Here's part 2! ^_^ ...please don't kill me for the wait. ._.

I really don't have too much to say... Uh...so, carry on?

Warnings: Language, supernatural, horror.

Characters: Kakashi, Neji, Shino,

Phantom Hitchhiker Part 2

Neji ground his teeth together in frustration, his hands coming up to press against his head as he tried to think of what to do. He had searched the car-explosion site thoroughly and he found no trace of Shino anywhere. Not even his rucksack.

"Shit!" he cursed, stomping his foot. 'What does that mean? Did he escape? Did the ghost get him?' he wondered frantically, taking unsteady steps backwards. The moon was high in the sky by now, casting an eerie silver glow on the mist shrouding the surrounding trees from view. The temperature seemed to have dropped several degrees and Neji was freezing. He pulled his jacket tighter, trying to keep as much warmth as he could while he tried to come up with some sort of plan.

'Okay...Okay, I'll go find Kakashi! H-he'll know what to do to find Shino!' he nodded, turning...and turning...and turning.

'Which way was he dragged?'

Neji almost cried in his frustration as he activated his Byakugan. It was so hard to make anything out; the spiritual energy was so thick in the mist. He concentrated harder, lifting up his hands and beginning a simple movement that he'd learned that was supposed to help clear the air of spiritual energy. Moving his hands slowly as he focused his own spiritual energy into motion, he watched as things seemed to get a little clearer around him. Taking hope from this new plan, he kept going until he caught sight of Kakashi's silver spiritual energy.

"Got it!" He took off, following the faint trail as it led him off the side of the road and into the trees. Mud and ice squelched and crunched underfoot as he struggled through the forest, pushing branches out the way and trying not to slip and break his neck on the unsteady ground. The trail led him through a grove of bushes that were wet and frosted over, and over a mound that tried to swallow his feet in the mud. Cursing softly to himself as he pulled his foot out of yet another deep mud-puddle, Neji froze when the sound of a wolf's howl met his ears. He looked up slowly, eyes fearful. The last thing he needed to deal with was a pack of wild wolves.

When the howling stopped, he continued on, slower than before and with much less outbursts of cursing.

"Where'd you go, Kakash-IIIIT!" Neji cried out as his feet slid out from under him and he landed on his back on a slope, immediately beginning to slide down the hill. He grunted as he slid over stones and bumps, feeling his jacket get scuffed and torn from the rough path. His arm tingled in pain when he tumbled over, knocking it against a root. As he continued the messy road down to the bottom, he tried to grab onto something.

Just as his hand found a root to hold, the ground below his legs vanished. He grunted, holding onto the root with all his strength while his legs kicked feebly in the air. Panting with effort to keep himself from falling, he used his Byakugan to peer around him and gasped. There was a drop below him. He couldn't quite estimate how far down as there was so much mist still, swarming around him like a malicious cloud. He deactivated his eyes, knowing that he would need all his strength and energy to keep himself up and get to safety. The root in his hands was wet and slippery, and he had to keep readjusting his hold. He had to find a better holding place soon or else he'd never make it.

Looking around, he saw a thin tree trunk a few inches away. With half his body hanging off the miniature cliff, he tried to swing himself to the side to get a chance to grab onto the trunk. Trying not to panic when he felt his hands slipping more and more, he continued to swing until he had enough momentum. He let go of the root with one hand, stretching it out. He managed to catch the trunk and let out a triumphant grunt while he hung with his arms stretched out. Now it was only a matter of swinging and grabbing the trunk with his other arm and he would be able to pull himself up.

He was about to let go when a sound reached his ears and he froze. It was a steady crunching of feet on wet leaves and mud, and he stared forwards up the hill that was shrouded in mist. A figure was walking towards him, and he could make out the white coat.

'Ghosts can't make noise can they?' he thought, perking up. "Shino! Shino-san, is that you? Help!" he called. The steps continued and he growled. "Quickly, I'm hanging off a cliff here!"

The steps were steady still and Neji was beginning to get nervous as the figure got closer. Their hands weren't in their pockets, instead hanging by their sides as they walked. Neji paled, trying to call out again.

"...S-Shino-san?"

