Ties That Bind - Part 1

It was a training mission. That was all it was supposed to be. Just the usual sort of stupid stuff genin were assigned to. Hokage-sama had declared that since the five of them had worked so well together chasing after Sasuke, they were to become a special unit under Shikamaru's leadership, and train as such. When the blonde moron had left to go train with Jiraiya, Lee had taken his place, and it worked well enough.

Not to say they didn't have their personality differences. But when it came to crunch time, there was nobody any of them would rather have at their backs than the rest of the group.

Right now was crunch time, and it bloody well wasn't supposed to be. Kiba snarled and ducked the stab of a razor-sharp kunai, then ducked into a roll and tumbled out of the way of the attack from behind him. Hokage-sama had sent them out into the forest for 'battle games', pitting them against the rest of the genin teams, including this year's newest batch. They were armed with dull, paint-edged weapons and bombs, not live steel. It had been fun, actually... until these strange ninja showed up, who apparently didn't know and didn't care about the rules of the game.

Their headbands had a symbol he didn't immediately recognize, but it looked water-related. He wasn't sure if they were targeting all the Konoha ninja out in the field, or just his group; he hadn't had time to even look around to see how his own team was faring, let alone check on the rest of the teams. Fighting live steel with dull weapons was no joke; especially considering these seemed to be at least chuunin level ninja.

The man in front of him went down screaming, and Akamaru leapt off the bloody mess of his back. Grinning at his partner, Kiba signalled him to change forms and ready for one of their spinning attacks. Their jutsu, at least, wasn't dulled or otherwise affected for the war games.

Once they'd cleared a bit of breathing space, Kiba put his back to a tree with Akamaru crouched in front of him, and took a look around. Shikamaru had captured the shadow of one of the enemy, and was using him to fend off two of his fellows. Chouji wasn't doing much damage, but he was keeping the enemy scattered, unable to regroup and attack the five Konoha. It looked like Lee had taken at least one down, and was fighting circles around two more. And Neji...

Well, Neji was cutting his usual swath of destruction through the enemy forces. Which was good because, as Kiba squinted and studied the pattern of the battle, it looked like most of them were concentrating on the Hyuuga scion. It could be simply because Neji was the biggest, most obvious threat of the group, but Kiba sensed there was more to it than that.

He'd started moving before he was even consciously aware of what it was he'd seen that had set him off. The ninja at the back of the enemies, the one hiding half in the shadows, was forming an unfamiliar pattern of seals with his hands as he stared... at Neji's back. And while Kiba was well aware that Neji effectively had 360 degree vision, the rest of the fighters just might be keeping him distracted enough that he wouldn't see it.

Shouting warnings that he knew weren't going to be heard over the noise of battle, he threw himself towards his teammate even as the enemy apparently finished his jutsu and a wave of crackling green chakra swept towards Neji. It would be a race to see which would reach Neji first - Kiba, or the jutsu. And he wasn't sure which of them would win.

Neji might have 360 degree vision, and he might be faster than any human had a right to be, but even he could be overwhelmed by 5 jounin all attacking him at once - particularly when the 6th was only standing there making patterns with his hands, rather than throwing punches and kunai at him.

When the flare of light headed towards him, however, and he heard Kiba's shout, he was already moving. He turned, dodging, but the jutsu turned in mid-air, arrowing towards him with pinpoint precision. It was somehow tied to him, like a heat-seeking missile!

The jutsu slammed into him, knocking him off his feet. He felt the green energy sink into him and spread through his body and he let out a shout, expecting something horrible to happen at any moment.

Instead, however, the green energy suddenly erupted from his chest again. The whole impact had taken less than a second, and Kiba was still moving, momentum carrying him between Neji and his attacker as the green energy deflected, heading back towards the attacker. It slammed into Kiba, but with none of the force with which it had hit Neji, dissipating instantly as it touched the other ninja.

Kiba staggered, taken off guard. He'd braced himself for the impact when he'd realized the chakra was about to hit him, and the lack of any apparent effect threw him off balance. He thought he heard the caster cursing furiously, but he didn't have time to worry about it - he'd just put himself into the middle of the group that had been attacking Neji. And they seemed rather pissed off at him, for some reason.

Yelping, he just barely managed to dodge a blow that would have ripped him open from thigh to shoulder. He found himself next to Neji, and could hear Akamaru growling and snapping along the outside edges of the circle, in his red form. "You okay?" he shouted to Neji, perplexed. What had that jutsu been for?

Neji nodded quickly, unleashing a flurry of blows at an unfortunate attacker who had gotten too close, and felling him within seconds. The man lay on the ground, immobile, crying out as his chakra points were sealed. "I'm fine!" he growled. "I think the jutsu failed, whatever it was. You're OK, too?" he added.

The man who had cast the jutsu looked to be trying again, but suddenly Lee came out of nowhere, a battle cry on his lips, and delivered several punches. Somehow the man blocked Lee's attack and fled, shouting to his fellows. "Forget him for now!"

The strangers vanished as quickly as they'd appeared, leaving five rather battered and exhausted Konoha shinobi behind. Kiba and Akamaru would have chased after them, but Shikamaru held them back. "If we go chasing after them, they'll be at an advantage," the chuunin said. "They could be setting traps and ambushes, hoping we'll follow." He looked straight at Neji. "They were after you, and I think they wanted you alive."

Neji stared at Shikamaru for a moment. He'd been fighting so hard throughout the battle he hadn't had time to see how the others were doing. For all he knew, they had been attacked by thirty men - at least, that's how it had seemed for a while.

Then he sighed, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. "I suppose they wanted a Hyuuga," he said in resignation. This was getting tiresome.

"How cowardly!" Lee blustered, striking a pose. Then he sobered. "Neji, you should go back to the village, and tell them what happened. There could be more of them."

Kiba wiped the back of his wrist across his forehead to keep the mixture of sweat and blood there from dripping into his eyes. Unfortunately his hand was just as bloody as the rest of him, so he wound up smearing the blood across his face instead. He rolled his eyes and growled under his breath. At least most of it wasn't his. Well, that's what happened when you had to fight with fists and teeth, you got messy.

Back in dog form, Akamaru staggered up to him and flopped down at his feet, exhausted from the transformations. "We should check on the other teams," he said, scooping the puppy up and cradling him protectively. "We're the most senior ones in the field. They might not only have been after Neji."

