11: Education

A week passes, and while life proceeds as usual (or as usual as it can be in an asylum), three things of importance occur: first, Hyuga Neji awakens from a three day long coma; second, Inuzuka Kiba is 'cured' and allowed to return to society; and third, schooling begins. For a time, the halls of the Tokyo Mental Facility for Children are fraught with drama and suspense.

Neji awakens to the soft but reassuring tones of his female partner, which is as much as he can say about the other two members of his 'team', who instantaneously burst into tears as his eyes – Tenten notes in relief that they have returned to their normal pale white – flutter tentatively open.

His first word is, 'Gargh.'

His second, 'Glagarah.'

'That would be the morphine kicking in,' is Tenten's reply. 'Just try to ease back into it and don't strain yourself – now, how are you feeling?' (There is another question at the back of her mind, one that goes along the lines of 'What happened three days ago?' or 'How did you do it?')

'U-urgh. A-alright. I'll, uh… live.' Neji mumbles. 'But the last week is uh, a blank. P-people were visiting… and t-then… nothing.' Tenten's face twists into a mask of confusion, but her fingers brush against the skin of his hand, and suddenly he's rather thirsty.

'W-water.' he asks.

'Um, please.' he adds.

Dutifully, Lee complies, fetching a glass from across the room in record time (it's actually quite amazing, if Neji must be truthful about it: it's like seeing a green blur whiz from wall to wall – interesting, most interesting –) which Neji downs quite fervently, clenching the cup in his right hand, while Tenten's fingers (calloused from the woodworks, but thin – one could say delicate – as well) continue to sweep across his left, gently nudging the IV needle sticking into his flesh as she goes along. Even as he drains the last drop, however, his throat still seems a little dry.

'S-so. Care to elaborate what happened, w-while I was out.' Neji's intonation is flat, and the question seems more like an instruction than an inquiry.

Tenten, Gai and Lee all look at one another, and say in unison, 'Nothing.'

The second incident, while no less dramatic, is largely less welcomed as compared to the first – depending on who you ask, of course.

While not exactly prestigious per se, the Inuzuka family was still quite well off, and having recently come into quite a lot of money (with Inuzuka Hana, the oldest child of the family, accepting a job in one of Tokyo's most well-paid veterinarian clinics) decided to finally grant their youngest son the best treatment available in the psychological field – that of a certain Dr. Yuuhei Kurenai.

Yuuhei Kurenai – a legend amongst child psychiatrists, for what seemed to an almost 100% success rate in curing her patients of any ailment – ailments that ranged from life-long phobia to multiple personality disorder to the most severe of psychosis. She attributed her success to a mixture of hypnosis and hallucination (illusions, she called them, allowing the patient to relive their fears and conquer them) inducing medicine, causing much controversy amongst fellow doctors, as well as a hefty starting price.

This however, was not relevant.

What was relevant was that she came, and within the week, had cured Kiba.

Which then meant he was leaving.

For good.

'Go~ddamnit you ass~hole!' Naruto howls from the pavement, as they stand outside the hospital saying goodbye to Kiba. 'Shut the hell up, Naruto, don't pretend you're not gonna fucking miss me,' Kiba chortles under his breath. The younger boy looks tired and pale, but there is a deepness in his gaze, an understanding, that wasn't there before.

It makes Neji feel… sick. Like there's something wrong with him, and there isn't with Kiba. Like the other boy is better than him.

'I'm so NOT gonna miss you. NO WAY.' the blond exclaims, but Neji can hear him whimpering silently – can see Sasuke looking despondent off into a corner; Gaara, his hooded eyes darker than usual; Tenten, biting her lip so hard it looks like it might almost bleed. They're losing more than a fellow patient, he realizes. They're losing a friend.

'Bye, Kiba,' Tenten whispers, and her voice trembles.

'See you, Tenten.' he replies, with a small, forced smile – she turns away from him, and is about to hurry back into the building before he grabs her arm and pulls her into a tight embrace. ' 'm gonna miss you, you crazy bitch.'