The mist cleared, revealing a hooded face and Neji only had a moment to scream out before the ghost was zooming towards him. In a blur of white, it rushed over and through him and his hands released both their holds. Neji continued to scream as he plummeted down through mist and darkness before landing and entering a new kind of darkness that resided in his mind.

It was colder than ever before when Neji regained consciousness, lying amongst frosted bushes at the bottom of the steep drop. He let out a pained breath, not able to make a sound. His muscles ached not only from the fall but from the freezing cold too. He could feel the beginnings of ice on his skin and turned his head weakly, trying to get it off. His lips were undoubtedly blue by now and he stuck out his tongue to weakly lick at them in an effort to warm them up.

With effort, he sat up amidst the wet green and brown leaves, his back clicking horribly. He hissed, falling forwards until he was on all fours. With a shivering hand, he reached up and wiped at his face, his fingers icy cold and sore. He didn't have the strength to stand yet, he knew that. Instead he opted for crawling forwards slowly, trying to find some sort of shelter. It was pitch black and his hands hurt as he crossed the stick, stone and ice riddled ground. He stopped when he reached a tree trunk and leant his back against it, pulling his limbs closer to him in an effort to gain warmth.

'Shit...It's so cold...This can't be normal temperature! The spirit's power must be making this area especially cold. The mist perhaps?' he wondered, breathing heavily on his hands in an attempt to bring life back into them.

There was a rush of air, and Neji looked up in time to see an almost solid white figure fly overhead through the mist. His eyes stared up in fear as the ghost seemed to circle around above like a vulture. He didn't make a sound, his body as still as a stone until finally the spirit seemed to fade away again and Neji slumped against the trunk.

'This is insane! I'm going to end up dying out here! What was I thinking, coming on this trip? What was I thinking when I said I'd lead the clan? So what if I can hold my own in a physical battle? It's completely different with the real deal!' he panicked in his mind. He just couldn't understand it. He had been trained for this line of work and yet the moment he encountered something real, it was like all the training and lessons had scurried to the back of his mind and locked themselves away behind a door he couldn't open.

He was sitting in despair when a sound caught his ears. It was a low rumbling and it was getting closer and becoming louder. Neji looked up, his eyes scanning the area above him. The mist was going crazy, swirling and shifting around unnaturally. His mind was screaming at him, red alerts going off as he slowly pulled himself to his feet, his back to the tree trunk. The rumbling was growing louder and it was followed a strangely wet squelching that made Neji extremely nervous about its origins.

He started to look around and then froze, his jaw dropping and his eyes bulging as he saw a wall of rock, mud and gravel tumbling towards him. It was a landslide.

"Shit!"

He turned and started to run as fast as his frozen and stiff legs could carry him on the uneven ground. It was so dark he was running blindly, his hands reaching out before him to push away branches and obstacles. He could hear the oncoming disaster and panicked as he scrambled away from it. If he slowed and was caught in the mud, he was doomed. Was this how the ghost got rid of its victims? Buy burying them under a landslide? He knew that this area in particular did have a few landslides from time to time. No one would suspect anything.

His leg muscles burned from the strain as he fought his way through the dark forest. His foot got caught on a root and he cried out as he fell. He turned his head, watching as the wall of mud and rock came towards him. He was so done for.

"Hyuuga-san!"

Neji's head snapped up in shock as he felt a hand grab his wrist and tug him up, his foot pulling free from the root. He didn't have time to think before he was being pulled away from the disaster zone. A steep hill came into view and his saviour dragged him over it just as the mud crashed against the bottom. Neji stumbled over the hill, landing on his backside on the wet ground while he panted for breath. He looked up, his eyes staring incredulously at Shino. The boy was bent over, breathing heavily while his muddied hand rested on his knees.

"S-Shino-san? You're alive!" Neji murmured in surprise. Shino nodded looking up.

"When you ran off, I got out of the car and chased you. However, I got lost in the fog and when I found my way back to the car it was destroyed," he explained before he lowered himself to his knees and took a deep breath. "It was difficult to find you, but thankfully my heat-sensor was still working."

Neji blinked, tilting his head. "Heat-sensor?" he asked in confusion and watched as Shino pulled out the device he had been playing with in the car.

