The Run Away

By: Gothic Lust

Naruto Alternate Universe

Neji Hyuuga/Sasuke Uchiha

Drama/Romance

Rated T

Summary: Entry for SasukexNejiFC mini contest on deviantart:: Neji didn't expect to see a teenager sitting wet, dirty, and alone in his kitchen when he came down for a glass of water. And neither was he prepared to learn that the boy was actually the only remaining heir of Uchiha Enterprises, a multi-billion dollar cooperation with a vested interest in future military advancement. What could Sasuke Uchiha possibly be running away from?

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Naruto characters. I generate no monetary income from writing this fanfiction, or any form of payment in general. This fanfiction was written solely for the purpose of my amusement and for other's enjoyment. The Naruto characters and plotline are owned by Masashi Kishimoto.

Chapter 1:

Neji glared down at his textbook, wondering why he decided to take an in-depth study of Native American Mythology. He doubted that most of these rituals took place, and what seemed more absurd, was the fact that all of them dealt with some form of hallucinogenic drug. Were all Americans obsessed with becoming high, or was it just the stupid ones?

He sighed heavily and began pushing around his empty water glass, tipping it lightly so it danced on the rounded edges. He glanced down at his textbook once more, the words of some old crack-pot retired professor with no life other than to write down his whimsical notions of the worlds practices, stared back. They made no sense to him as he tried to figure out reasons for the Natives supposed behaviors and rituals. The water glass tipped over softly onto his textbook and Neji frowned.

It was a pointless study, he thought. The past was merely just that, and with this past having been nearly several millennia old and disconnected from his own roots, it was a wonder that he even put up with the lessons.

Neji pushed himself from his desk and grabbed the water glass. "No point in pressing on then." He muttered and tucked the chair back in. He walked to the door of his tiny bedroom, and with a flick of his wrist, shut off the desk lamp.

The hallway was dark as he entered it. Loud snores from his housemates down the hall echoed from the plain white walls. Neji nearly slipped on the cold wood of the steps as he made his way down, but managed to grasp the banister quickly and catch the glass before it shattered. Letting out his held breath, Neji exited the stairs and rounded the small alcove they called a sitting room and entered the kitchen.

Light reflected off the linoleum surface from the open refrigerator. Neji expected to find one of his housemates in a late night fridge-raid, but was shocked to find neither the tall, pineapple-haired man nor his shorter, fatter, friend in the glow, but rather a young, travel-worn, and very wet teen.

Neji was torn whether to leave the boy be and call the cops unnoticed, or scare him off with the bat by the front door. The soft light didn't reveal much, but what it did suggested he was a run away, and had been for some time. The boys jeans had tears and holes that were patched and haphazardly sewn closed with odd colored strings and mismatched pieces of spare cloth. A rumpled, dirt stained, red hoodie, sheltered him from the cold and rain that had been storming for the better part of two days. A pack, as Neji noticed upon creeping closer to the young man, sat by his boot-clad feet, just as rumbled, torn and dirty as its owner was.

The young man reached for what had been their left over pizza that his roommate, Shikamaru had stuffed just above the nearly-empty milk jug, when Neji squared himself and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder.

Things happened quickly then, startled onyx eyes narrowed, and the weak grip Neji had on his shoulder was torn off as the boy gripped his wrist firmly and pulled. They spun briefly and Neji slammed into the Plexiglas shelving of the refrigerator with his right arm twisted painfully at his back.

"What the," Neji grunted. "Get the fuck off me."

The boy didn't say a word, he just pressed Neji's arm up higher at an odd angle. The stress of such an odd bend forced him to cry out from the searing pain in his shoulder and elbow.

"Did he send you?" The boy's voice was firm, older sounding than what Neji first believed. There was a clear ring of distrust and Neji couldn't help but wonder whom he was running away from.

"He? I don't know what you're talking about." Neji grunted, shifting his shoulders to get some pressure off his arm. "All I know is if you don't get out of my house…" He groaned this time, his free arm sliding on the fogging shelves and into a glass jar of pickles. He grabbed at it oddly, but once it was securely in his hands, he lifted the jar over his head and slammed it onto whatever part of the boy he could reach.

