The sun sparkled on the water, making tiny rainbows in the spray off the gentle waves. A light breeze blew, taking the edge off the midday heat and filling the sails of the boat.

Neji leaned back against the tiller and watched seagulls fly overhead. When he'd first arrived in the Land of Water, he couldn't sail any better than a child of ten. Now, after traveling from the northernmost part of the sea all the way down to the southern islands, he could operate a boat as well as any native islander.

They were on the move again. Once it was warm enough for sailing, Neji sold their house and used the money to buy the boat. Their eventual goal was to return to the mainland, but they took their time navigating south through the islands, never staying more than two nights in one port and experiencing the different sights each place had to offer.

Their current destination was the mother island in the Land of the Sea. Neither of them had been there before, but Hinata recalled a mission Shino had taken there once.

"I don't remember all the details," she'd said, one fingertip touching the map. "But there was a laboratory on one of the islands."

"There could be useful information there. We should explore the surrounding area," Neji suggested.

"If that's what you think is best" was Hinata's murmured answer, and he'd wisely decided to let the subject drop until they arrived.

It had been two and a half years since they'd left Konoha. Two and a half years of forced togetherness, of having only each other to rely on. But it was only in the past six months or so that Neji felt they'd really grown close. There was an easiness between them now, and instead of dreading dinner time conversation, he found himself looking forward to their time together. And yet there were still moments where he wondered if he would ever understand what was going on inside her mind.

They arrived on the island and checked into an inn. The innkeeper chattered about the local specialties as she served them heaping bowls of fresh seafood.

"You'll have to visit Taro Island for the crab, and Jiro Island is known for beautiful pearls. They make great anniversary presents!"

"What about the island to the east?" Neji asked.

The innkeeper shook her head. "You don't want to go there."

"Why not?" Hinata asked.

"That's Demon Island. It's cursed. Even if you survive the trip over, the island's full of monsters." She put her hands on her hips. "Definitely not a nice destination for a cute couple like you."

"Of course not," Neji lied.

Two days later, they set a course for Demon Island.

The journey was pleasant enough at first, but as they drew closer, the clouds moved to obscure the sun, casting a gloomy pallor over them. Rocks jutted out from the sea, making the now-choppy water even more treacherous to navigate. Using Byakugan, Neji could see the spooky images of sunken ships beneath them. He shivered; he didn't believe in ghosts, but the creepy atmosphere was getting to him.

"I remembered something," Hinata said. "Shino-kun's mission was investigating a sea monster that turned out to be one of Orochimaru's experiments."

"Orochimaru?" Demon Island certainly was a nefarious enough name to attract a ninja as dark and twisted as he was. "He must have had a base here."

"Yes..." Hinata hugged herself. "Neji-nii-san, I don't know if we should continue."

Neji thought about it. Orochimaru was one of the most dangerous ninja that ever lived; even now, no one was sure if he was alive or dead. But he'd had a lifelong desire to master every jutsu in the world, and that included medical jutsu.

"I think we should. We might find something linking medical ninjutsu with Gentle Fist."

Hinata frowned. "All right. I just have a bad feeling..."

Neji would never admit it, but he did too. "Nothing will get past us," he said.

It took them a while to find a safe place to bring the boat to shore; by the time they stepped on land, the weather had shifted, leaving them in damp gray chill.

"I think we go this way," Hinata said, pointing towards the mist. Neji finished securing the boat and followed her.

A huge torii gate loomed before them. As they passed through its red beams, he felt a chill go down his spine.

The path was overgrown with half-dead vegetation. They picked their way through, doing their best to avoid rustling the leaves. Normally, Neji would not recommend such caution-after all, the island had been abandoned long ago-but something inside him screamed danger. The increasing sense of foreboding made him want to turn back.

They pressed on a while longer when the path abruptly ended.

"This doesn't make any sense," Hinata said. "I can't find an entrance."