"Yes. It is something that I made with my father a while ago. It is able to track heat signatures in the human body. It was broken for some time; I was fixing it in the car. It started to work just before I left the car. I'm glad it did," he added, turning to Neji. "It helped me find you in time."

Neji swallowed and nodded. "I owe you my life, Shino-san," he said thankfully and Shino waved his hand.

"No, it is fine. But now we have to worry about your friend," he said, looking up at the sky. "That...ghost...will be looking for us for sure," he mumbled.

"How do you know about ghosts?" Neji asked sharply as he climbed to his feet, wincing at the pain. Shino sighed, scratching at his head.

"Aside from what I've read in books, seen on the T.V or heard through rumours, I know nothing. I did not really believe in them until just now since there's no other explanation I could come up with," he replied and Neji could hear the uncertainty and disbelief colouring his voice. He understood how the boy must be feeling.

"I'm sorry you had to find out the truth this way," he mumbled softly as he dusted some dirt off his pants. "But yes...it is a ghost. And we're running out of time," he continued, looking towards the sky. "The ghost will vanish the moment the first rays of sunlight hit the sky. We have to find Kakashi before then!"

Shino nodded. "While I understand our goals...I wonder how we can achieve them, exactly?" he asked softly, looking up at the sky as well. Neji narrowed his eyes as he pondered their situation, wondering what to do.

"Does your heat-sensor still work?" he asked quietly. Shino pulled the device out of his pocket, looking down at the screen.

"Yes, it does. But it isn't picking up anything aside from ours right now," he said. Neji nodded.

"Alright. I'll find us a trail to where Kakashi might be, and we follow it until your heat-sensor starts to register something. Understand?"

Shino tilted his head. "How do you expect to find a trail in this darkness? It is pitch black and you have no source of light."

Neji smirked. "The mist is not nearly as thick around this area. I don't need a light to see." He raised his hands, pressing them together to get better concentration. He was going to need it after all the energy he'd lost. "Byakugan!"

His eyes pulsed, veins spreading out at their sides. After a few seconds, Neji could see everything. The trees and forest floor were thrown into a greyscale relief, the edges defined out of the darkness. He could still see spiritual energy from the ghost permeating the air, but it was not nearly as thick as before. He turned, noting Shino's spiritual energy was a faint, greenish grey and then continued to survey the area. He narrowed his eyes, concentrating as much of his spiritual energy as he could into his eyes. The area became even clearer than ever, and his vision began to spread out. His head started to scream in agony as his vision spread out to a 100 meter radius around them and he fell to his knees. Shino was by his side instantly, asking him if he was alright and what he could do but Neji just shook his head, panting harshly while he determinedly stared out ahead of him.

'Come on...Come on...Where are you?' he thought until finally something caught his eye towards the South. 'THERE!'

He let his eyes fade and collapsed, breathing heavily while Shino kept him from face-planting the floor.

"H-He's towards the South," he gasped, pointing. "We...head that way."

Shino nodded, not questioning Neji's abilities. The Hyuuga had to hand it to the boy; he was taking everything rather well considering the situation they were in.

Together they began to trudge through the thick forest towards the direction Neji had pointed. Neji was leaning heavily on Shino, his energy close to zero from all the exertion. Shino seemed to have enough stored for the both of them, as he was able to guide Neji through the uneven and rough terrain without complaint.

They walked in silence, the sounds of nature at night the only music to their ears under the faint glow of the moon. Finally they reached the destination Neji had seen the trail and Shino pulled out his heat-sensor. It really didn't look all too professional, instead looking like something that had been made from spare parts of various devices. However, it was their only chance to find Kakashi now. Neji's eyes were as normal as Shino's until he regained enough energy to use them.

"It's picking something up from this direction!" Shino announced after a few moments of silent walking. They picked up their pace, and the mist grew thicker as they went lower. Suddenly, out of the dreary grey fog loomed a shadowy entrance to an old cave.

"I didn't know there were caves here," Neji said, staring at the ominous looking entrance. Shino shifted beside him, tinkering with his device before he nodded resolutely.

"The heat signals are coming from in there. There's something alive in there."