Shikamaru nodded. "Lee, Chouji and I will check on the others. Kiba, Akamaru's wiped out, so you go with Neji back to Konoha and inform the Hokage."

"Hey, we can still fight!" Kiba protested, not wanting to be relegated to the sidelines because of a perceived weakness. Akamaru lifted his head and barked his agreement, ruffling his bloody fur up and growling at Shikamaru to prove that he was still battle-ready.

"If you couldn't, I'd be sending someone else with you as well," Shikamaru informed him, rolling his eyes in that way he had. You could practically hear him muttering about 'troublesome', even though he hadn't actually said it. "Go! The sooner you get back, the sooner Konoha can send some jounin out after those guys to make sure they don't come back!"

Neji nodded, accepting Shikamaru's instructions. "Come on, Kiba, we should allow the healers to check us out, anyway, to make sure there are no lingering effects of the jutsu," he said calmly.

Lee gave them a thumbs-up. "Don't worry!" he said. "We'll make sure the forest is cleared of enemies."

It didn't take them long to get back to the city walls - they'd only been a few miles away. The look on Neji's face and the blood spattered over Kiba cleared their way on the busy streets, as they hurried towards the center of the city where the shinobi headquarters were. "Hey, maybe you should go warn your family," it occurred to Kiba. "Hinata wasn't out today because she's supposed to be training with the healers, but who knows where Hanabi or the rest of the Hyuuga are."

Neji hesitated, then nodded. "Good idea. I'll meet you back here shortly," he said, turning and racing off in the other direction. He got about five steps away, and then suddenly changed direction, running back towards Kiba. He skidded to a halt next to the other boy and blinked at him perplexedly. Why did I come back? I've forgotten.

Kiba gave him a funny look. "What? Did you forget something?" he asked, blinking. Neji looked a little - confused, like he didn't know where he was going. A little worried, Kiba added, "That stupid jutsu didn't affect your memories or something, did it? You still know how to get home?"

Neji frowned. "Yes, of course I know where I'm going," he growled. Stubbornly, he about-faced and stalked off again. This time he didn't get quite as far - perhaps ten or twelve feet, before he found himself walking back towards Kiba. The change in direction was so natural he didn't even realize he was going the wrong way until he'd taken two or three steps back towards Kiba. He stopped again, the consternation darkening towards anger. What the hell?

Kiba had still been heading for the Hokage's tower; when he glanced over his shoulder and saw that Neji was behind him again, he came to a stop as well. There was anger as well as confusion now on the Hyuuga's face - a combination that didn't bode well for anyone in the vicinity. Such as Kiba.

He knew he shouldn't say anything... but his tongue got away from him. "What the hell, man, the Hyuuga compound is that way," he said, pointing.

"I know!" Neji snapped. Snarling, he about-faced once more, but again he only got a few steps before he turned around and headed for Kiba again. He stopped, clenching his fists at his sides, murderous frustration flickering over his normally-impassive face.

This time Kiba hadn't moved, just stood there and watched. He blinked as he found himself face to face with his teammate again. "Ok... you stand there, and I'll walk away," he said, a suspicion forming in his mind. "Just... don't move." He started backing away, one step at a time, ignoring the odd looks the people around them were casting their way.

Neji stood there for a moment, watching Kiba. As the other boy reached the limit of whatever invisible cord was connecting them, Neji began to walk forward. It took a few steps before he realized he was doing it, and when the realization hit him, his eyes widened and he tried to stop. His feet seemed to ignore his commands, though, and he just kept walking forward, at the same pace that Kiba was retreating.

Halting, Kiba studied him for a long moment. It was fairly obvious that Neji hadn't intended to follow him, had in fact actively tried to stop walking. The expression on the Hyuuga's face said it all. "Right... I think maybe we'd both better go to the Hokage," he said, eyes narrowing. "I think that jutsu wasn't so ineffective after all."

It made sense... if you wanted to take someone alive and didn't want to have to worry about your prisoner escaping, binding them to you was a good way to do it. Except Kiba had gotten in the way of the return of the chakra. "How were they supposed to keep you from just killing them, though?" he wondered aloud as he started heading for the Hokage's tower again.

"I don't know," Neji growled, following Kiba despite several attempts to just stop walking. "Maybe they had a binding jutsu they were going to cast next. Or maybe there's more to this jutsu than we know as of yet." He glared at the back of Kiba's jacket. Am I going to have to follow him around forever? him?! Why couldn't it at least have been someone I like? Who doesn't live with an inordinate number of furry animals?

Kiba shrugged. They were almost to the tower - he could see the jounin guards at the outer door. Getting past them might prove interesting, but surely this was important enough for the Hokage to deal with herself. "Eh, doesn't matter. Tsunade-baa..." He coughed and hastily corrected himself, darting his eyes around to make sure the woman in question wasn't within hearing range. "I mean, Hokage-sama will be able to get it off, no problem." Naruto had been a bad influence on him. While the blonde twit could get away with saying stuff like that - to the old lady's face, even - she didn't tolerate it from anyone else.

Neji gritted his teeth. "I'm sure someone in this village can," he agreed. He moved a little more quickly, drawing abreast of Kiba so that he was walking under his own power rather than being forced to walk at the same pace as the other boy.

He glared at the jounin guards. "We need to see Hokage-sama, immediately," he declared, the glare intensifying as the guards shifted and glanced at each other.

"She's busy at the moment--" one of them began, but Neji cut him off.

"It's a matter of life and death!"

Never thought I'd be the 'diplomatic' one, Kiba thought to himself with a touch of amusement as he regarded his seething teammate and the disbelieving looks on the jounins' faces. "We have reason to believe the Hyuuga family might be under attack," he inserted quickly. "We were attacked during the battle games... the rest of our team is checking on the other genin, and we came back to report and get Neji out of reach. But he's got some kind of weird jutsu on him."

Neji gave Kiba a look that could kill. Sure, tell the whole village! But the look calmed a fraction when the guards stepped aside. Snarling, he stalked past them, hoping Kiba would follow him quickly enough that he wouldn't end up coming back.

Kiba was almost - almost - tempted to stay where he was, just for a moment. In retaliation for the look Neji had just given him, if nothing else. You're not a little kid any more, he reminded himself as he started after the older genin just before Neji would have turned around. This is serious, not a time for pranks and one-upping each other.