'Idiot.' she sniffles, turning her head away. Neji watches the whole affair with a sort of perverted distaste, and flinches slightly when Kiba buries his nose into her chestnut-brown hair and inhales.

'Listen to me, Tenten. This is serious shit, 'kay?' he mutters gently as he pulls away to look at her properly, but the undertone of his words is steely and sure.

'It's hard for me to believe that when you put it that way.'

Neji listens more closely.

'Alright, here's the thing. Alright? I've been through a lot of shit this past week, there's no denying that. Kurenai-san is a tough bitch, but she knows what she's doing and she helped me, so don't go hating on her or any crap like that, okay? If you're gonna hate anyone, it's me.'

Kiba gives a short bark of laughter.

'But…but, here's the thing, alright? I learnt some things from her, y'know. Some things I… didn't want to learn. And it wasn't real, y'know? Akamaru. I… made him up.' Kiba's voice is unsure and maybe the slightest bit sad, but strengthens as he goes on. 'I made him up. I was fucked up and I made everything up because I needed someone to be there for me. Hell, I'm still fucked up, okay. And I think I can be cool with that now. But Tenten – '

Kiba grasps her by the shoulders, and looks her in the eyes.

'You're not. You can get out of here. You don't have to play around with knives and throw them at whoever the fuck you feel like. You've lucky enough to have a head screwed onto your shoulders, 'cept when you're feeling stubborn, 'f course, which is, y'know, a lot. But.. but…you don't need a doctor to tell you to stop.'

Tenten's reply is swift and vicious.

'I don't need anything, Kiba. I do what I want.'

Kiba laughs again. 'Ah, I know. That's why you're always getting into trouble. But… think of this, 'kay? You're seventeen in March. Get out, and stay out for another year and – hey, you're free. Can do whatever the hell you want with tree branches or pointy metal, so long as no one gets hurt. The time's coming, Tenten. It's catching up fast. Soon 'nough it'll be five years here, and boom! Look at you, you're a permanent member of society's most special club. The insane one. There's no going back after that – Gaara and Naruto are proof of that. You've gotta get out.'

Tenten looks at the boy as if he's grown another head. Neji somewhat feels the same, simply because Inuzuka Kiba has said something relatively mature and coherent (except for the five years bit – he doesn't understand that – ).

'And if you need any help doing that,' Kiba's smile is warm, reassuring and infuriating (for the oddest reasons) for Neji to look at. 'I'll be there.'

With that promise and a few more shouted goodbyes, Inuzuka Kiba is driven away.

Leaving only Neji as he watches Tenten, with stars and a thousand possibilities in her eyes.

It makes him feel.. . sick.

Unlike the previous two occurrences, the third event creeps up upon the hospital with a kind of stealth that is almost admirable, and before Neji knows it, he is awake at 6:30 a.m. on a Monday morning, ready to attend his last year of high school.

In an asylum.

Hmm.

It really isn't like Neji imagines it would be (but then again, his life seems to be following down a similar track of unexpectedness), but not far stretch from what his own admittedly rather limited imagination as well – there is a teacher's desk, there are tables, there are chairs, and a rather nondescript blackboard hanging at the front of the classroom.

The only difference, it seems, are the students.

For one thing, there is an uniform, which his classmates (of course) have neglected to wear. Glancing down at his own uncomfortable combination of black slacks, blue sandals and grey turtleneck (draped a khaki brown vest), he makes a mental note to wear more familiar clothing on Tuesday. Naruto, in his bright orange pants and blinding white straightjacket, snerks rudely from behind his desk.

Sai (a sufferer of what could literally classified as emotional retardation, Sumihake Sai had the interpersonal and social skills of a kitchen utensil, only worse) diligently ticks names of the class register, calling each person by a personalized nickname: Sandy Claws, White Eyes, Buns, and Tiny (Naruto bristles at the comment, but refuses to explain further when asked).

'The nurses are joining us?' Neji murmurs to Tenten under his breath as Pinky and Blondie saunter into the room 10 minutes late, looking strangely out of place and yet completely relaxed out of hospital uniform, donning bright colored tank tops and low riding skinny jeans instead.

