one_long_mission

It was one thing to move subconsciously.

It was another to wake and feel it. There was a light hum, faint movement, and from the way his body tensed, she could tell the moment he had opened his eyes and assessed what his position was.

Unlike her, who had woken and indulged, he could not pretend... and he was not certain how to feel about the fact he wished he did not have to move.

They needed to get moving. She said so. They both knew... and finally, he untangled himself and was all-too-glad when he rolled away, his back to her, hiding a blush upon his cheeks as he donned his robe again, securing his sheathed blade after tying his second belt upon his waist. "...what's the enemy's status?" he inquired, hoping his voice sounded sleepy, and not.. well.. not something more incriminating.

"Still almost a day's behind us. We're making good time." She was in no state to note his own voice, forcing herself to maintain her focus. What had possessed her last night to do such a thing, what she was supposed to say or do, why she had laid there... she forced it all out of her mind. Later, perhaps, she'd permit herself the incriminating guilt of something so forward, but for the same reason she could not linger, she also couldn't afford to feel badly about it.

"The village will have at least that long to prepare." She undid the trap and packed it away, glancing toward him and hoping her pale skin didn't show her flush. "Let's get moving."

"A day behind us?" now there was shock. They really -were- moving slowly. "Have they stopped at the temple?" if so, he would laugh at them, because they would find nothing at all there. "If they have, they may be in for a surprise." not only the trapped genjutsu, if they even made it to -that- door, the black flames would eat them whole.

He did get ready to move, although paused fora second as he thought he might have spotted a faint tint upon her cheeks when she angled her head just right where the light filtered from.
He could guess he would be sporting almost the same. What an oddity...

They were eventually on their way once again. "There might be that advance group we came across on our first day too. Spotted those anywhere? Can't be sure if they were coming or going..."

"Indeed." She nodded once and started running again. Though part of it was undeniably their quick pace, the stranger thing was the pace of their small army. "I fear they may be meeting up with other platoons that are out of range of my sight. I have not seen the advance group, which leads me to believe that they have ventured to join another platoon, or headed to the village to scout themselves."

If anything, she only increased her speed. "Keep up, we will need the time."

"Multiple platoons? An advance force scouting our defenses?" he had to admit this sounded bad. "We can't afford to lose another minute. Catch!" he flung her a food pill, not hesitating to crunch upon one himself. "We can't take the chance to rest this evening if we want to have enough time to weed out spies and warn the village about the threat!"

This would, if more than two platoons met, be the biggest threat they would ever face.

She caught it easily and popped it in her mouth, nodding in agreement. There would be adequate time for them to rest the sooner they got back to the village itself. "The movement of spies should become more obvious in these final hours," she added, lowering her weight and keeping her focus straight ahead. "If they are there to be found, we will find them and eliminate them."

Without looking to him, she mentioned, "Your expedition was of great use. I'm certain the village will be happy to thank you for your efforts."

"Hmph. More like my expedition incidentally helped us catch troops moving in coincidentally... but it looks like all the same the result is good for the village... in many--WAUGH!"

It happened quickly. Too quickly. The ground level she could cover flawlessly, but...
Out of the earth, a gigantic antlion had come, the area within a 10 meter radius reduced to a pit of sand. This was the worse encounter they could possibly have made. It was one of the nine chakra-feeding beasts that were a plague to the world. Perhaps, more than likely, it had been drawn to that new energy Sasuke seemed to radiate. "RUN!" he managed to cry out before the monstrous beast pushed him against the sand, strange bristly tendrils latching onto him.

She swore, leaping into the air to avoid the sudden assault even as Chakra flared to her eyes again and she dove to the ground, wheeling to face it.

"Sasuke!"

She wavered for a second, the longest second in her entire life. Her own words almost mocked her; if both of them fell, there would be no one to warn the village, and yet, she'd also sworn not to leave him.

She couldn't debate any longer than that second. A breath, and then in an instant she charged forward, Chakra fueling her steps as she jumped up and latched onto its back. A shout to focus her energy, and she poured almost all of her Chakra into a Juuken, attempting to flood the creature's body and shut down every organ at once.

There was an ear-splitting screech, the large insect's body seeming to implode from the inside as it shook... and then, somewhat anticlimactically, it slumped down, unmoving.

Sasuke had, thankfully, not gotten much of his chakra stolen. He hurriedly freed himself from the sand he had been pushed onto, untangling himself from the loose tendrils before rushing to her.

He wanted to yell at her. If she had gotten attacked as well, what of the village?
He wanted to smother her into an embrace. She had saved him... even if he had told her to run.

"Neji!" concern won over everything, sharingan flashing to life. He could see she had used much chakra from that hit. "A-are you.. okay?" it suddenly dawned on him that she single-handedly defeated one of the mythical, dangerous beasts.

Almost all of her energy had gone into that one blow, her eyes focused on flooding every vein, every inch of that insect's body with the force to kill it, leaving her barely able to control her own fall as it fell. She thudded hard to the ground, only managing to blink up at him for a moment.

Dizzy...

She blinked again, tilting her head as he seemed to move his lips without sound. What was he doing, they had to get to the village...

"Run," she murmured as her eyes slid closed, the toll of channeling that much energy forcing her body to shut down in an attempt to recover, and she slumped down, unconscious.

There was a flash of horror upon his face as he watched her slump into unconsciousness. If they had not -just- taken that food pill, he was certain she would have lacked the energy to perform that kind of jutsu.