With a soft sigh, he lengthened his stride and caught up to his scowling teammate. "Oi, chill out, will you?" he murmured, running his fingers through Akamaru's fur to try to get some of the drying clots of blood out of it. "It's not that big a deal." Surely Neji wasn't stupid enough to show that kind of attitude to the Hokage, right?

Neji eyed Kiba. "It won't be a big deal, if she can fix it," he growled. "If she can't, then it will be a big deal."

They reached the door and Neji knocked on it, barely managing to restrain himself from pounding on the door and scaling it back to a polite knock.

"If you have even one more piece of paperwork for me, I highly suggest you find someone else to give it to," a low, irritated sounding voice came from within.

Giving Neji a wide-eyed look, Kiba hesitantly pushed the door open. He'd heard Naruto's wild stories about the woman, of course, but he'd put most of it down to the blonde's habit of exaggerating anything he was involved in to make himself look better. He'd only met her a few times himself, and that had always been in formal circumstances. This was the first time he'd really seen any of her famous temper for himself.

"Yes? What do you want?" She glanced up from behind a towering mountain of paperwork to scowl at them. Her eyes were blank for a moment, before recognition dawned. "Oh, it's you two. What are you..." she caught sight of the blood on Kiba, and her eyes widened, then narrowed as she stood and strode towards them.

"How much of that blood is yours?" she demanded as she approached. "And..." her eyes studied Kiba for a moment, then trailed slowly over the air between him and Neji, as if she were following something. Her brow creased in a frown and she planted her hands on her hips, coming to a stop before them. "What the hell did you do to get yourselves hooked together like that?"

Neji sighed, trying desperately not to explode at the Hokage. He glanced down for a moment, and when he looked up, his face was as impassive as it had ever been. "We were attacked, Hokage-sama," he said politely. "While we were out for the war-games, we were attacked by several jounin from a village we didn't recognize. They hit me with a jutsu, and it rebounded onto Kiba." He thinned his lips. "We think they were trying to kidnap me by hooking me to one of them and forcing me to follow them."

"Interesting." She continued to study them for a moment, then strode back towards her desk, gesturing for them to follow her. She didn't pause by the large wooden desk, but instead continued on behind it, throwing open heavy doors there that apparently led out to a balcony.

Leaning over the ledge, she shouted down to the two jounin on guard at the door, right below her. "Taiha! Send a squad out to where the genin were practicing today, there's been an attack. Make sure there's a couple of anbu with them, and some healers, just in case." One of the jounin saluted and vanished in a puff of air.

"Keisuke!" The other jounin saluted. "Get over to the Hyuuga compound, inform them that there's been a thwarted kidnapping attempt on Hyuuga Neji. I want every single member of the family accounted for, five minutes ago!" He vanished as well, and she turned back to them, closing the doors once more.

"Now. Start at the beginning, and tell me everything." Her piercing brown eyes were fixed firmly on Neji.

Neji was suddenly glad that he hadn't just gone to tell his family himself. Much as it galled him, the jounin that had been sent were much more capable of ensure that his family was safe and accounted for.

Then the Hokage fixed her gaze on him and he met it unflinchingly. "I've told you the essentials," he said. "The five of us were out in the forest, and were suddenly ambushed." He glanced at Kiba. "I don't know how many there were, but at least 5 of them attacked me. I'm sure there were more, but I didn't have time to count. We were fighting well, and then a sixth one attacked me from behind with a jutsu. A blast of green chakra was sent at me, and when I dodged, it followed and hit me. It knocked me off my feet, but then seemed to bounce back. Kiba had been trying to block the jutsu with his own body--" his voice was derisive, reflecting how stupid he thought that action had been. "--but he was too slow. However, when it deflected, he was between me and the other ninja, and it hit him. However, it dissipated immediately when it hit him, and didn't seem to have any effect." He sighed softly. "Now when I try to move away from him, I suddenly find myself moving back towards him, and when he goes somewhere, I have to follow. I can't stop."

"I was not trying to block the jutsu with my body," Kiba protested, affronted that Neji thought he was that stupid. "I was trying to push you out of the way, I just wasn't fast enough." He shook his head, and looked at Tsunade. "I saw the last couple of seals he made..." he reeled off the list, and shrugged. "I dunno how long he was at it before I spotted him, though."

"Quite a while, if this is the jutsu I think it is," she said, frowning and tapping a finger against her hip. "Hard to say with only the last six seals to go on, though. Well, there's one easy way to test it, I suppose..."

With no further warning, she lifted her hand and negligently flicked one finger against Kiba's forehead protector. The next thing he knew, he was slumped on the floor against the nearest wall, seeing stars. He'd dropped Akamaru, who was now barking angrily at the unsmiling woman. Tsunade's eyes were once again on Neji, however.

Neji had let out a cry at the same instant she hit Kiba. He sprawled in the direction Kiba flew, as his body tried desperately to keep the distance between them constant, even as his head exploded in pain. He lay on the floor, dazed.

"Well, that answers that." She sighed, her tone more resigned than apologetic. A little dazed, Kiba picked himself back up and moved closer so Neji wouldn't have to crawl to him or something. His steps were a little unsteady, though. Good gods, the woman had that much power in a finger? Maybe Naruto hadn't been exaggerating after all.

"So. Do you want the good news first, or the bad news?" she asked them, raising an eyebrow.

Neji blinked, taking longer to recover than Kiba. He pushed himself to a sitting position, still shaking his head to clear it. "Bad news first," he said. What the hell just happened?

Perching herself on the edge of her desk, Tsunade obliged him. "The bad news is that, while it is very easy for the person who cast the original jutsu to remove it, it's very difficult for anyone else to do so." She shrugged. "Jiraiya would be able to do it in a matter of hours, but he's out of reach. The third Hokage would have had an even easier time of it, but he's rather out of the question as well. I can do it... with at least a full day of intense concentration, and using up pretty much my all of my chakra reserves, which I don't have the luxury to do right now."

Kiba groaned. "Great. So what's the good news?"

A hint of a smile crossed her lips. "The good news is that it does eventually dissipate on its own. Human chakra isn't designed to be connected to someone else's like that, and eventually it will fall apart. It could take several days, but probably not more than a week."