"Perhaps it's disguised?"

She shook her head. "We'd still be able to see it with our eyes. There's just... no way in or out."

Neji refocused his vision so that he could examine the area beyond the path. He could see clear outlines of hallways before and below them, but something about them was off.

"It's almost as if..." He stopped. He sensed movement on the outside edge of his vision. He refocused his attention there, but there was nothing.

Just the wind? he thought, but the sea breeze had calmed as soon as they stepped ashore.

"It's collapsed," Hinata said, still examining the lab. "Everything's caved in."

That cut Neji to the quick. They wouldn't be able to search the base after all.

They were solemn on the walk back to the boat.

Neji chewed his lip, wondering if there was anything else they could do before leaving. It killed him to leave a potential source of information behind without thorough examination, but this hideout was beyond repair.

"Hinata-sama, I think we should..." He stopped, spotting movement behind him again.

A cold line of sweat trickled down the back of his neck. Twice was no coincidence.

"Defense pattern," he said. Hinata nodded once and stepped into position.

Two minutes of eerie silence passed. Neji scanned all around him, hyper-vigilant for any signs of danger. He was about to relax and bid Hinata do the same when she tensed and pointed to the sea.

"There!"

He barely had time to react when a monster burst forth in a blast of sea foam.

"To the right!" Hinata shouted, stepping to the side and assuming an attack position.

Neji mirrored her and focused his chakra, aiming for the center of the creature's chakra paths.

"Eight Trigrams: Vacuum Palm!"

The attack connected, and the monster screamed in pain as it fell to the ground.

Neji jumped back to better observe their opponent. The creature was bipedal with scales, fins, and gills; it had to be the demon that gave the island its name.

The attack only stunned the creature; it got back to its feet quickly and raged toward them.

Neji stepped into a neutral position, ready to defend or attack as necessary. He wobbled a bit as he bent his knees; he was out of practice. He once could take on an enemy of this level alone, but now, he needed Hinata's backup.

Behind him, she concentrated, preparing to attack.

"Twin Lion Fists!" Chakra enveloped her hands in the distinctive shape. The monster didn't notice, too focused on attacking Neji. He led it on, occupying its attention to give Hinata an opening.

He drew the monster closer, forcing it to leave its back unguarded. He trusted Hinata would see the opening and take advantage.

But if he was rusty from lack of training, Hinata was even more so. She'd always been less skilled than he. Too late, he realized he was leaving too much to her.

Hinata saw the opening and moved to attack, but as she stepped forward, she tripped. It was a lapse from which a well-trained shinobi could easily recover, but Hinata never had such skill. She released her jutsu and thrust her hands in front of her to break her fall.

Neji froze in horror, wanting to help, but also not wanting to draw attention to her. Instead, he launched another long range attack toward the monster, hoping to pull its attention away. The monster dodged; in doing so, it noticed Hinata behind it.

Time seemed to slow.

Hinata got to her feet seconds before the monster lunged. She dodged its first attack, but with the next, she stumbled again.

Neji froze in horror as the monster swiped at Hinata and landed a direct hit.

No. This couldn't be real.

His chest hurt, like his heart had stopped beating and all the air had been sucked from his lungs. He had to act, but all he could do was cry out her name.

"HINATA!"

Her body disappeared in a puff of smoke, and the confused monster clawed out a huge chunk of driftwood instead of Hinata's stomach.

"Substitution Technique?" Neji choked back his surprise and refocused his attention, sending Vacuum Palm attacks towards the monster.

Its attention thus occupied, the monster didn't notice Hinata flying towards him, her fists enveloped in chakra.

"Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists!"

She punched into the monster's head, causing it to stagger a few steps, right into range of Neji's attack.

"Two! Four! Eight! Sixteen! Thirty-two! Sixty-four!"

The monster lay on the sand, unable to move now that its chakra points had been sealed.

"Neji-nii-san?"