'Only on Mondays and Fridays,' Tenten drawls lazily back, as she idly carves patterns into the table – marked clearly as her table, whittled away as it is with curling, swirling patterns that Neji finds hard to look at. 'Other times they're doing training. Nurse stuff. Lee would be here too, but he doesn't take this class.'

'He doesn't take Preliminary English?'

Tenten scrunches up her nose, as though he has done something to offend her personally.

'Languages are hard for Lee, okay? He's dyslexic – even worse than Naruto is – and barely passes Japanese as it is. Hell, that's the reason he's here – he flunked out of every public school in this district, and his parents are too poor to pay for the preppy stuff.'

Her nose scrunches up even further, and Neji thinks that it would be really nice to listen to the words floating around his head, because they sounds important, if only the speaker of said words wasn't so cute.

' – which I think is stupid because he makes up with his crazy kung-fu skills. So he goes for dojo lessons for first period instead, with Gai. And are you even listening to me?'

Neji nods, and deflects the question with an observation.

'I noticed that you haven't been carrying so many knives around with you lately,' he mentions lightly, directing his gaze the solitary one that she twirls between her fingers, as opposed to the ten or so she normally has at hand.

Tenten blushes.

'What's it to you.'

'Are you actually listening to what Inuzuka told you?' To his surprise, he sounds angrier than he expected. There is a hostility in his voice, something accusatory and maybe just a little unfamiliar to him (jealous? – the little voice within his head cackles).

Tenten looks shocked at first, then murderous, then coolly angry as she gives him a fierce glare.

'That's none of your goddamn business in the first place, Hyuga.' she hisses, and says nothing more to him even after the teacher arrives.

Which, as it happens, is nearly two hours later.

While Neji and Tenten sit in virtual silence, the class around them sit (jump, scream, laugh) through Preliminary English raucously, with many an argument shouted and paper plane thrown before a man with a neatly tied back ponytail, tanned skin and a large scar can burst through the doors dragging in what appears to be (and he swears, this place is getting stranger by the minute) a man wearing a cloth mask around the lower half of his face, his left eye concealed by a large bandanna, by the ear, who – as it turns out – is later revealed to be their English teacher.

'GODDAMNIT HATAKE KAKASHI I SWEAR TO THE LORD IF YOU SHOW UP TWO HOURS LATE FOR ANOTHER CLASS I WILL RIP YOUR GENITALS FROM YOUR BODY AND SUBSEQUENTLY FEED THEM TO THE DOG, DO YOU HEAR ME.' the scary, tanned man bellows.

The class goes quiet immediately, the masked man (presumably Hatake-sensei) quivers in fear, and Naruto begins to giggle.

'You're so FUNNY, Iruka-sensei!' There is absolute silence for a minute. Neji begins to fear for his life (considering his sanity is kind of a lost cause, by now).

Then –

'Naruto-kun! You've grown so tall this summer!'

It's as though a switched has been flipped, and the man quickly runs up to give the blonde a gentle, loving embrace. 'Oh dear,' he smiles tenderly, and Naruto practically melts beneath the affection. 'I must have given your friends a rather poor first impression!'

Walking to front of the class, the man smoothly picks up a piece of chalk, writing down a few characters in neat block writing. 'My name is Umino Iruka, but you can call me Iruka-sensei! I teach Preliminary and Advanced Japanese, as well as Home Economics, so I'll expect most of you will be seeing me some time during the day. Today will just be, hmm… an orientation, let's say, of sorts, where you'll be introduced to the class structure and subjects by your homeroom teacher, which, unfortunately enough, I am not.' he rambles off in one breath, and Neji is beginning to see where Naruto learnt his infamous communication skills from.

And then –

'HOWEVER, this DESPICABLE EXCUSE OF A HUMAN BEING standing behind me is, and for that, I apologize.' Iruka-sensei smiles, then turns maliciously towards Kakashi-sensei. 'Kakashi, introduce yourself.'

With that, Kakashi-sensei walks (slinks) forward.

'Um, yo. I'm Hatake Kakashi. I…uh, teach English. If you're wondering, my favorite hobbies and foods are none of your business. And I like dogs.'