"A week?" Neji blurted. "I have to follow him around for a WEEK?!" Immediately colouring, he looked away from both of them, trying to regain his control. He hated this.

"Hey, I'm not any happier about it than you are!" Kiba retorted, glaring back at him. Akamaru growled and barked, expressing his opinion of the whole thing.

"I'll leave it up to you how you want to handle it," she said. "The Hyuuga compounded will be better guarded, of course... but nobody is going to think to look for you at the Inuzuka compound, Neji. You might just be safer there." Standing, she gestured at the door. "Either way, I have to get to work. From your description of their symbols, I think I might know who they are, and we're going to have to strengthen all of Konoha's defences."

Neji climbed to his feet, ignoring Kiba's words and keeping his eyes on the Hokage. "Do you believe I'm in danger in the Hyuuga compound, Hokage-sama?" he asked frankly. He couldn't imagine that the jounin they'd fought - fought off as genin - would have a prayer trying to break into the Hyuuga compound, after all.

"Well, that depends on whether the people sent this time were their main force, or just a testing probe, expecting no resistance from a bunch of genin," she replied. "If I truly thought you were in danger, though, you can be sure I wouldn't be leaving it up to your judgement." That hint of a smile crossed her lips again, a little broader this time. "I don't think either of you is going to fit very well into the other's life, so I don't think it really matters which way you decide. It's going to be chaos."

Neji sighed, agreeing with that assessment. "Thank you for your time, Hokage-sama," he said quietly, turning and moving towards the door. "Can we go, Kiba?" he asked, his resentment over the whole situation eloquently expressed through his biting, sarcastic tone.

"Huh?" Momentarily startled by Neji asking his opinion, he flushed slightly when he remembered. "Oh, yeah. Sure." Scooping up the still grumbling puppy, he bowed quickly to the Hokage and headed for the door. "Thank you, Hokage-sama."

"Whatever you do, don't go outside the village walls until this has been cleared up!" she called after them, almost as an afterthought, just before the heavy doors thudded closed and cut her off.

"So now what?" Kiba asked, feeling a little helpless. He could just imagine his mother's reaction if he came home with Neji in tow... 'He followed me home, kaa-san, can I keep him?' He stifled an inappropriate snicker.

Neji sighed, heading out of the Hokage's pagoda and turning automatically in the direction of home. "I'm not going back to your place," he growled. "We're going to my compound and finding a place where we can sleep comfortably." And by comfortably, he meant 'hopefully with a wall between us'.

"What makes you think I'm any more eager to go to your place than you are to go to mine?" Kiba asked, miffed. The last thing he wanted to do was spend the night, much less the week, in the Hyuuga compound. He'd been there a few times, when he was waiting for Hinata for something or other. It was... large, and forbidding, and rather sterile, much like the people who inhabited it. All the perfectly clean, pale stone walls and floors intimidated him, not to mention the tastefully displayed (and probably very expensive) art objects. Just a few minutes in there could make him long for his own warm, welcoming home. He didn't know how Hinata could stand it, frankly.

It occurred to him that he could just start walking towards home, and Neji would have no choice but to follow him. It wasn't Kiba who was stuck, here. But he felt bad about just making a unilateral decision - even if Neji didn't seem to have the same hesitation.

Of course, if he lost this argument, he might have to reconsider how guilty he really felt.

Neji frowned at him. "Why wouldn't you want to go there?" he asked. "What's wrong with it? It's big, it's well-protected. It's clean and safe. It might be full of my clan members, but no place is perfect," he added with an ironic twist of his lips.

"Why wouldn't I want to go there?" Kiba rolled his eyes, and Akamaru barked in sympathy. "I dunno, primarily because it's not my home. What's wrong with my place? It's big, well-guarded, and doesn't have any members of your family around." Akamaru barked again and growled, and Kiba grinned. "Two against one, you're outvoted."

Neji glared at Akamaru. "How do I know that's what he said?" he asked archly. He has a point, but... "And your place is filled with dogs. That's what's wrong with it. Every inch is probably covered in hair."

"You've obviously never met my mother," Kiba said dryly. "She does not tolerate mess or disorganization in her domain. And have you really not figured out by now that Akamaru and I can talk to each other just fine?" He gave Neji a puzzled look.

He had to admit he felt a little guilty about insisting on going to his house. After all, Neji was really the one suffering here, not Kiba. Kiba could go wherever he wanted; Neji couldn't leave his side. The least Kiba could do was let him stay in familiar territory. "All right, we'll stay at your place," he gave in. "This should be interesting," he added under his breath, remembering the Hokage's words.

I know you can talk to him just fine, Neji thought resentfully, biting his tongue. But that doesn't mean you're translating correctly. He sighed softly, not feeling a bit of guilt over insisting Kiba come to his own place, but starting to feel a little childish over the way he was acting. "Thank you," he said grudgingly, moving slowly towards the direction of the Hyuuga compound.

"Just tell me the first place we're heading for is somewhere we can get clean," Kiba muttered, trotting after him and catching up beside him. "Akamaru, I know you're wiped, but are you up to carrying a message?"

The puppy barked agreement, tail wagging to show he hadn't lost all energy just yet. "Tell kaa-san where I am, okay? Don't let her yell at you too much, it's not your fault." He ruffled the puppy's ears. "And you might as well stay there." He'd always felt a little uncomfortable bringing Akamaru into the Hyuuga compound in the past, but that had only been for a few minutes at a time. He had a feeling the Hyuuga family wouldn't think much of a puppy - bloody or not - tramping around in their pristine halls. "No reason both of us should be miserable," he added in a private undertone when Akamaru whined at the idea of being separated from him.

Neji frowned at Kiba over his shoulder and blinked at him slowly. He's really that uncomfortable coming to the compound? Why? He's totally overreacting. It's not as though anyone's going to hurt him there. He doesn't need to send away his dog.

With a last sighing whine, Akamaru agreed to Kiba's request and hopped down out of his arms, trotting back in the direction they'd just come from. The Inuzuka compound was just about as far as you could get from the Hyuuga family, and still be inside the Konoha walls. Keeping his face neutral, Kiba turned back to Neji, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"So, something tells me your family's not going to be overly impressed with this mess," he commented, rolling his eyes. He tried to keep his tone light, but a little of his worry for Hinata leaked through. "Hope everyone else is safe."