Neji looked up at Hinata. She was completely unharmed. The relief that flooded him wasn't quite enough to fully combat the adrenaline still coursing through his veins.

"You did well," he said. When she smiled and stepped closer to him, he felt dizzy.

Turning his attention back to the creature, he realized it was changing. The scales were fading into skin, the fins into fingers, and the monstrous appearance now looked almost... human.

"What the hell?"

Hinata gasped audibly. "How is this possible?"

Neji shook his head. Orochimaru was not above using humans as test subjects; this had to be the result of one of his horrid experiments.

The unfortunate creature looked up at them, eyes wide in terror.

"Kill... me..." it gurgled.

"There has to be another way," Hinata said. "A way we could help." But the man, if indeed he could still be called that, appeared not to hear.

"Kill me... kill me..." He rasped the mantra on a loop, incapable of any other thought.

Neji's heart sank; what would it be like to lose control of one's self entirely, to be reduced to a mindless killing machine, to completely lose all humanity?

He'd come too close to that before.

"Nii-san?"

He barely heard her. He'd already stepped forward, chakra thrumming in his arm as he prepared a deadly attack.

"Wait, don't!" she cried.

The man didn't even have time to gasp. The fatal blow to his heart had stopped it instantly.

Neji bent over him, examining his face. Unrecognizable. A terrible sorrow enveloped him. This man didn't choose to be a monster.

"Nii-san..." Behind him, Hinata was shaking. "You didn't have to... there could have been another way."

"He's free now," he said abruptly, standing upright. "We'll have to make camp here tonight. Go back to the boat and build a fire."

Hinata blinked twice, then faced the ground and spun on her heel. He watched her go without a word. How she could convince herself she was a cold-blooded murderer, he'd never understand.

He didn't dwell on it long; he had his own fire to build.

When he returned to the shore, Hinata had built not only a fire, but a wall of sand to help shelter them from the wind.

"We don't have a tent, but this will help a little."

"Thank you." He sank down behind it and warmed himself. The fire was a welcome relief after his long walk back in the cold mist.

Hinata gingerly sat beside him. "You cremated him?" she asked.

"Let's not talk about that."

A few moments of silence went by before she spoke again. "I know you had to do it; just... the way you did it... I was surprised."

"It never gets any easier…" Half a second went by before Neji realized he'd spoken the words aloud.

Hinata was kind enough to pretend she didn't hear.

The fire crackled, keeping the silence from overwhelming them.

"The fight today," he began. "We're really out of shape. Not that we didn't pull it off," he added. "But the lack of daily training is starting to show."

Hinata smiled. "I think daily training would go against the idea of lying low and avoiding extra attention."

"We'll think of something." Neji lay back in the sand; it wasn't comfortable by any means, but it would suffice. "Good night, Hinata-sama."

"Sama?" Hinata whispered. "But earlier, I thought you... "

He sat back up. "You thought I what?"

"N-nothing!" She waved her hands in front of her. "Never mind!"

Lying back down, Neji shook his head. Who knew what she was talking about? As if he would ever address her inappropriately. He closed his eyes, not remembering the moment when he'd shouted her name in sheer terror. He was already asleep by the time Hinata pressed herself to his back and wrapped her arms around him.

Author's Note: This update is long overdue. Every thing that could possibly have happened to me, good AND bad, happened in 2018. I'm doing OK now, but it's been a heck of a time since I last updated. There will not be a long gap like this again, I promise.
I apologize if this chapter seems a little shorter. I've been working on it for so long now that I can't tell if it's a good chapter or not, but I'm finally happy with it.
Also, if you are wondering, yes, this chapter is meant to parallel the chapter where Neji has the most epic face when he thinks Hinata got attacked. I can't remember exactly which chapter it is; if I figure it out, I'll add it in later. But yeah. Alternate Timelines mean I get to pick the cool parts from canon and stick them in my own story! XD