Iruka-sensei exhales sharply. Neji sighs and clunks his head against the table.

Tenten still isn't talking to him.

The rest of the day goes by quite uneventfully. The classes are not widely varied, but include the basics – Mathematics (their teacher, they are told, will arrive tomorrow – this news causes a rather incendiary reaction in Blondie, although he cannot imagine why), Sciences (the teacher is an pale, unassuming man with glittering gold eyes – and, much to his annoyance – favors Uchiha over every other student) and Arts. The Arts in particular are taught by a handsome, roguish teacher with a thoughtful gaze, as well as a pair of customized knuckle blades he gleefully shows the students.

'So…' he mentions offhandedly as they are painting in class. 'Is Yuuhei-san gonna be dropping by any time soon?'

Tenten smiles knowingly and replies, no, I'm sorry, you just missed her – and the man sighs heavily before complimenting Sai for his excellent use of Japanese Ink in traditional painting.

'Is there something going on between Yuuhei-san and Asuma-sensei?' he asks cautiously while Tenten colors her dragons in vibrant blues, pinks and green.

'Stop butting the hell in.' is her sole reply.

Neji nearly clunks his head onto the table again, then remembers there is paint on it.

It is nearly the end of the day, and Neji is at his wits end. He decides if Tenten will not talk to him, he will have to (somehow) force her too.

'Tenten –' he calls as she marches out of Art, and she turns to face him. Her eyes are full of spite and sadness.

'Shut up, okay, Neji? First you go around dissing my friends, then you call me out on something that isn't your business. Alright? I'm sick and tired of people judging me.'

'I'm sorry,' he blurts out, before his mind can process anything else.

'And you – wait. What?'

'I'm so sorry for what I said. I was being childish. And silly. What Kiba said to you was his and your business. I should never have listened in, so please don't ignore me. Please… talk to me.' his words sound tacky in his own mouth, and they roll off his tongue uneasily, but sincerely.

And at that, she laughs. It's the sweetest sound he's ever heard.

'Oh, you're such an IDIOT, Neji. Really.' her gaze softens, and she puts a warm, soft hand on his shoulder. 'If anyone should say sorry it's me, I mean, I've been such a bitc – '

Tenten stops short and looks past his head, behind him. Instinctively, he turns as well.

A man, the unassuming Sciences teacher, is pacing up towards them. From up close, his skin looks even paler – unhealthy almost, and definitely unearthly, his eyes glinting like embers of a fire, frantic and dangerous. Black hair drapes down like a curtain behind him, and suddenly, inexplicably – Neji is afraid.

'S-sensei,' Tenten stutters out when he reaches them, so close that they are almost touching. 'I-I, uh, Neji – '

He feels a slippery, cold hand reach out and grasp him by the jaw, softly and menacingly.

'Hyuga Neji-kun,' the man mutters, in a low, smooth voice. 'Show me your eyes.'

'Who did this.'

His voice is flat and angrier than it had ever been. She sits beside him, carefully assessing his wounds. Her own injuries, while not as severe, can be seen through the pristine white bandages wrapped around her torso. For second, he fears – was she not involved in the fighting as well? Then, a fierce surge of pride – Gai-sensei told me she took down ten Sound ninja before she was knocked out. Then he surveys her tired expression, strands emerging messily from her normally impeccable buns as she rubs at the red, raw marks running along her arm – from an enemy's kunai, no doubt. The fact that they put a single mar on her body is enough to jolt him back to anger again.

The village lies in ruins, seemingly trampled a pair of gargantuan snakes, as the reports claim. He sits in his hospital, gripping the sheets till his knuckles go white and gritting his teeth, ignoring the pain in his lower jaw and ribs. Rubbing her thumb over his bandaged fists, she answers him.

'A traitor of the village.' she says.

'Orochimaru.'

A/N: Wow. It's been a while huh? This a seriously long chapter, with a lot of twists and turns, so prepare to be shocked guys! Also, free cookies for whoever can guess who the Math teacher is. (I swear there IS a plot. This first chapter is the first step in getting there, that's all) REVIEW.