"No, they probably won't be impressed," Neji growled, and then he sighed. "I hope so, too. At least most of them have the abilities to be able to repel an attack, but that jutsu was very difficult to avoid. If it hadn't--" he realized what he was going to say and swallowed, irritated with himself, but finished the thought. "If it hadn't been for you, I'd have been captured."

Kiba rubbed at the back of his head, a little embarrassed at what basically amounted to thanks from Neji of all people. "You'd have done the same for me," he finally said, shrugging it off. "And hey, there're worse people you could have been stuck with. Lee, for example. Or Shino." He snickered at the thought of Shino and his bugs crawling all over the Hyuuga compound.

Neji shuddered. "I hadn't thought of that," he said. "I suppose it could be worse." He glanced at Kiba and added grudgingly. "I'm sure this is almost as bad for you as it is for me. I apologize for my...mood."

"Heh." Kiba had to smile at that. "Trust me, if our positions were reversed, you'd be dealing with more than just a mood from me." His laughter faded a bit as he considered the situation. "It really is a nasty jutsu. You can't get away, and you can't attack the person you're bonded to, because it'd hurt you too. You could suicide, but that's about it."

"I'd rather kill the one I'm bonded to then suicide," Neji pointed out. "I'd still be dead, but at least so would they." He blinked, then added. "Well, I wouldn't kill you. I mean if you were my attacker." He thought about the hit the Hokage had inflicted and frowned. It seemed to hit me worse than Kiba, as well. I suppose that's part of the jutsu.

"For all we know there's something built into the spell to keep you from actually killing him, or yourself for that matter," Kiba replied, shrugging. "I'm not gonna try it to find out, that's for sure!"

Neji shook his head quickly. "And thankfully, in this case, it is not necessary," he said. He quickened his pace as the gates of the compound came into view, and suddenly about-faced. He stopped, then swore. This time, he was only six feet from Kiba when he turned.

"Sorry!" Dragging his feet a bit over the prospect of a night spent in there, Kiba hadn't kept up well enough. He picked up his pace quickly. "Wow, this is... ugh. Gonna take some getting used to. Except I don't want to get used to it, because hopefully it will be gone first!" He shook his head and growled under his breath.

Neji glanced at him, the ghost of a smile coming to his lips despite his best efforts. Suddenly, he didn't feel quite as alone in his suffering. "I know what you mean," he said, moving to walk beside Kiba again and staying with him.

"I'm almost tempted to tie a rope to us or something, to give us a physical reminder," Kiba growled, rolling his eyes. Then he snorted, reluctantly amused by the mental image his imagination gave him. "Of course, then we'd just find ourselves tangled up in stuff, as well as having you helplessly following me like a damn satellite."

Neji twitched violently. "No thank you," he growled. "It's bad enough without putting me on a leash, Kiba." He shook his head. Honestly...

"The leash wouldn't be for you, it'd be so you could keep me from getting out of range and making you about-face!" Kiba replied, chuckling. "But it's still probably not a good idea. Man... this might make training interesting. I guess we won't be sparring with anybody but each other for a while." Mentally he prepared himself for some bruising sessions... much as he sometimes hated to admit it, Neji was a better fighter than he was.

Neji had to chuckle at that. "Putting you on a leash would be far too appropriate," he said. At the sparring comment, he gave Kiba a measuring look. "I suppose we'll just have to see. I don't want to hurt you too badly by accident. I generally don't spar directly with people. Tenten throws knives at me from a distance."

Blinking, Kiba conceded the wisdom of that. "Well, that's one way to solve the problem," he agreed thoughtfully. "I'm used to sparring with Hinata, but you're a hell of a lot stronger and faster than she is." He shrugged. "We'll work something out, I guess. I can stand by while you train with Tenten, and I can train with Hinata or something." He gave a crooked grin. "Then again, training with you would force me to improve in a hurry, that's for sure. Maybe I shouldn't be passing up the chance."

As they approached the gates, they saw two Konoha jounin and some members of Neji's family that Kiba didn't recognize, apparently guarding the gates. He was relieved to see that they were obviously taking the threat seriously, but he hoped that meant that nobody had been taken.

"I'd prefer that you remain stationary while I fight," Neji replied. "Or something like that. If we were both fighting separate opponents, we might accidentally get too far apart, and I'd start heading in the wrong direction without realizing it. Someone could get hurt." He met the eyes of his family members and saw nothing but confusion in their eyes - a fact he received with relief. If they were wondering why he was bringing a friend home, they didn't know about the unfortunate accident.

"We're glad to see you're all right, Neji-kun," one of his cousins said, giving Kiba a glance. "Will he be coming into the compound with you?" he asked sceptically.

"Yes," Neji said brusquely, waiting for them to stand aside, and clearly not intending to offer them an explanation.

The jounin didn't look any happier about the idea than Kiba's cousins. "You should restrict access to the compound to your family members for the time being," one of them said. His voice held overtones that clearly said 'Run along home, your friend can come out to play later.' Kiba managed to keep the growl subvocal, but there was nothing he could do about the frown on his face. He was fifteen, damn it, not a child any more. Damn but he really needed to pass the chuunin exams soon.

Neji gave the Jounin a withering look. "He is one of my teammates, and he saved me from being kidnapped today. He is not a danger, and he is coming with me."

"You'll have to take it up with the clan head," the other Hyuuga said. "But he stays out here until we hear otherwise from him."

Kiba groaned internally. This could be a problem. Neji couldn't go in to get permission unless Kiba went with him... and he rather doubted these guys would go bring the clan head to the gate because Neji wanted to bring a teammate in. Not during something like this. What was with Neji refusing to just explain the damn situation to people? Kiba had butted in with the jounin outside the Hokage's tower, but he felt a little awkward doing it with members of Neji's family.

Neji stared at his cousin helplessly for a moment, then frowned at him with the same arrogant attitude he normally affected. "No...you don't understand," he said. "He has to come in with me, or I'm not going in." Technically true...

"Oh, for crying out loud..." Kiba rubbed one dirty, bloody hand over his face, exasperated. "Will you just tell them why so we can go in and clean up? Before they decide to just haul you inside where it's safe whether you like it or not!"

