A fugitive?" Neji repeated. He now stood in the Hokage's office with Gingerale on his shoulders.

Tsunade nodded. "From the Hidden Stone Village. His name is Samashi. Here is his picture." She held up a picture of a man in dark brown clothes with bushy dark blond hair and a thin beard. "He was last seen near the boundary of the Fire country heading our way."

Gingerale girgled in interest and cocked her head. Her tail swished curiously.

Tsunade glanced at her before concluding, "He is wanted dead or alive, so you don't have to bring him back in one piece. All you need to do is immobilize him and bring him here. I will take care of the rest."

Before Neji could reply, Gingerale jumped onto the desk. She looked closely at the picture for a long moment, and her eyes narrowed. Her tail lashed in anticipation.

Tsunade looked at her blankly. "Uh... yes, you can take your kitty with you if you want..."

Neji picked the cat up quickly, embarrassed."When do I leave, Hokage-Sama?" he asked.

"You leave this evening."

He bowed, and, to his satisfaction Gingerale dipped her head respectfully as well. He took the picture when it was handed to him and left the office, his mind on the mission.

oOOoOOoOOoOOo

An hour before sunset, Neji was off, with Gingerale trotting briskly behind him. They were heading for the edge of the Fire Country.

By the time the moon was high into the sky, they set up camp, but before he went to sleep, Neji had drawn up a plan for the next day.

They woke shortly after dawn, and had a quick breakfast of rice balls before starting off again.

By noon, they were close to their destination, and it was not long before Gingerale seemed to have caught a scent. Neji followed her for a few minutes before activating his byakugan. His vision turned to shades of black, white, and gray, and the trees were intangible. About forty yards away there was a chakra field of a man. There was no mistaking it. It was Samashi.

Neji quickly picked up Gingerale and leapt into the trees toward him, keeping his byakugan activated. When he was close enough, he took out a kunai and threw it. It struck deep into the man's shoulder. Samashi fell to his knees, clutching his bleeding shoulder where the kunai was protruding. He was looking around frantically, but had not spotted Neji. That meant that he still had the element of surprise.

Thinking fast, he moved to the opposite direction at which he had thrown the kunai. He placed Gingerale on the branch he was on and motioned for her to stay before he jumped to the ground.

Samashi looked up at him, frustration burning in his eyes. He mumbled something to himself and pulled the kunai out of his shoulder, grimacing as it came out. Blood seeped into his brown clothing, quickly blotting and covering his whole shoulder.

"Samashi," Neji said evenly, going into a gentle fist pose, "you need to come with me."

Samashi sneered. "Forget it, kid," he growled. "I ain't goin' nowhere."

Expecting as much, Neji ran forward, chakra glowing from his fingertips. He aimed for his opponent's shoulder and tried to thrust his fingertips into it, only to have his attack hit Samashi's hand instead in a skillful block. His other hand flew up and he tried to his him in the chest, but his attack was again countered with his other arm. "He's fast," he thought, jumping back. "If I'm going to hit him, I have to keep his arms distracted so that he can't block me." He quickly pulled out two kunais and threw them, running forward once again.

Samashi saw what he was doing almost at once. He caught one kunai and dodged the other, then threw the one he had caught toward Neji. Without waiting for a result, he did a back flip, lengthening the space between him and his opponent.

Surprised, Neji skidded to a halt and bent over backwards to evade the flying kunai at the last minute. He suddenly realized that Samashi was up against the tree that Gingerale had been left in. He looked into the branches, and to no surprise at all, she was crouched at the base of the branch, her eyes narrowed at Samashi. She was ready to pounce.

He could not stop her without giving her away and putting her in danger, so he did not try. Instead he turned his attention back to his opponent, who hadn't moved. Keeping his speed, he thrust his palm toward Samashi's chest. This time it was a direct hit, and the man doubled over, blood squirting out of his throat.

Neji jumped back several feet and watched his handiwork. Samashi fell the the ground, coughing up blood and gasping for air. Then, very shakily, he got to his feet and pulled out a long dagger. It looked lighter than a kunai, but it was much bigger and it looked strong. He pulled his arm back, ready to throw it, when all of a sudden Gingerale launched herself at his head with a furious hiss.

Caught off gaurd, Samashi let out a surprised yelp as the cat landed on his head and sunk her claws into his scalp, trying to bite his forehead. He tried to shake her off, and she slid sideways, clawing at his head for a better grip on her hind legs. They both finally fell to the ground, Samashi landing flat on his face. Gingerale jumped off as he hit the ground and stared at his limp form, her tail swishing slowly close to the ground.