Neji shivered, half from cold and half from the realization that they would have to go inside the cave to investigate. He looked up, examining the sky as best he could before he groaned.

"Let's go."

The cave was dark, cold, wet and more than anything, scary. The two boys stayed close, keeping tabs on each other since they couldn't see a thing and were relying on the faint light from Shino's heat-sensor to guide them. They tripped, stumbled and bumped into things plenty of times before finally the signal was strong and they could see the faintest hint of moonlight.

"Over there," Neji said softly, his voice shaking from the cold. They edged their way towards the light, worried about what they might find.

They entered a cavern in which there was a hole in the roof, moonlight streaming down while small flakes of ice drifted down. There were protruding stalactites and a few stalagmites littering the cavern floor, and a single drip of water had formed a small puddle in a crevice, the constant drip like the ticking of a clock. The beam of moonlight drew both boys attention to the area it highlighted on the floor. Neji covered his mouth and Shino tensed, his lips curving in a frown.

In ragged, tattered clothes that had been worn and torn by ages of lying in this cavern, the skeleton of a person dressed in white rested against the cavern wall. It was obvious by the bones that their leg had been broken and Neji closed his eyes.

'That's the hiker. They likely travelled through the woods after no one helped them and fell through the hole. It would be hard to see it in the winter with the ice and mud, especially at night.'

Shino suddenly tugged on his arm, pulling him out of his musings.

"Over there!"

Neji followed his hand and his eyes widened at seeing four people propped up against the wall. One of them had silver hair.

"Kakashi!"

Neji hurried over, Shino right on his tail and they crouched beside Kakashi, checking his vitals. He was breathing, and it seemed he was just unconscious, but he was freezing cold. They needed to get him out of the ice cold cavern soon or else he would catch some serious frostbite.

"Hyuuga-san," Shino said, his voice shocked and he guided Neji to Kakashi's wrists. They were imbedded in the wall, held there by a layer of ice. Neji stared at it in disbelief before clenching his jaw.

"The spirit can manipulate the environment to some extent. We need to break this ice!" he said. Shino nodded, leaning closer.

"We cannot try to smash it. It is hard to tell, but," he held up his heat-sensor, using the monitor light to see, "it looks like if it shatters, it will slice his wrists. We will have to try and remove it without disrupting the parts around his wrist."

Neji glared at the boy. "So you want me to do something near impossible? That spirit could arrive at any moment and trap us both, and then we'll all die in this damn cavern!" he snapped, his body wracked with a bout of shivers as he spoke. Shino sent him an unimpressed look.

"If there is even the slightest chance, should we not take it?" he asked sternly and Neji stiffened, his eyes widening at the words. He looked away, biting his lip.

'I need to stop that. He's right, if there's a chance we have to try. We have to take risks,' he thought and turned back to Shino, nodding. They turned back to Kakashi, trying to break the ice and ease it away from the man's wrists. Minutes bled by and Neji knew by Kakashi's increasingly shallow breathing that the man was getting worse. Whatever the spirit had done to him was working and if they didn't free him and get him out, he would be as dead as the poor souls propped up along the wall besides him.

Neji sat back, cursing profusely after another failed attempt. He'd almost pressed the ice into Kakashi's wrists, and that would've been extremely bad. Kakashi would've started to bleed out from that wrist while he was still trapped.

'Dammit! If only we had some fire or something!' he thought in anguish. A second ticked by, and then another before his eyes widened drastically and he snapped upright so harshly Shino jumped, looking at him questioningly.

'That's it!' he thought, placing his hands gently over the ice keeping Kakashi locked. He focused on sending his spiritual energy to his hands, keeping it steady. He felt his hands warm up, and then droplets of water started to form and slide down. "Yes!" he laughed triumphantly, turning to Shino.

"I've got it!" he said, grinning widely as Shino saw the progress he was making. "Shino-san, just place your hands over his and concentrate as much of your energy as you can. It will help if you envision a small flame in your mind."

Shino was looking at him sceptically, and Neji's grin faded some. "Trust me!" he said slowly and Shino hesitated briefly before doing as he said. Neji didn't need his eyes to see that the boy was struggling to do anything with his spiritual energy. After all, Shino wasn't trained to control it, but Neji had given him the tools to use the basic lesson in its control. Envision it.

