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Sound In Deaf Ears by Archaic Aphorism

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Story notes: Will be angsty, dark, violent, disturbing, and explicit. There will seem to be holes in the story for a while, until Shikamaru can find a time and place to explain what in the name of The First is going on. Rating will go up with future chapters.
Chapter notes: I was going to hold this story hostage until summer, by which I would have, hopefully, had a few chapters already prepared. As it stands, there will probably be a long waiting period between chapters.
Sound In Deaf Ears

A/N:
Cannon up until the Sound Five Arc, then it branches off. This picks up directly afterward.

-
-
-

After his recovery, everything was almost undone when he nearly died of shock upon leaving the hospital. Shikamaru was gone. Gone, gone, gone and dead. Well, maybe not dead. There was no evidence that he'd been slain (but then again, there wasn't any against it, either). Considering it was Shikamaru, however, most of the remaining Konoha eleven didn't really believe Shikamaru was dead, but the idea of Shikamaru being gone, just... gone, shook Chouji to the very roots of his being.

In a half-assed attempt to rationalize Shikamaru's disappearance (because the Godaime refused to make any comment) rumors flew. The less serious ones poked fun at the lazy nin, teasingly claiming that he had eloped with the feisty red-headed woman from Sound. On the more serious side, people ruefully admitted that he had probably chickened out and defected from his duties and would be back within a few months.

The adults shook their heads and whispered, "Such a pity" and "He would have made such a good chuunin" and then, "ZetsuĦ­ that's why we can't find him."

Chouji really didn't know what to believe, but Ino didn't like to talk about it. She was too busy distracting herself by ranting about Stupid Sasukes and being in denial to want to help Chouji figure it out. So Chouji was alone in his befuddlement.

And then he heard Hyuuga Neji of Team Gai had also disappeared, and there were rumors about him flying, too. He ran away because he was sick of Hyuuga politics, of being Bunke. He was killed. The Sound captured him and were holding him hostage, and the Hyuuga would get a ransom note at any time (that was the one the Hyuuga were hoping for, because they really, really wanted their genius back).

Chouji remembers getting so mad that there was no-one he could talk to that he charged to the Hokage and screamed at her. He remembers shouting himself hoarse and slamming his hands on her desk, papers scattering everywhere, the assistant's pig squealing and darting between his legs to get away. He remembers how Tsunade remained so impassive and, when he was finally done and finished with it, the way she calmly told him that she could not disclose any information other than that Shikamaru had not come back to the village after the mission and the medics had been unable to find him.

"He understood the risks of the mission when he accepted it," she dismissed him.

And he remembers turning away and shutting the door behind him.

He remembers hearing her break down into sobs behind the door.

And he is so very confused.

-

Drip... drip... drip...

-

Neji knows he isn't where he should be. He keeps his eyes shut and contemplates activating his Byakugan to survey his surroundings. It doesn't sound like there's anyone around, other than him, so he forces the chakra to his eyes and looks around him.

It's dark, and there is a tangle of wires and tubes hanging three meters away. Three of the walls are bare and one is lined with blipping machines with glowing faces. The walls are made of rock and coated in some form of slime, the steady plinking of water is coming from the dripping stalactites in the far corner. Neji himself is in some form of bed, but it seems more like a blanketed half-cocoon.

"I know you're awake," a raspy voice garbles beside him. Neji's head whips over to look at the mass of tubing hanging to his left more carefully. It's a cocoon-bed like his, only its occupant has some form of seal covering its face. Each and every wire winds down and connects to some part of the occupant's body. Said occupant lets out another raspy sound, suspiciously like a cough.

"Well?" he prompts, sounding impatient. Neji watches the face under the seal shift.

"What else is there to say? You already know I'm awake," he answers cautiously, reaching back into his memory, trying to find something that might allude to where he is and why. Everything's a bit fuzzy. The figure beside him seems to laugh softly, the wires and tubes shaking with him.

"A smart one," he says, the chuckles dieing away, "I see why Orochimaru-sama kept you."

Suddenly, everything clicks. Neji remembers fighting with Kidoumaru, remembers dieing. Or, he supposes, thinking he died. Obviously- he looks around the cramped medical room more critically- he didn't. A dull pain in his chest is the only relic of his battle with the Sound nin that remains.

Guess I didn't kill him, he laments, realizing that the only way he could have ended up with Orochimaru is if Kidoumaru dragged his ass there. He sits, and his mysterious companion shifts restlessly.