Neji jumped and glared at Kiba, but the damage was already done. He violently quelled the blush - he'd be damned if he'd ever show weakness in front of his family! - and gave his cousins the coldest look they'd ever seen from him. "Kiba and I have been linked together by a jutsu," he ground out. "Unless you want me to leave now, let. Us. In. The Hokage already knows all about this."

His two cousins blinked, and Kiba flinched as a moment later the power of two active Byakugan settled on him and Neji. One of the men raised an eyebrow. "What... never mind, you need to explain it to the clan head, not me." He stepped aside to let them in the door. "I'm sure it's a fascinating story."

Neji shook his head. "Incredibly dull, actually," he growled as he began to move past them. Why did I come here again? I should have just gone to the doghouse with Kiba...

Following Neji in, Kiba tried not to let the Hyuuga members' disdainful looks get to him. He knew he was considered beneath their notice, in more ways than one. The Inuzuka family commanded a certain amount of respect from other ninja for their fighting prowess - but despite the fact that they were nearly as old a family as the Hyuuga and the Uchiha lines, they were nowhere near as highly thought of.

"At least with your family's ability, we don't have to waste time with hours of explanations to convince them," he muttered once they were out of hearing range. "Or worse, demonstrations."

"That's for sure," Neji had to agree. "But then, would your family have as much of a problem letting me in as mine does with you?" he asked. "I doubt they'd have grilled us so intensely." Reluctantly, he headed for his uncle's house.

"Further proof that you've never met my mom," Kiba replied dryly. He was a little nervous about the upcoming 'conversation'... he'd heard enough from Hinata about her training to know that her father could be fairly harsh to people who displeased him. And from what he'd heard, Neji's relationship with his uncle wasn't exactly the best. Given the attitude Neji had been displaying... well, he just hoped this went well.

Neji blinked slowly at Kiba. "But why would they keep me out?" he asked curiously. "The Hyuuga compound is locked down - otherwise they would have let you in. I wouldn't have thought your family would be even more security conscious. At least, when it came to Konoha ninja you're known for working with."

"I'm not saying they wouldn't have let you in," Kiba said, rolling his eyes. "And she might not even have grilled you too hard, you not being family and all. But I'd have been in for the fourth degree." He grinned, the wolfish, slightly feral expression that showed off his fangs. "Kaa-san doesn't go in for half measures."

Neji eyed Kiba closely. "So you never bring friends home, either?" he asked curiously.

"Sure I do, sometimes," Kiba shrugged. "Not that often - my family is a little... overwhelming to most people." He gave that fanged grin again. "But most of the people I bring home are not attached to me at the hip." He sighed and rubbed his head. "Kaa-san's going to want a detailed report on all of this, I'm sure. Especially after I don't come home tonight."

As they moved through the compound, he found himself half-consciously searching for a dark head and a particular set of violet eyes. Among all the other identically-coloured people, it wasn't easy, but he finally spotted her.

"Oi! Hinata!" he called, breaking into a trot as she turned in surprise. He promptly glomped her, hugging her hard and messing her short hair with one hand. "Never thought I'd be so glad to see you!"

"Kiba-kun!" she exclaimed in surprise, struggling half-heartedly against his teasing embrace. "What are you doing here? You're all bloody, you're getting it all over me!"

Neji was pulled along helplessly as Kiba glomped his cousin. He repressed a protective growl, even as he threw himself against the bond that held them together like an animal trying to escape a cage. Of course, he didn't look like he was pulling away; his body trotted along in Kiba's wake no matter how he tried to stop it. He stopped when Kiba did, glaring heatedly.

Completely ignoring the fierce glare directed at his back, Kiba hastily released Hinata, though he kept his hands on her shoulders. "Sorry! I forgot." He studied her face intently, looking for signs of injury or fear. In the years since their team had first been put together, she'd grown into a lovely young woman. "You okay? They didn't get near you, did they?" he asked, his fierce protectiveness of her coming out in his tone.

She smiled softly at him. "No, I'm fine," she assured him. "I was inside the compound when the attacks happened." Kiba frowned at the plural. Hinata's eyes flicked past him, settling on Neji. "Neji-nii-san, are you all right? You were outside the walls, weren't you?" She looked back at all the blood on Kiba. "Was anybody hurt?"

"No one we care about, Hinata-sama," Neji said, shrugging and moving a little more closely to her. "Some of those who attacked us were killed, but I don't believe anyone on our team was hurt." He gritted his teeth, certain that Kiba would find a way to make him tell anyway, and finished the story. "I was hit by a jutsu, but it didn't hurt me. It just tied me to Kiba, so he's staying here for a while."

"Tied you to..." Trailing off in astonishment, she stared at them. Like the other Hyuuga who'd been told the story, her first action was to activate her Byakugan and quickly check them over. "Oh, dear," was her eventual conclusion. "That is a mess, isn't it? Can it be undone?"

"Tsunade-sama says it'll wear off in a couple of days, probably," Kiba informed her, rolling his eyes. She gave him a sympathetic look. "Until then, I guess you're stuck with me."

"Well, I certainly won't mind having you here," she declared, patting his arm gently. He grinned at her and ruffled her hair again, which she laughingly protested.

Neji's expression hardened and he glanced towards his uncle's house again. Over my dead body, and the dead bodies of every other member of my clan, Inuzuka... "We should go," he said coldly, though he knew better by now then to simply stalk off.

Kiba glanced at Neji's suddenly frozen demeanour, then raised an eyebrow at Hinata. She shrugged slightly and shook her head to indicate that she didn't know what had set him off either, and Kiba rolled his eyes again.

"If you were heading for my father's, I'll take you there," Hinata offered as she started walking. Kiba followed her, knowing Neji would have to go too.

"You said 'attacks'," he pointed out, glancing at her again. "Was anybody else hurt or captured?"

Her eyes grew sorrowful. "Hanabi's class was outside the walls training. Thankfully, there happened to be an anbu squad nearby, and they heard the screaming. She's okay, but some of her classmates were hurt, and she's upset that it was because of her."

Neji winced. "It's not her fault," he said. "I'm...glad the anbu were there, though. Is everyone accounted for?"

She nodded. "A few of the others reported seeing suspicious figures around, but nobody else was attacked. I think they were probably aiming for those of us supposedly most vulnerable - the youngest of us, who weren't with anyone who could help them."

