Bloodshot pearlescent eyes looked into Perwinkle blue in utter terror. He was trying to say something to Ino, but he couldn't manage it. Silent screaming. Not with the blood staining his lips and his vocal chords in shreds before her eyes. Like a fish out of water, Neji was suffocating, and bleeding out fast. A quick glance accessed the damage. He was covered with dirt, abrasions and shrapnel scattered across the surface area of his anbu uniform.

Judging from the position, he'd taken an attack meant for another teammate. Always a hero, at least since he'd shed the bitterness of his father's death from the Chuunin exams. Her gaze returned to his throat. The major damage was where Lee bent with a blood soaked shirt covering his neck, trying to stop the staunch and failing miserably. They had requested backup.

Ino hadn't slept the night before this. Bags drooped beneath her eyes as she pushed her bangs out of her face. She'd been in a fight with Shikamaru, with a mission in the morning. Ino hadn't anticipated this, when she'd answered the call. She was supposed to be in Stone by nightfall. It was funny how in an instant everything changed. The best laid plans... her mind taunted. None of that mattered now.

The look in their eyes. Both sets of brown eyes looked at her expectantly.

It wasn't fair.

Ino was just a medic, not some goddamn savior. She might not even be able to save the Hyuuga. But they were looking at her, heart in their eyes, like she could cure cancer or something. Pushing the irritation aside, she knelt down beside him, pulling out medical gear and barked quiet orders to anbu nearby.

What she saw made her feel 2 feet tall. She had never seen the proud Hyuuga so scared and helpless before now, and she had seen him in battles. Knots tangled in the pit of her stomach. She didn't like it. Ino took a sharp breathe and summoned her strength, clenching her jaw as her steady blue eyes looked into his. Preparing ones self to fight with a death god never got easier over time. This case was no different.

"It's okay. Neji I'm going to stop the bleeding,okay?" She soothed, with more confidence than she felt as her hands quickly took over the bloodied bandage for his distraught teammates.

The squelch of blood was sticky and cold on the handkerchief; but hot as it pumped from his body. He started to convulse. Periwinkle blue hardened to steel. She covered the puncture wound on his throat, and got to work. Healing chakra flooded his system as she forced her chakra through his passageways screaming life into his being.

Live.

Live damn you!

She bound tissue and flesh together, working quietly and quickly so as not to give away their position. The sign that she was nearing her own limits flared. Ino ignored it and clenched her jaw so tight she could hear her enamel grinding. Even if Tsunade told her to have limits, to set limits, ultimately it didn't matter. The old hag would have done the same damn thing when it came to her patients. She would not loose him.

She would however be late on her mission. Screw it. She would find another way to Stone. She would not, could not accept death here and now in order to salvage her mission.

"Thank goodness you were here" Lee prattled, as Tenten's battlle ranged near by, the wet sound of weapon meeting enemy flesh. The sound was a comforting one.

"I was just passing by" She replied, uncomfortable with the burden of being a savior. She shifted her focus on Neji.

He choked in small gasps, as bits of phlegm came with drops of blood. He twitched, shock making his face pale and skin ashy to the touch. He was out of critical condition. She exhaled, releasing the breathe she'd been holding. Her hands were already sticky with congealed blood as her chakra probed the recesses of inflamed tissue, burning out infection and cleansing his wounds. He trembled, his eyes pleading, begging her for something. If it was death, she couldn't oblige him. Ino closed the neck wound, and those pearlescent eyes closed, his lashes fluttering as his body slacked in relief. Done.

She wavered, even on her knees, Lee's hand reached out to steady her. Then Neji's hand shot out, like a lifeline. He grabbed her hand, fiercely, tight. She winced, blue eyes flying open. His grip was so strong for someone having been so close to death. The callouses of his palm and fingers exerted a steady pressure on her own. The warmth and color had returned back to his hands and body. His handsome face was flushed with the healthy color of pigment, life blood returning to him. His eyes were clear, clear in their gratitude.

That look.

Ino would remember it in her moments of failure to remind herself of her victories. She had saved him. She had fought the death god and won, on this turn. Ino gave a small smile back. She released his hand, startled to miss the absence of the warmth.

"Have to rendezvous with my team now. Get him back to Konoha and to the hospital to check on his vitals and his blood count." Ino said, blonde ponytail trailing after her, as she took off into the brush.

Pearlescent eyes followed her as she left. He would never forget that debt to her.