"What's you're name?" he demands. Neji chews on his options for a moment: to answer, or not to answer?

What the hell, he decides. It's not like they don't already know he's a Hyuuga (thank The First he still has his eyes). "Hyuuga Neji," he admits.

"A Hyuuga?" Neji blinks, surprised that the man hadn't already known. "I suppose you're to be Orochimaru's new vessel, then."

"Orochimaru's new vessel?" Neji parrots, not quite understanding. "No, I was brought here against my will by Kidoumaru!"

He thinks the figure is frowning, but can't be sure because of the seal over his face. "Kidoumaru is dead," Neji is informed. He blinks a few times, digesting this new information. If Kidoumaru didn't bring him here, then who the hell did? "Why don't you tell me the truth, now?"

He sounds angry. "IĦ­ don't know," Neji tells him honestly, hoping the stranger will believe him, "That's what I thought happened, but I guess not. The last thing I remember is fighting with Kidoumaru and thinking I died. Next thing I know, I'm here." Neji can't believe he's telling all this to a strange man beneath a seal and a mass of wires and tubes. "Who are you?"

"Kimimaro," he sighs, "I was meant to be Orochimaru's next vessel, but I became sick and am now useless."

Neji shifts uncomfortably, figuring this is Kimimaro's idea of an equivalent exchange of knowledge. A silver-haired man with glasses enters, pushing his glasses up higher on the bridge of his nose with a finger. Their lenses wink in the green glow of the screens.

"Ah, Neji-kun," he greets, arms open, "I see you are up."

Neji watches him suspiciously, unsure how to answer. Glasses, as Neji dubs him, walks over to the screens and peers at a scrolling list on one of them. He shakes his head, adjusting his glasses again.

"You are getting worse, Kimimaro-san," he reports dispassionately, "We're going to have to try a new procedure."

"I'm not your lab-rat, Kabuto," Kimimaro growls. Glasses' smile is eerie in the glow of the monitors.

"Of course not, Kimimaro-san," poison words dripping with honey, "I just want to see you get better for Orochimaru-sama."

Kimimaro scoffs. Glasses turns to Neji, who forces himself to remain calm and indifferent in appearance. "You have no idea how worried your friend has been, Neji-kun," Kabuto tells Neji, "Worried sick."

Neji swallows. "I'm sorry to hear that," he recites, wracking his mind for a glimmer of insight as to who his 'friend' might be. Glasses leers at him, and Neji worries that maybe he's said the wrong thing. "May I go see him now?"

"Of course," Kabuto agrees, helping Neji out of bed, "He's with Orochimaru-sama at the moment. They've been expecting you."

"Oh," is all Neji can manage. He doesn't even know who his 'friend' is, or what's going on. He's definitely not ready to face Orochimaru yet. Not without a believable story in his arsenal and his full strength to lend him courage. As Glasses leads him through winding halls, he takes detailed stock of his condition. The brunt of the damage seems to have been healed, though his chakra has been depleted and the ache in his chest gets worse the farther he goes.

In short: he's in no condition for a fight. Translation: he's in deep shit.

-

"Here," is all Kabuto smirks before swinging open a pair of oak double-doors. Rather fancy for a cave hide-out, Neji thinks. He enters the room after being elbowed in the ribs. Locating the sore spot and rubbing it gently, Neji scrutinizes the room. Large. A bit chilly from drafts. There is a chair (he ignores the body in it) and a candle on a stand, flickering.

"Ah, Neji-kun... we've been waiting." Neji stiffens before finally looking at his captors. Orochimaru is reclined in his chair. Nara Shikamaru is kneeling off to the side, looking at Neji like he really really wished he were telepathic. Neji almost says Shikamaru's name aloud on instinct, as though to confirm that he is real and this isn't a really nasty trick the afterlife is playing on him. Felt real, and the look Shikamaru shot him quashed the words on his tongue.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting," he says instead, bowing curtly to Orochimaru. Unsure what to do next, he stands and doesn't fidget. Fidgeting means nervous, and nervous is never a good thing.

"Understandable," the word seems to slither around the room, threatening to bite with deadly-venom fangs. "Your injuries were-"

"Neji," Shikamaru finally speaks, rising. He pads over to Neji, giving him a thorough once-over with his eyes, as though checking for injuries, "Are you all right now?"

