I walked out of the inn we had stayed the night in; the run here had been dead silent.
Neji and I made our way to the village chief's house, and we were let in.
We sat down as an old man walked in and sat opposite us, "I'm glad the leaf village answered our plea for help," the man said, slightly bowing his head.
"We'll do our best to help," I replied with a smile.
Neji continued as serious as always as he asked, "What can you tell us about the animals?"
"They've only recently appeared; they started by just taking our crops in the night, but recently they've also been taking… people."
"Have you ever seen this animal?"
"I caught a glimpse once," the village chief replied, his hands trembling, "There were more than one, and they were large, larger than any animal I have ever seen, though it looked like a dog, or rather a wolf? There were maybe seven of them? Some of them had bloody red fur, others fur as dark as night. They were like demons straight from hell."
I stared at the chief, wondering if he wasn't just seeing things. I wouldn't blame him, considering how old he was.
"That's all I know," the village chief said, concluding.
Neji and I stood up, telling him we would get to work immediately.
We walked through the forest, Neji's byakugan activated as we searched for these… animals.
Hours had passed, and we still had not found anything. We stopped so Neji could let his eyes rest.
"They're most likely nocturnal," I said before taking a large gulp of water, "Maybe we should continue when the sun begins to set?"
"You could be more useful if you would also use your Byakugan," Neji replied, his hostility towards me clearly visible.
That's right, the only person who knew the truth about my eyes was Father.
"But you're doing such a great job, I wouldn't want to ruin that," I replied with a smile.
Neji looked like he was only getting more and more annoyed by my presence by the moment.
We sat in the forest waiting for the sun to set, but considering it was only now afternoon, I couldn't stand the silence anymore.
"I'm going to go find something to eat," I said, standing up.
"We're on a mission, and you really want to slack off? Do you truly believe that because you are a member of the main branch, you can do whatever you want?"
"The main branch, you're truly bringing that up? And to answer your question, no, I don't think I can do whatever I want. It's clear these animals are nocturnal. Sitting here all day is not going to do anything but make us too exhausted for when the time comes to fight these animals. Your hate for the main family clouds your judgment, Neji."
I walked away, leaving him there as I went to grab something to eat.
'I've been trying so hard to mend our relationship even after what he did to Hinata, and he's still acting like a brat! I thought we could become close…' I thought to myself, my appetite was ruined as I ate dorayaki.
A few hours had passed, and the sun would soon set. I made my way back to the forest where Neji was.
I threw a bag at his feet as I jumped onto a tree for a better view
Neji opened the bag as he said, "What's this for? I didn't ask for your food."
"It's not for you, it's for my sake. You'll fight better if you have something in your stomach, so stop glaring at me and just eat. The sun will soon set," I replied.
He didn't touch the food for a while but eventually did eat.
It would be a few minutes till the sun set. "Our main priority is protecting the villagers," Neji said.
"We should split up in that case."
"I shall take the north and east sides; you take the south and west."
"If you spot them, throw this kunai into the air; it'll explode, telling me they're at your location. I'll do the same," I said, handing him a kunai.
He stared at it, and it was clear he didn't want to take it, but he still eventually took it.
We both ran in separate directions, and soon enough, the sun had set.
Almost two hours had passed, and there was no sign of them.
"Is this old man sure he isn't imagining things?" I mumbled to myself, bored out of my mind.
I was hanging upside down from a branch, and it had almost been the third hour when suddenly I saw an explosion in the air coming from the other side of the village, "Neji!"