They both fell backwards. Neji spun on his heel and kicked at the boy's knee, causing him to crumple towards the floor. Blood reflected off the grey tiles and against the boy's pale face. He was breathing, and Neji was relieved, but at the same time, didn't know if he was conscious or not.

The boy was curled slightly from where he had fallen between the island counter and the freezer door. He grunted and lifted a twitching, blood covered hand to his head. Thick, dark rivets of blood flowed from a gaping wound and mixed with the dirt, grime and pickle juice.

He sat gently, both of them wincing as the lights came on, flooding the room. At the doorway, Neji saw Shikamaru and his friend Choji, each holding a baseball bat threateningly.

"What happened?" Shikamaru asked, lowering the bat in his hands. Choji copied him.

"Dunno," Neji replied out of breath. "I found this kid raiding our fridge, and when I tried to stop him, he attacked me."

"I thought you were one of his people." The boy hissed, tenderly touching the wound on his head.

"Who's 'he'?" Choji asked, following Shikamaru into the kitchen.

"None of your fucking business." The boy cursed.

"Well, it's going to be somebody's business." Shikamaru said. "I'm calling the cops."

"No, wait." The boy shouted and stood quickly, but swooned and had to lean against the island counter for support. "Don't." He added weakly.

All eyes turned to the boy, confused and curious.

"Why not?" Shikamaru asked, glaring at the kid.

"None of your business." He repeated.

"So damn troublesome. I'm calling the cops."

"No!" The boy tied to stumble towards Shikamaru but swooned again and had to stop.

Neji looked at the boy again, frightened he may pass out from blood loss, or worse. "I think he needs to go to the hospital."

"No," the boy repeated weakly. "No hospitals, no cops."

Shikamaru sighed. "What's you're name kid?"

The boy looked around the room, half dazed and pale faced. He blinked heavily but managed to whisper, "Fuck off," before he slumped down the island, unconscious.

Neji rushed to his side, checking the boy's pulse. He sighed in relief. "He's alive."

Shikamaru nodded. "Good. I'm calling the cops."

"Wait Shikamaru," Choji spoke up. "What if he's telling the truth and someone's after him."

"He never said that." Shikamaru pointed out harshly.

"It was implied." Neji added. He looked at the boys face, tired, worn and a bit too thin. "He looks rough enough to have been running away from something, or someone, for a while."

"Troublesome," Shikamaru rubbed his face with a large hand. "If that is true, then what do we do about the gash you gave him? We can't go to any hospital either; they'd have a record of him."

Neji looked into the boys face again. He couldn't go without treatment, but they didn't know anyone with the medical skills needed to….

"Sakura," Neji said in a whisper. It was so obvious, he nearly forgot about it.

"What?" The two asked together.

"Sakura." Neji repeated. "Isn't she a med student under that famous doctor?"

"You mean the girl we haven's spoken to since she dumped Naruto to chase after a guy in a magazine?" Shikamaru snorted.

"She's the best we've got." Neji said firmly. "Do you still have her number?"

Shikamaru sighed. "Fine, but you're putting up with her shit." He said then walked out of the room.

XxxxxxX

An hour later, Neji opened the door for Sakura as she rushed in, a raincoat shrugged over her pajamas and rubber rain boots. She tossed her purse onto the couch pushed on the far wall and began to pull off her raincoat quickly.

"What the hell were you boy's doing to call me this late at night?" She panted, handing the wet coat to Neji for him to hang up.

"We'll explain later," He said. "Follow me, he's in the kitchen."

Sakura followed Neji across the short living room and into the kitchen.

"We were afraid to move him, so we just cleaned up the mess and," he paused as Sakura's gasp prevented him from finishing.

"What the—" She cried, running around the island counter and to the fallen boy. His head was cushioned by a towel folded into a pillow, he was still unconscious.

