AFTER DARK | naruto

10 | forest of death

"That's posionness." Neji said, watching as Lee reached for a berry. His hand quickly shifted to another bush - only to get the same result. Neji had his Byakugan activated, although it wasn't often to used it for things such as.. Food, it was still something he could do with it.

"This entire forest is posionness!" Lee whined, throwing his head back in defeat before he turned his head toward you as you walked up to them, you were already chewing on something.

"These are safe to eat." You greeted, lifting up your hands to show them what you had gathered. "I used to eat these all the time in a forest, actually, I think it was someone's garden." You explained, watching Nejis face burst into a million shades of red once he realized what you had picked - any suspicions that you weren't truly his teammate flew out the window.

"A Habanero? Where'd you find things like those in this forest?!" He asked loudly, you looked around you - thinking somehow he had seen Kushina around, but you came to realize he was talking about the plants you ate.

He deactivated his Byakugan, looking away. But Lee was quick to stand next to you, starry-eyed. "Please! May I have some?" He asked, smiling at you as he closed his eyes. You stared down at him, considering it for a second  before you nodded. It had already been a few hours since you all entered the forest, searching for food first so that you could all begin to search for the scrolls you needed. Lee had a strong reaction to the pepper - a step back, a forced gulp and a red face. Once that was over, he turned toward Neji. "It is delicious, do you want one, rival Neji?" He asked, dangling one in front of Neji. Lee began to walk, which made Neji walk backward.

"Not a chance! If you could hardly stand it, I'll pass out!" Neji eventually gave up on trying to hide his intolerance of spice. The teasing was already bad enough, but it was over the top once Lee had the confirmation. You stood by, eating another of the peppers you had picked as you watched Neji reel his arm back as Lee kept on pressing forward.

"You cannot fight on an empty stomach!" Lee said.

"Air palm!" Neji called out, knocking Lee away into the tree next to you. That was the first time you had seen Neji use that move; it looked like desperation really had people acting out. Lee groaned, pepper still in hand as he slid onto the floor.

"Of course my eternal rival can fight on an empty stomach." He whined.

"This isn't the time to fool around, Lee." Neji sighed. "I'll go find us something actually edible..." Neji sighed, looking up at you. "Oh right, we'll make something up.. A passcode to secure the one we see in front of us is our actual teammate." He activated his Byakugan in search for any jutsus planted to listen in to the conversations around it. He had caught one a distance away in the process of being planted, so he leaned in to whisper into your ear - the phrase was short. Then he whispered one to Lee, a little bit longer. He had given the two of you a different code, then made one up for himself. He was going all out on the security.

"You two stay here, I won't be long." He instructed with a nod before jumping away. You looked down at Lee, offering him another pepper as you sat down next to him - sitting in that silence is what had your nerves flaring. You wished you had stayed home that morning, let your teammates down because they were simply looking forward to showing what they were made of - but at least you wouldn't be risking your life for a title you frankly had no interest in. Somewhere throughout your moping, you noticed Neji come back in a different direction than the way he left from. Both you and Lee stared, glancing at eachother for a second before looking back at him.

"How did it go?" Lee asked, face curious as he sat up just a bit, on guard.

"No luck, I wasn't able to find anything." Neji seemed tense, but loosened as Lee spoke.