It all got quiet. Samashi hadn't moved, his face half covered in blood and his breathing was slowly and steadily coming to a halt. Gingerale hadn't moved. She stood there, gazing at the man with a blank expression. Neji paused a moment longer, and then slowly started to walk forward.

Suddenly Gingerale stiffened, and the fur on her shoulders stood up on end. Her head swung toward Neji, her eyes wide with fear and hurry. She sprinted forward at a speed he had never seen her run before, until she was behind him.

Then it all happened at once. A familiar sound slid through the air, quickly getting closer; it was the sound of a weapon flying through the air. Then there was Samashi's form. With an unsteady cough, he poofed into a squirrel, its tail twitching as its life came to an end. A substitution jutsu. Then Gingerale skidding to a halt and leaping into the air behind him, her hop like a scared rabbit, and he felt her head and the back of his neck meet.

At that moment, Neji knew that he had let his guard down.

Time seemed to be moving without him as he spun around, just in time to see Samashi's dagger meet him, its speed incredible. It was so close that he could not have had time to blink before it was upon him. But what he had somehow canceled out from the scene was Gingerale, still in mid-jump. She seemed to be falling at an eerily slow pace, and Neji could do absolutely nothing but watched as the dagger pierced her chest.

Suddenly he was back, moving with the flow of time. A horrible, pained screech shook him from the inside out. Blood splashed his face as Gingerale fell to the ground, Samashi's dagger sticking through her body and poking through the other side. She landed in an unmoving heap, blood quickly matting her fur around both her muzzle and the wound.

"No..." Neji murmured, his throat dry and tight with shock. "No..."

"Damn cat!" Samashi hissed, staring at the limp body in disgust.

Neji slowly looked up, his horror and pain fueling pure hatred and a need for revenge. Feeling new strength, he dashed forward so quickly that he became little more than a blur. As he stopped, the man looked like he had gone blind from confusion. With all the strength he had, Neji thrust his chakra-filled palm into his opponent's chest. The sound of his ribs snapping like twigs was like a pleasurable song, and the chakra shot right through Samashi, coming out his back like a dagger. A moment later he rocketed backwards, slamming into a tree that dented under the pressure. This time, Samashi was really dead.

Neji quickly turned his attention back to Gingerale. When he walked back over to her, he was immediately aware that there was nothing he could do for her. She lay where she had fallen, the dagger still protruding from her side. One of her front legs was under her; she was wobbling a little on it, trying to get herself up. She took in a shaky breath, and coughed up blood, causing her to collapse to the ground again.

He picked her up and pulled the dagger out of her side. She gave off a little squeak, but that was it. Then she blinked and looked up at him, and to his shock the only emotion in her eyes was content.

"How? Why? Why choose my life over yours?" he whispered, staring back at her with eyes that couldn't register her expression.

The cat seemed to smile up at him. Her eyes shone with practical reasoning.

He stared deep into them, trying to find her answer. He couldn't. But he could find something else. "...You knew this was going to happen, didn't you?"

Gingerale looked at him, and her green eyes picked up a hint of amusement. She nodded weakly.

"In the sky...Did you read it in the clouds?" Even saying it sounded odd and unbelievable. But it was the only excuse Neji could come up with.

She looked at him for a long moment and her eyes slid shut. She stayed like that for so long that he feared that he had already lost her. Then her eyes opened half-way and she shook her head weakly.

And then there was silence; Neji and Gingerale stared at each other. She just looked at him in complete calm. There was no fear, or pain, or upset, or regret in her face, just a farewell.

A hard lump was forming in Neji's throat, and he swallowed hard. "Why aren't you scared?" he asked."Doesn't death scare you?"

She continued to look at him, and then took in a shaky breath. Her green eyes faded, and her head lolled to one side, limp and lifeless.

Neji stared at her limp form, feeling the heat slowly leave her body. The feeling of dread pushed him to his knees and he buried his face in her fur. Her whole life flashed before his eyes: from the moment she had crawled onto his shoulder, to now, and everything in between. Everything she had ever done seemed to be coming down on his shoulders, and he could not hold it all.

A single tear slid down his cheek and into her fur. "So many questions unanswered," he murmured. "And you left them all on me." He lifted his head and looked around. Everything around him was dead. And eerie silence was creeping up on him and choking his sanity, making him panic.

Neji suddenly realized that he was now very alone.