"Well, other than the fact that we did manage to beat off the ones attacking us," Kiba said. "At least that means they probably didn't attack any of the other genin teams we were training with. They were just after Neji." He glanced at Neji, then turned a stern look on Hinata. "Don't you dare go outside the compound until this is over! If I have to go chase after you to rescue you, you'll never hear the end of it, trust me."

She smiled at him. "I didn't have any intention of it. I'd hate to force you into Shino's company again, and I'm sure he'd come after me, too." Kiba made a face, and she laughed. It wasn't that he didn't like Shino - they'd made a pretty decent team, the three of them. But... well, he just didn't get along with small bugs. They were too much like fleas. He'd been just as glad when Shino hadn't been chosen for Shikamaru's squad.

Neji struggled without much success not to be jealous over the easy camaraderie they shared. Well of course they do, he growled to himself. They were teammates for a year. They know each other better than I ever knew her, and why should I care, anyway? It didn't make him feel any better.

They came to a stop outside the building Kiba knew was Hinata's house, and she nodded at the door. "Otou-san's in a meeting with the clan elders, but he needs to hear about this," she told them. "Neji-nii-san, you should probably go in first, since Kiba's an outsider."

"He's not gonna get very far without me there," Kiba sighed. "What are we stuck at, about six feet?"

"At last check," Neji said, hoping it wouldn't get any closer. "Hinata-sama...perhaps you could break the news for me?" Anything not to have to talk to that man...

"Well, I can go tell him that you need to speak to him, but I don't know all the details," she said, poking her index fingers together as was her habit when she was nervous. Kiba automatically swatted at her hands, breaking them apart as he growled softly at her. She chuckled and deliberately relaxed her hands at her sides. He and Shino had never let her get away with the self-effacing crap she pulled, and she'd gotten a lot more confident as a result of their conditioning. "I'll go tell him," she declared, and pulled open the door to vanish inside.

Neji sighed softly and moved to lean against the wall, waiting unhappily. "Feeling any better about being here?" he asked, trying to keep the bitterness out of his voice.

"I feel better now that I've seen she's really okay," Kiba acknowledged, sighing. "Didn't realize I was that worried." He glanced at Neji curiously. "I've often wondered if it's an effect common to all the girls on the teams, or just Hinata... are you and Lee protective of Tenten, too?"

Neji frowned thoughtfully. "Maybe," he said uncertainly. "Lee and I were somewhat...self-involved when we were all a team," he said. "But I think we were protective of her. If she'd been in danger, we would have fought to protect her."

"Well, yeah, but you'd have fought to protect each other, too, right?" Kiba said, frowning. "That's just being teammates. Team 7 is useless for comparison - Naruto's buggy over Sakura, so of course he's protective of her, and she's buggy over Sasuke, so he avoids her. Totally different dynamic. And Shikamaru and Chouji don't seem overly attached to Ino."

He finally shrugged, and laughed softly. "I guess it's just Hinata. Poor thing... I pity her if she ever starts dating. Not only will she have your entire family breathing down the guy's neck, she'll have Shino and I hovering around and glaring protectively, too."

Neji chuckled. "I can picture that. Frightening." He eyed Kiba warily. "Of course, you wouldn't be hovering protectively if it were you dating her, right?"

Choking, Kiba stared at him. "Me?" he finally sputtered. "Date Hinata? That's just... sick, man." He shook his head to clear the image. "It'd be like dating my sister. Well, no, not exactly," he corrected himself hastily, shuddering at the thought. "She's a lot sweeter than my sister. But still. It'd be like incest or something. Why does everyone keep thinking I've got a thing for her, anyway? Just 'cause she's my best friend..."

"Because you hug her and act like you're smitten?" Neji snarled accusingly. "And then you wonder why--" then Kiba's words caught up with him and he frowned. "Your best friend?"

"Not you, too!" Kiba groaned and let his head smack back against the wall he was leaning against. "I like Hinata. She's sweet, she's cute, she's a hell of a friend. You could not pay me enough to date her, primarily because there is no way in hell I would risk doing anything that might eventually lose me her friendship." He glared at Neji. "Clear enough for you? Anyway, I'm not her type... or maybe I'm too much her type. I think I remind her a bit of Naruto, and I'm not interested in playing substitute for her first crush."

Neji held Kiba's gaze for a moment, then finally nodded. "Very well," he said, closing the issue as far as he was concerned.

At that moment, the head of the Hyuuga clan stepped out of the house, turning to face Neji with only a perfunctory nod towards Kiba. "Neji-kun. Hinata said that you had something very important to discuss with me?"

Kiba fell silent and made himself unobtrusive against the wall. This was Neji's show... surely his teammate would tell the whole story to his clan head without needing prompting from Kiba. He didn't understand why Neji was so reluctant to talk about it, anyway.

Neji straightened his shoulders and stared up at his uncle. "We were attacked in the woods," he said simply. "As I'm sure you are aware, the ninja were trying to kidnap me. They attacked me with a jutsu designed to bind me to one of them, so I couldn't run away, but it backfired and hit Kiba instead, so the two of us can't get very far apart from one another. He's staying with me."

The older man frowned down at Neji, then directed a sidelong glance at Kiba before returning his gaze to his nephew. "Very well," he said, ignoring Neji's arrogance as he generally did. It just wasn't worth it to try to punish him for it. Punishment only tended to make him worse. "You two should stay to the public areas of the compound, then. Do you need extra blankets sent to your room?"

Neji blinked. "No, I..." He'd wanted to stay in separate rooms, but try as he might, he couldn't think of a way to manage it. Especially given that the distance between them was now shorter.

But Hiashi was already accepting Neji's exclamation as an answer and nodding. "Good. Stay safe, Neji, I have to go back to the meeting," he said, heading back into the building.

"Well, that was fun," Kiba muttered as he pushed away from the wall and approached Neji. "So, now what?" He tilted his head a little. "The bedrooms are part of the 'public' part of the compound? Well, I guess that makes sense, I've been to Hinata's once." He grinned. "I presume yours isn't nearly as..." he shuddered, "girly as hers? Or I'm going to have to seriously rethinks of my opinions about you, man..."

Neji gave Kiba a withering look. "No, mine isn't girly. Is yours?" he asked, rolling his eyes as he moved in the direction of his own room.