Minutes ticked by and then Shino let out a surprised gasp. Neji glanced over, pleased to see the soft steam rising from the boy's hands. He'd gotten it right.

"That's right! Just keep envisioning it!" he instructed softly. Shino nodded and they stuck to their task diligently.

Kakashi's wrist was almost free when Neji heard him groan. He almost laughed, pleased to hear the sound.

"Don't worry Kakashi, we'll get you out of here!" he muttered eagerly.

There was a great roar of wind and flakes of ice and leaves suddenly blew into the cave, the freezing air snapping against his back. He froze solid, his eyes wide as his head slowly lifted up. Shino was still too, his own lips gaping in shock.

'It's here...'

"Shino-san...Continue thawing out Kakashi's wrists," he said lowly, pushing himself up to his feet. He sucked in a breath while Shino glanced at him nervously. "I'll keep it busy."

Neji wasted no time, spinning around and falling into the stance that he had been using since his father died.

'I've been trained for this...I have to do it. I will make my father proud!'

Shino diligently continued his task of melting the ice. He still didn't know how he was managing it, but he trusted Neji's word. He was getting so close, just a bit more and Kakashi's wrist would be free. Then he could move on and finish Neji's side.

It was hard to concentrate, however, when he could hear the fight going on behind him.

Neji let out a huff of breath as he once again swung his arms rapidly, blocking multiple attacks from the ghost. It was using the environment to fight, throwing small but deadly sharp rocks or icicles at him. He'd had to avoid sudden dips in the floor as well.

He blocked the last projectile and rushed forward. Letting out a yell of determination, he swung his hand forward, the palm flat, and forced it towards the ghost.

It moved at the last second, blurring and vanishing from his line of sight.

Neji cursed, spinning around and bringing his other hand up. It glowed faintly with spiritual energy and he rammed it forward, letting a smirk onto his face when he saw it had sunk into the ghost's centre. For a moment, nothing moved. Then the wind picked up, howling so fiercely it sounded like a scream.

Neji watched his tendrils of his spiritual energy started to thread outwards, creating a spider web of blue-grey through the ghost's body. Soon, it would start to break apart and the ghost would be dealt with. He just had to hold on-

"Gah!" Neji could only yell as he was suddenly thrust backwards, slamming into the wall of the cave and sliding down, groaning in pain. His body had taken too much abuse for the night. He struggled to sit up, wincing as his hands scraped against the floor and his knees just ached, period!

'Shit...shit...shit in a shovel...' he thought angrily, looking up as the ghost started to float towards him, and he clenched his fists tightly, wondering how it was going to kill him. Maybe it would string him up too. Or perhaps it would make the wall cave in and crush him.

Either way, it was not looking pretty.

He sucked in a breath as the ghost stood-floated-over him and he waited, tensing in preparation for one final struggle.

Suddenly, light burst somewhere off to the right, and then Neji watched in shock as the hitchhiker's ghost suddenly seemed to burn, lighting up as shadow flames licked up its sides and wrapped around its head. It was writhing, struggling against its doom as the flames engulfed it.

When the fire cleared, there was nothing but the stench of burning grime, and the crackle of bone breaking under intense heat.

"Well...That was a close one."

Neji blinked rapidly, letting his eyes clear of the white spots he'd attained due to the sudden light, and his jaw dropped at seeing Kakashi leaning against the cave wall, massaging his wrists and smiling at him through his mask. In his right hand was a small bottle engraved with a cross, a few droplets of a viscous substance still dribbling out.

"W-what...?" Neji gasped, looking to the right. He blanched at seeing the skeleton of the hitchhiker aflame, the bones crumbling and the clothing turning to charred ash. A silver lighter lay on the very edge of the flames.

"Holy fire, in a sense," Kakashi supplied, clearing his throat when it cracked. He shivered, wrapping his arms around himself. "I brought this bottle of blessed oil along, just in case we found the skeleton. I had a hunch that was what tied to ghost to this place rather than angry resentment."

Shino moved over to Neji, helping the boy to his feet and letting him lean against him for support. They hobbled over to Kakashi, who's eye crinkled up happily as he looked at them.

