Showdown at Takigakure(1).

Neji opened his eyes and saw Minato calmly waiting, he didn't know that Minato had a talk with the 3rd.

"Did you get what you went for Yondaime sama?" asked Neji as he activated the byakugan to scan the contents of the bag in Minato's hands. It did contain scrolls but Neji couldn't confirm their content.

"Yes, i did." replied Minato, he was not angry at the lack of trust.

After waiting for sometime, Minato said " I am willing to work with you in defeating the Akatsuki, as for the bijuu it will take sometime as i will have to do some research for a viable seal formation to hold it. "

Neji was surprised at the sudden change in attitude towards him, he could think of only one possibility where Minato would trust him "You contacted the third?" asked Neji.

"Well in my defense he contacted me. We talked about the situation at hand and we came to the decision of supporting you." said Minato nodding in his mind as Neji was able to make such a conjecture even if it were a simple one.

Neji made a face as though he was thinking something, after sometime he just nodded his head as he knew if the Sandaime was going to scold him he would have already done so. Neji was sure he had Sandaime's approval on this matter.

Minato broke Neji's train of thoughts as he spoke" It will take sometime for me to come up with a seal, what are you going to do while you wait.?"

"Well i will just travel i guess, also while you research on the seal can you think of a way to remove the caged bird curse seal?" replied Neji.

"Removing it would totally depend on you. there are only two possibilities

1.die

2.Overload the chakra supply to the jutsu center and it will break but you will definitely lose you eyesight and in some cases receive irreversible brain damage." said Minato. He knew that the curse seal was a liability as someone like a uchiha could control the main family members to kill off Neji. Minato had already came up with a solution when he decided to help Neji. Whether Neji would follow the advise all depends on himself.

Neji sank into thoughts again, he never cared about the seal before but if he becomes famous then it will always be a weakness. So Neji didn't hastily decide to remove the curse. Neji had a nagging doubt so he asked.

"If i become blind, can i implant another's eyes Yondaime sama?"

Minato just nodded silently approving that it could be done. He knew that a pragmatic person like Neji wouldn't just implant a normal eye, he would do something unethical but against the looming threat of the Akatsuki, Minato was in no mood to talk against stealing or ethics for the matter.

Neji returned the nod with his own and said "I will be travelling, i will leave a clone with you so that you can communicate when you have finished your research. Yondaime sama"

He also inquired the place Minato chose to conduct his research.

" I don't know, my previous spots in konoha are all occupied" said Minato.

Neji could understand, it has been 15 years since he last used them so it was only natural for someone to encroach or even konoha itself could have reclaimed those places. Neji however knew the perfect spot.

" If you visit the Uchiha compound in konoha, there is a bunker under the Naka shrine. The door to the bunker is hidden under the ceremonial mats but i forgot the number, so you would have to overturn all of them i guess." said Neji.

Minato was puzzled and asked " Have you visited it?" , he had never heard of an outsider entering secret locations within the uchiha estate.

"Something like that. Oh a heads up, there will be a stone tablet in there and don't waste your time trying to decipher it. It requires their kekkei genkai sharingan." said Neji. Minato nodded and thought that Neji must have sneaked there sometime.

After they came to an understanding Minato left for Konoha leaving Neji who was standing in the safe spot deciding on the place he liked to visit.

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A week later,near the borders of konoha and the hidden village of grass- kanabi bridge(still broken).

Neji was wearing a bamboo hat and drapped in cloak, he was slowly walking along the river, the sound of the flowing water, the chirps of the birds were so melodious to him. He could never enjoy such things like pollution free air, quiet environment and clear water in his previous life. So Neji didn't miss chances like these and thoroughly enjoyed the nature. Thinking about his previous life the images of his parents came to his mind and he became sad. In all these years the times he thought of his previous life can be counted with 1 hand. As he absentmindedly walked he saw a murder of crows circling in the sky nearby.

"Do animal carcasses attract so much crows?" thought Neji. He activated his byakugan to look at the location. Sweat began to drop from his forehead as he looked at the mound of dead bodies, there was blood everywhere, Neji didn't approach carelessly as he could just be easily framed for this massacre. He checked for any flags or other identifications, after combing through everything he finally laid eyes on a forehead protector on a young man. Neji knew the symbol on the forehead very well, it belonged to the hidden village of waterfall, Takigakure.

Neji looked for any signs of survivors but couldn't find any, it seemed that the massacre took place not too long as the blood hadn't changed its color to dark black. Neji created a clone and made it transform into a bug, he then instructed the bug to collect intel from the ninjas who might come to investigate.

Neji quickly left the area and reached a well hidden spot. He opened his communication scroll sandaime gave him and started to write.

"Trouble near border- location near kanabi bridge, survivors-0, total casualty-30, allegiance-takigakure. Orders expected." the words started to vanish. Neji calmly waited for a reply. Neji was kneeding chakra so he was able to sense numerous bogeys(ninjas) approaching the scene of massacre. Since he would get the information when the clone dispels itself Neji turned his attention towards the scroll.

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10 Ninjas wearing the forehead protector of hidden village of grass were currently investigating the scene of the massacre. A tall ninja with spiky hair came forward, he appeared to be the head.

"Damn we couldn't make it in time, how are we going to answer the daimyo of grass. hmm....First order of business search for the gift then check for any survivors and evidences left by the perp." barked the leader. His subordinates began to scatter, they lifted mangled bodies, swept the floor but they couldn't find anything.

During the search one of the ninja asked his teammate "All the people who escorted the takigakure village treasure is now dead and the gift itself is missing, won't they think that this was a conspiracy on our side and start a war against us?"

"Well that will depend on the answer given by the daimyo. And knowing his character i bet there will be a war between our countries" said his friend.

Neji(clone) didn't get many details but he got a rough gist. This was a heist planned to create war between the two countries. But who would benefit from such a clash? thought the clone.

It took an 10 minutes for the ninja's to completely clean the area and they didn't get a single result except for the fact that one dead body was missing a heart.

They turned to leave and inform the top brass immediately. Seeing them leave the clone also dispelled itself.