread filled Neji. He clenched his fists. Tenten was low on chakra. Meanwhile who knows how Akira is faring? She had a good head start that was too far for his Byakugan to sense. For the first time in years, Neji felt panic-- the deadly, immobilizing kind-- as he deliberated what to do.

'Akai, Kishi and Sachiko are supposed to be with her. I can send the wolves, get Lee to-- but! Sachiko is down, and so is Kishi.... if the enemies were able to take the Ookami down then that means she might be dy---'

"Hyuuga!"

Neji snapped out of his thoughts. She turned to Lee, avoiding Yuudai's glare.

"Lee, go with the wolves."

Lee's eyes widened. "But what about Tenten?!"

Neji activated his Byakuugan once more. "I'm going back for her. We meet at the rendezvous point. Go!"

There was a split second of quiet, where Neji's Byakugan met with Yuudai's sharp dark eyes, and both man and wolf understood the decision that Neji made.

Yuudai barked sharply. He knew what his mistress would have wanted. "Kuroi, go with the weird kid and help Akira-Hime. I'm staying with Hyuuga."

Kuroi growled in obedience and barked sharply at Lee. "Come on, hop on my back."

Lee and Neji shared one last glance, Lee nodded his understanding. Without another second of hesitation, they parted ways.

As Neji rushed back to help his teammate, he used the Byakuugan to look back to where Lee and Kuroi had disappeared.

'Find her. Please.'

~~~~~~~~~~~

Lee trusted the wolf's instincts as it barreled through the dark forest. He tried to pin his hope on the fact that Neji had always been the smartest among them with good leadership skills, he had Yuudai, a big wolf with him, and Tenten was strong in her own right. Lee could feel his heart beating rapidly, worry consuming him. There was Neji and Tenten to worry about, and then there's also Akira.

When Neji said that there is an ambush waiting for Akira and the prisoner, Lee felt his insides churn. On one hand, he is very scared for Tenten who was left behind battling enemies. But he was also scared for Akira, who although he had only met a few days prior, he had already liked. She was quiet, surly, but she was a teammate. And Lee cares for his team, regardless of how long he had known them.

He saw a different kind of worry in the Hyuuga's eyes though. Lee had learned to read his emotions no matter how hard the Hyuuga hides them. Lee saw the conflict in his eyes, how he seemed to be pulled in opposite directions. It was an awfully difficult decision that the Hyuuga had to make. Lee could only imagine how painful it must have been.

Kuroi had pulled into a sudden halt. "Sachiko!" Lee looked down and gasped. The white wolf was knocked unconscious and was lying on its side. It did not seem to be breathing.

Kuroi howled and sniffed Sachiko, as if trying to revive the young wolf. Lee understood that the dark wolf was worried for its sister, but Lee knew that they have an important mission. "Kuroi, sir, please I know you're worried for Sachiko-san, but---"

Before Lee could finish, Kuroi growled and howled once more. His loud sounds echoed in the forest, making the leaves tremble. Soon Lee realized that it was not just the wind, but something else.

From the shadows, gleaming spots of light glowed. Lee readied his fists, sensing for enemy chakra and readying for an attack. But none came, except for the light sounds of movement from deep in the forest. The spots of light came closer to them, followed by the soft sounds of paws. A group of wolves appeared from the shadows.

But they were unlike the Musha Ookami. These wolves seem like ordinary forest wolves. They were lithe, and had dark gray and white fur, and were significantly smaller than Kuroi. But they bared their fangs as ferociously as Akira's wolves as they appraised Lee. One wolf approached Kuroi, and for a moment, the two canines growled and barked at each other, as if in communication. But soon, the smaller wolf stepped back and bowed its head. The rest of the pack surrounded Sachiko. Kuroi barked once more and dashed away, leaving a chorus of wolf howls behind them. Stupefied, Lee could only watch in silence and confusion.

"Forest wolves," Kuroi said after a while. "They'll look after Sachiko."

Lee nodded although he did not understand wholly. "I hope she'll be okay, Kuroi-san."

Kuroi only grunted and continued his fast pace. "They had seen Akira-hime and tried to help."

Life went back to Lee's limbs. "Is she alright? Was she hurt?"

Event though Lee could not see the wolf's face, he felt its anguish. "Hold on," it said. Lee held his breath as the wolf charged at full speed.

~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: 

Sorry for the long absence. I will do my best to continue the story, but I can't promise to update as frequently as I used to. To be honest, I'm still getting back to the groove, and I have to revisit lots of Naruto episodes and the entire storyline in order to get all the creative juices flowing. I thank you for your patience, and I am very grateful for those who continue to read and support this humble fic. Thank you very much!