"Quite," says Neji, trying to keep the question out of it. A look of relieved passes over Shikamaru's face and the chuunin wraps Neji up in a tight embrace. Not having been particularly close with Shikamaru before, Neji isn't quite sure how to react.

"Thank The First!" Shikamaru ejaculates a little louder than necessary. Neji watches Orochimaru's brow knit. "We've been friends for so long, gone through so much, that I was afraid to lose you!"

Alright, Neji thinks, bringing his arms up and trying to make his end of the embrace a little less awkward looking. So that is the hoax: he and Nara Shikamaru have been friends for years and are very close. Still doesn't explain why the hell they are here standing in front of one of the three sannin (and the bat-shit crazy one, at that), but it is something. Neji grabd the lifeline and holds on for dear life.

"Of course I'm alright," he replies airily. "I'd never die without telling you first." And I expect you to tell me what the hell is going on.

"Right," Shikamaru responds, pulling away. He trots back to where he had been sitting- Orochimaru is scowling openly- and Neji can only assume he is meant to follow. Annoyed or not, Shikamaru has effectively convinced Orochimaru that they are very close friends while simultaneously giving Neji something to work with. No wonder he was such a valuable diplomat.

"As we were discussing before," Orochimaru forces what must have been supposed to be a polite smile, "Shikamaru-kun's proposition of working for me."

Neji calculates whether or not it is safe to say something, when he hasn't an inkling what Shikamaru's purpose in doing this is. Before a second is even up, he blurts, "I thought you were going to wait for me to make the proposition together?" Shikamaru blinks owlishly at him.

"Well, I had to say something to get them to give you medical treatment," he explains as though it was the obvious answer. Neji shuts his mouth and doesn't have to pretend to sulk. His life is on the line, damnit, and he doesn't want to work for Orochimaru.

At least he isn't dead.

"Well," Orochimaru sneers, seeming to enjoy their little spat; "Shikamaru-kun knows the terms and conditions of your stay here. Kabuto will escort you to your room and your friend can fill you in. Welcome to my place, Neji-kun."

Or, perhaps, it would've been better if he were.

-

-

"What the hell do you think you're doing, bringing us here!?" Neji shouts as soon as Shikamaru locks the door to his bedroom behind them. The younger winces.

"Mendo na," he mumbles, rubbing the back of his neck. "I know you hate Sasuke, but really, this was the only way to keep tabs on him and become stronger. Orochimaru will always be watching for whoever is strongest."

Neji opens his mouth to shout again, stops. Blinks. Digests; so he hates Sasuke and is his slightly stalker-ish rival. Neji can handle that. The story is that he and Shikamaru came to gain power, like Sasuke. Okay. The last part, however, is the most important. Orochimaru will always be watching. Orochimaru always watches--

The place is bugged, Neji belated realizes. He has to watch what he does or risk belying not only himself, but Shikamaru as well. He shuts his mouth, stamping out any ideas of further interrogating Shikamaru for the real reason they're in a stinking, drippy cave with the one and only Orochimaru.

"True," he huffs instead, fixing Shikamaru with a look, "I'll be sure to make Orochimaru-sama acknowledge my superiority to the Uchiha."

Shikamaru nods, a look of relief and gratitude in his eye. Then he turns away, leaving Neji alone with his questions and newfound insecurities. It takes everything he has not to crumple like a puppet with half its strings snipped.

He's never realized how attached he is to Konoha, never realized how much he cares for his teammates. Neji resolves to spend more time with his teammates and treat them to a decadent dinner when he gets back.

That is, if he's lucky enough that he gets to go back.

-
Chapter end notes:

This story is entirely inspired by three or four of Cheysuli's plot bunnies combined. I won't reveal which ones until the end, however, because that would obviously give away key plot events. Yah.

Butterfly? I don't mind waiting for your fic for me, but, really... what's going on? You've disappeared! [sulks in a corner] I miss you [sobs]. I figure that school has either slammed you hard, or something big is going on in your life. Whatever it is, I hope everything's all right!

I'm thinking of entering a contest thing for my school... some shit about writing a short story or essay, and I was wonder if any of you want to be my muse? I'll be sure to include credits to you in the version I send to the judges, but I don't know if the credit will make it all the way to the published version (if I make it that is, heh. Let's not count our eggs before they're hatched, or however the saying goes).

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