Choji scrambled out of the way from where he had been mopping up pickle juice and blood from the floor where Sakura immediately knelt by the boy's side. She checked his pulse and looked at the wound, trying not to touch it with ungloved hands.

"What the hell did you do to the poor kid?" She asked, turning to her medical bag now and pulled out a pair of powder free latex gloves.

"I found him raiding our kitchen." Neji answered her as she pulled out a pair of tweezers, gauze, antiseptic and cotton balls. "I startled him and there was a quick tussle."

"That ended with you smashing a jar of pickles on his head?" She said incredulously. "Honestly, you're bigger than him! It couldn't have been too hard for you to put him down gently."

"You weren't the one he had pressed up against the fridge." Neji snapped. "The kid's stronger than he looks."

Sakura ignored him and began to pull glass shards from the gash on the kid's forehead. "You had to buy the stupid green bottle." She grumbled. "These shards are impossible to see. I need more light."

Taking that as an invitation to leave, Choji got up and ran out of the room with an: "I'll get it."

"Why didn't you call an ambulance?" Sakura asked softly. The removal of a rather large, deeply imbedded piece of glass caused the boy to wince, but he didn't wake.

"The kid refused one before he passed out." Neji took a seat next to her. The wound was horrible. It wasn't very deep, but it was rather long, a good two inches parallel to the boy's hairline. "Will he be okay?"

"Depends, did he hit his head on anything other than your pickle jar?" Sakura looked up from her work to Neji.

"Other than when I kicked his knee out, no. But I don't think he hit his head, not hard at least. I think he used his arms to break his fall, but I'm not so sure, it was dark." He answered dejectedly, turning so he wouldn't face her.

"Men." She hissed and with a cotton ball she dipped in iodine, Sakura cleaned the wound of crusted blood.

Choji returned then with a flashlight. He handed it to Sakura.

"Blood makes my skin crawl." He said. "I'm going to bed, Shikamaru's already snoring up there, and if I don't go to sleep soon, he'll get so bad—"

"Choji, It's fine, we've got it." Sakura said.

Choji nodded. "I hope he'll be okay." Choji fiddled with his fingers, not knowing how to help.

"He'll be alright." Sakura reassured him. "I don't think he has a concussion, so it's just bumps and bruises." She frowned. "However, this cut's going to need stitches."

"Can you do that, the stitches?" Choji stuttered nervously.

"Yea." Sakura smiled wistfully. "From all the times I had to stitch up Naruto, I'm an expert by now."

"Okay, if you're sure." Choji said, backing away from them. "Goodnight then."

"Goodnight, Choji." The two answered him as he walked out of the kitchen and up the stairs to bed.

"Here," Sakura slammed the flashlight into Neji's chest hard. "Make yourself useful and shine the light on his wound."

Neji nodded and did as he was asked. They worked tediously, glass shards were imbedded all around the wound and in the kid's jet black hair. It was difficult to see, but after a good hour of cleaning and stitching him up, he looked alright.

"There, all better." Sakura moaned tiredly, and wiped a bit of dirt off the boy's face. Neji noticed, he was rather handsome when all the dirt came off.

Sakura, beside him, however, blinked. Her eyes widened slowly and she nearly screamed in a high pitched manner.

"Oh, my, GOD!" She placed a hand over her mouth in shock. "That, that's—"

"Sakura?" Neji raised an eyebrow at her.

Sakura stunned him, grabbed him roughly by the collar and began to shake him violently.

"Do you know who that is?" She screeched at him. Neji blinked and shook his head.

"No, I—" He was cut off.

"That's the Sasuke Uchiha!" She cried. "He's the heir of Uchiha Enterprises!"

Neji's mouth flopped open like a fish. He turned to look at the sleeping boy, his pale handsome face marred by the cut to his forehead.

"Sasuke Uchiha." Neji repeated softly. What would the only Uchiha heir to a multi-billion dollar cooperation be doing in a small town like his so far away from Japan?

Well, that's it. What do you think? It's my first ever Neji/Sasuke fic!

-Gothic Lust