Time was running short though. He knew this should have alerted anyone around to their position, since the earth certainly shook upon a wide radius.
He could not benefit from her eyes this time, and he would have to trust his instinct. Kneeling down, he carefully arranged her upon his back before starting in a run, racing towards the village as if death was at his heels.

He had to cover the most ground he could, and should anyone be in his way, they would regret it... He was not letting anyone, anything touch her...

She was completely unaware of their run; as far as she was concerned, Sasuke had left her there beside the beast -- rightfully so, because her weight was a burden that would slow him down.

By the time she had finally recovered enough to start rising to wakefulness, her head pounded from dehydration, and every limb was shaking from muscle exhaustion.

It took a moment to realize what was happening as she tried to blink open her eyes, only to let out a sound of pure fear. Everything was fuzzy around her, as if she had strained her eyes.

But she wasn't alone.

"Wha--?"

Ssauke couldn't stop running, so he held onto her a fraction tighter.

"Neji... you're awake." he didn't feel as relieved as he should though, sharingan seeing her chakra wavering. This generally meant something was off with the body. "How do you feel?"

"Sasuke..."

She had to swallow hard to get enough moisture in her mouth to speak again, even as she relaxed against his back, if only slightly. She could feel they were moving, she just...

"I... eyes. Vision blurred."

"Don't open them" he urged, keeping the alarm out of his voice. He immediately felt guilty. After all, he had her on watch for so long.. Was it the cause? "It might make it worse.." he did hear the scratchiness in her voice, so he stopped after making sure the coast was clear and gently put her down, taking out the water he had been saving. "Here... drink." he gently put a hand onto the back of her head to steady it and slowly, carefully tipped the container.

It was up to him, then, to see them safely to the village with the appropriate information. "Just...as precaution..." there was a tearing of cloth, not about to care about ruining his robe's sleeve, and he loosely tied the cloth around her head to cover her eyes. "You might... need to rest them."

She was trying so hard not to panic at the loss of her sight. It had never happened to her before. Chakra exhaustion of this magnitude had never happened before, and she felt gut-wrenchingly vulnerable.

Neji didn't protest when she was set down, reaching up a hand to intercept the container and help guide it to her lips for several small sips.

A gasp almost escaped her lips at the sudden feeling of cloth being tied around her eyes, and she almost started to protest before she saw the logic of the argument and relaxed again, letting her eyes fall closed as he tied the cloth over them.

"My apologies..." she murmured, knowing just how much of an inconvenience this was for him. "You should keep moving. How far...?"

"...more than half a day..." he was about to ask if she could last, but realized it was a stupid question.

He gathered her on his back once more when she was ready after securing the water container again, taking a sip from it before storing it away... and as soon as he could, he was running.
Getting her to safety, after all, was the least he owed her. "..you..." he murmured after a while. "...saved my life... back there.."

"You should... hide me. Run faster." Her voice was still groggy as she felt herself being lifted on his back, hating every moment of this vulnerability. If he put her down, he could run faster, farther. Nevermind that she knew if anyone came across her, any Shourisha, her fate was as good as sealed.

And she didn't bother to answer his statement. It was fact, after all. She had saved his life, and saw no need to comment further on it.

He could hide her... run faster without the added weight and the complications, but...

"I won't look back upon my actions and feel shame. It would be a crime to abandon you into enemy territory." they knew there were many units as well. "I will not dishonor my clan in such a way." Not my clan.... or my heart.

It was also his fault that this beast came. He knew he had been its target.

"Sasuke..."

She was starting to nod off again, the trembling of her muscles unceasing.

"...Thank you," she murmured, pillowing her head against his shoulder and letting herself surrender to the deeper blackness encroaching on her vision.

That he would do such a thing... she knew she had made the right decision.

The first thing he did when getting back to the village -after taking care of three Shourisha he saw hanging too close to his liking- he immediately dropped her off at a doctor's and quickly listed the possible triggers to her condition, leaving to report to the village's leader.

He left a few things out, but did list the whole possible threats, and requested if any possible to be part of the defense force.
After being given his leave, he was back at Neji's side, worry plain in his eyes as he rushed back to where he had left her at the doctor's office.

By the time he came back, Neji was propped up against pillows; awake, but with a strip of clean bandage wrapped around her eyes. At the sound of someone entering, she turned her head, listening to the doctor repeat what he had told her previously. That she had badly strained her Chakra network, and especially the sensitive vessels around her eyes. She would recover, but it would take more time than they had before the inevitable battle.

He added that if Sasuke wanted to guide her back to her home, that would be appreciated, as he needed to ensure his clinic had space when the fighting started, though Neji made a face at the mention of her home.

With his explanations, the doctor retired to attend to other tasks, leaving Neji there with Sasuke.

Sasuke thanked the doctor and slowly made his way to the bed, making sure she was aware he was there before sitting on it.

Her home. He had to take her to her clan's barracks?There was no way he would. She would be seen as a disgrace because they would get it all wrong, because most likely they wouldn't bother believing him. He saw her expression, she did not want to go there.

"If you want, I can take you to my home." he offered in a soft voice.

She turned her head toward him head tilted as she listened to his movements across the floor, surmising from the way the bed sank slightly that he'd taken a seat.

"...That is not necessary," she murmured, though without her eyesight, her expression was more open than usual. She did not want to return to her uncle's, be sneered at for being foolish enough to strain her eyes.

"I didn't ask if it was necessary. I asked if you wanted me to take you to my home until your vision was back to normal." he reiterated calmly.

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