"My what? I don't have a bedroom," Kiba shrugged, following closely enough to prevent Neji from having to come back to him. "Our compound is nothing like this place, though, I can tell you that much!"

Neji blinked at Kiba. "You...don't have a bedroom?" he asked, sure he'd heard wrong.

Shaking his head, Kiba grinned at him. Hinata and Shino had both expressed similar disbelief, until he'd finally taken them home and showed them just how the Inuzuka compound was constructed. "Nope. There's rooms I can grab if I want a night to myself, but I don't have one that's just mine. I'd've claimed one if we'd ended up going to my place, obviously," he conceded.

Neji gave Kiba a look of horror. "Where do you sleep if you don't want a 'night to yourself'?" he asked. Surely the rumours aren't really true...

Knowing exactly what was probably going through the Hyuuga's mind - Kiba had heard the whispered rumours, his hearing was a lot better than most people realized - Kiba just snickered for a moment.

Finally he took pity on the obviously shell-shocked older boy. "It's not as bad as you're thinking," he said, lips still twitching. "There're no incestuous orgies or anything. But we're not just families, we're packs - and packs stick together." He shrugged. "What's wrong with sleeping in the same room as your parents and siblings? I've never understood what the big deal is."

Neji glanced back towards the house where they'd just spoken with his uncle and made a face. "No force in nature could compel me to willingly sleep with my family every night," he muttered.

"Yeah, well, if your family spent as much time building bonds as mine did, they wouldn't be like that," Kiba retorted. "Yours seems to work at breaking family ties more than anything." He thought about what he knew of the torikagao seal that was placed on all members of the Hyuuga branch families, and shuddered. "The Inuzuka don't even have a 'main' family line. The clan head is whoever is strong enough and smart enough to hold the position. No one branch is any more important than any other, in the long run. I much prefer our way of doing it."

Neji gritted his teeth. "I agree with you on that point," he said. He shrugged. "Hyuuga just aren't...affectionate. Even if I didn't loathe my closest family members because they are main branch, I still wouldn't feel comfortable...curling up with them. We're trained not to let anyone get close."

"Trust me, I noticed," Kiba said. "You have no idea how long it took before I got Hinata comfortable enough to let me touch her, let alone hug her and ruffle her hair like I can now." He grinned. "She likes it, though. People aren't made to go their whole lives without human contact. She'll even hug me back now, if she thinks nobody's watching. It's cute."

Neji twitched, but reminded himself that Kiba wasn't interested in Hinata that way. "It's not that we have no human contact," he said stiffly. "And it's not as though we don't get married and...everything."

"And... everything," Kiba couldn't help mocking him a little. "Listen to yourself, Neji. You talk about it like it's something awful. Hinata was starving for affection. I hate to think what measures she might've eventually taken to get it if we hadn't ended up on the same team - either that, or she'd have withered away completely like a flower with no sunlight." He shook his head, trying not to get himself worked up. He hated what Hinata's family had done to her, to all of them. Hinata's painful shyness, Hanabi's cocky attention-seeking, even Neji's cold arrogance, they were all symptoms of the same thing.

Not that his family didn't have issues, or problems. Nobody was perfect. But he'd take the sometimes overly-passionate in-fighting among HIS clan to the coldly impersonal relations among the Hyuuga any day.

Neji frowned at Kiba. "What measures? What are you talking about?" he demanded. "There's no reason why Hinata-sama would have been starving for attention the way you say. She's shy, and uncertain, but that's because she doesn't live up to the high standards her father has for her. She compares herself to me and falls short. That doesn't mean she was never loved." Everyone loves her. She's the princess.

"If you say so," Kiba said, unconvinced. "But I'll tell you, man... get her away from all of them," he jerked his thumb back towards where they'd come from, "for a few hours, and she's a totally different person. Out in the field with Shino and Kurenai and me, once she started trusting us and responding to us... you wouldn't even recognize her. She relaxes, she gets more confident, she starts laughing..."

He shook his head and scowled. "I always hate seeing her here. It's like all that never happened, and she's the same way she was when we were first genin. Except at least she kinda lets me hug her, and I know she feels better when I do." He snorted. "And people wonder why I'm so affectionate towards her. Somebody's gotta be."

Neji frowned at Kiba for a few moments. "Well I can't," he said caustically. "I can't 'get her away from all of them'. I'm the worst one!" Turning away, he continued towards his place, wishing he could just get five minutes of peace.

Sighing, Kiba followed him. Why was it always so difficult for him to talk to Neji? Sometimes it felt like they didn't even speak the same language. He'd had the same problem with Hinata at first, he vaguely remembered, except she'd been so quiet and shy that he'd hardly realized it because she never said anything.

"You're not, you know," he said more quietly when he caught up to Neji again. "Other than maybe Hanabi, you're probably the person she cares most about. She'd open up to you in a heartbeat, if you gave her any indication that you wouldn't shut her out completely if she tried."

Neji turned to Kiba and stared at him. "I tried to kill her," he said shortly. "What makes you think I want her to open up to me?"

Kiba sighed and gave it up as a bad cause. "You really do have no people skills at all, do you?" he asked, more rhetorically than anything else. "I seriously pity the woman you marry, man." He blinked as a thought occurred to him. "Though, I suppose she'll probably be a Hyuuga too, won't she? In that case, I pity both of you."

It was common among the larger shinobi clans, such as the Hyuuga, Aburame, Inuzuka and Uchiha, for marriages to occur strictly within clan. It was the only way to keep the bloodline pure enough to preserve their hereditary abilities. Occassionally marriages were made outside the clan, both to strengthen ties with other clans and to bring fresh genes into the pool, but such matches were carefully considered for any possible conflicts in abilities. The Uchiha had branched off from the Hyuuga precisely because of a wildcard alteration of the Byakugan due to an outside marriage, if Kiba remembered his history correctly.

At least he could be assured that it wouldn't be Hinata that Neji would marry - as first cousins, they were too close in consanguinity. Keeping the bloodline pure was one thing, but nobody wanted to birth monsters.

Neji felt a shudder run through him at that thought. "Don't remind me," he growled. "I probably have no choice but to marry." Though he'd always been a troublemaker, he also was the strongest in his generation. His uncle would be a fool not to marry him off, and to someone who could have a lot of strong, healthy, powerful babies. It was something Neji avoided thinking about if at all possible.

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