"You both did splendidly well. Neji, you were excellent. You put aside your hesitance, and you fought the spirit with such low energy. You persevered and to top it off, you kept Shino-san close by. That's admirable."

"No...No, I didn't. Shino found me," Neji admitted, lowering his gaze. "He helped me out more than I helped him. I was useless."

"I disagree. You were the one who not only fought the ghost, but found our lead to Kakashi-san's whereabouts too. You were admirable," Shino interrupted smoothly and Neji sent him a wide-eyed look of thanks while Kakashi smiled.

"Daresay Neji...You're on the team."

Neji's head snapped up so fast the other two winced for him. "You mean I'm hired? You'll let me be a part of Rei-Senzai?" he asked and at Kakashi's nod, he let out a disbelieving laugh. "Thanks!"

Kakashi chuckled, moving towards the cave entrance. "Come on boys. Let's get out of here and find our way home. Shino-san, we'll of course give you a lift."

Both boys halted in their steps, looking at each other nervously.

"Uh...About the car," Neji began awkwardly and Kakashi stopped, turning to look at them.

"What about it?" he asked.

Neji bit his lip, mumbling something under his breath. Kakashi cocked an eyebrow and leant closer.

"What was that? I didn't catch you?" he said slowly and Neji mumbled something again before Shino sighed heavily.

"He said the car blew up. We no longer have one."

"IT WHAT?!"

Neji took in a deep breath, letting the fresh air fill his lungs.

He coughed violently as a truck drove by, exhaust fumes filling the air and his mouth and he turned to offer a rude gesture at the vanishing driver.

"Bloody asshole," he mumbled darkly, waving away the fumes and walking up towards the fence. He looked at the placard declaring Rei-Senzai Inc and smiled. He had made it. He had gotten into the team like he wanted! Finally he could train to be a real ghost hunter, train to take over the clan head and still have his freedom.

'I hope I made you proud dad.'

With his head held high and smirk on his face, he walked up the stairs to the front door, pushing it open and stepping into his new residence of work.

He walked into the living room/main office and held up a hand in greeting to the people gathered. "Good morning."

There were chorused 'good mornings' said and he moved to take a seat. Kakashi suddenly rolled out of one of the back rooms, sitting on a chair as he glided across the floor.

"Ah! Neji! Good morning to you!" he greeted cheerfully and Neji waved in reply.

"Hello Kakashi."

Sasori was glaring at the leader, a dark scowl on his face. Neji looked at him warily when Deidara leant over and whispered in his ear.

"Sasori has to pay towards buying his granddad a new car, since it was our company that blew up his old one. He's not happy with Kakashi," he explained and Neji's brows twitched upward in guilt.

"I see," he mumbled and Deidara sent him a 'what can you do' look before moving to sit next to the fuming red head.

"Neji! I have some wonderful news," Kakashi said as he wheeled over to him, slapping a hand on his shoulder. Neji looked at him curiously, wondering if they already had another job and they wanted him to come along.

"What is it?"

"We have a new member for out tech staff!" Kakashi beamed. "He should be arriving soon!"

Neji shrugged off his hand, lips turned up in a sarcastic sneer. "Hooray. And that's interesting to me, how?"

There was a knock at the front door and Kakashi practically squealed, jumping off his chair.

"Come in! The doors unlocked!"

Neji turned, along with the others, to see who the newest member of the team was. His jaw dropped and his eyes bugged out of his head.

"S-S-Shino-san?" he asked incredulously. The boy nodded his head. He was still wearing a large overcoat and his dark glasses were on his face as usual.

"Hello again, Hyuuga-san. I look forward to working with you," he said calmly and Neji snapped his mouth closed as Kakashi stood behind the boy.

"Shino here will handle a lot of our electronics! Isn't it wonderful?"

Neji watched as Shino moved away in time to miss Kakashi's hug, and the man ended up sprawled on the floor. While Deidara asked if he was okay and Sasori roared with malicious laughter at his expense, Neji allowed the smallest smile onto his face.

"Yeah. It's wonderful."

I can't help but feel it was slightly anti-climatic. ¬_¬

Review would be highly appreciated, and I hope you enjoyed this part! More will come...eventually... XD