Chapter 1

Sakura was sitting at the table near the windows reading a medical textbook on rare woody shrub poisons when she felt the shifting air from twenty feet away approaching her window. The course was straight for her house. She marked her place in the book with a thin but sturdy sliver of bamboo before standing up to greet the messenger.

Silently, the masked nin kneeled outside the window, as per protocol. "Haruno Sakura, you are to report to the Godaime for an irregular mission assignment."

Inwardly, Sakura sighed, canceling those dinner plans with Team Seven tonight unhappily. She nodded to the messenger, who promptly dropped out of view and began to head back to his headquarters. Bringing with her a small long notebook and a fountain pen, Sakura strapped on her ANBU gear and left, stroking the curve of the kunai handle in her pouch.

"Tsunade-shishou, I am reporting for duty."

"We'll wait for the second visitor, now," Tsunade motioned to the straight backed wood chairs set in front of her desk, "It's unusual, but please take a seat. This may take some time."

In but a few moments, a knock sounded at the door. "Tsunade-sama, Hyuuga Neji, reporting for duty." He, seeing Sakura seated, took the cue and sat on her left.

"Now, the two of you here, please close the door behind you Rama-san. We're going with the first level procedure today." Following her words, the man manning the entrance to her office nodded and closed the door behind him. Tsunade flew through a series of hand seals before rapping the surface of her desk. Chain-like sutras flowed from her hand, sealing the room from the outside and preventing any breaches of information, both visual and auditory.

"Please take one of three copies of this missive available. Read it now and expect it destroyed the moment you leave this room. Your mission is long-term. You will be acting as spies for Konohagakure and you will travel into relatively unknown areas to obtain what is required of you. For this reason, you are hereby resigned to secrecy in all manners regarding this mission. It will interfere with your personal lives."

Sakura and Neji alike were taken aback. Neji instantly thought about clan duties, whilst Sakura was mourning that Team Seven dinner that she would have to cancel on. "Tsunade-shishou, please tell us what we need to do." Sakura said, her mind whispering every sort of terrible idea to her—assassination, brothels, slavery, poverty…

"You will be going into the haute couture society of the Fire Daimyo of the East Konoha area to learn the following things. Where his loyalties lie, where his money is spent, and you will need to pull off a heist. The two of you will be stealing his inheritance from him. This is manifested in both the physical ruby that should give him the divine right to rule if it were not fake as well as incriminating evidence in his daily habits."

"Then, Tsunade-sama, this problem has been noted before?"

"Hyuuga, Konoha prefers to deal with their problems on their own. This fraudulent daimyo is merely the last bit of the onion root being plucked from the ground."

"So, Tsunade-shishou, what exactly is our role in this? Are we to become his advisors, cooks, best friends…?"

At this, Tsunade couldn't hold back her grin. "I wonder…you can guess, if you want."

Neji grimaced. "We are truly becoming lowly cooks to learn the secrets of a daimyo?"

Tsunade tried to put on a passive face. "I hate to break it to you so suddenly, but you'll be going in as loving husband and wife. Unfortunately for us, the daimyo distrusts single women and men as they are more likely after his secrets and riches: married people seem to be less desiring of others riches. How that makes sense, I don't know. What I also do know, is that he can tell lies very easily. Which means you and Sakura will have to build up some sort of friendship to even begin to dream of getting into his inner circles."

Sakura was silent in her chair, not sure what to say. She really would have to cancel on Naruto, Kakashi, Yamato, and Sai at this rate. Reading the missive silently, she absorbed the details to the last punctuation mark. Six months. Two ANBU. A mission to become better friends than she was with Ino. Indeterminate time. Newly married couple. New occupations. A mission to become best chums with a volatile daimyo and snoop at this same time. This was definitely going to be a challenge.

She didn't even know Neji that well, to think of it. Besides random rumors about branch Hyuugas as a kid in the Academy, she didn't know a thing about the clan life he led. He sure didn't know a darned thing about how civilians-turned-ninjas lived life. They would have to really spin a good story to convince the daimyo that they had abandoned ninja livelihoods to be "together forever" in the civilian world without constraints.

Here, Sakura realized why she and Neji were picked as the two man team. They really were the most unlikely to be stuck together. Her unorthodox, civilian family and practically non-consequential Haruno name allowed to marry a branch member of the Hyuuga family that was in prime position to become clan heir? Never! So the star-crossed lovers cast off being ninja and go out into the world.

Sakura turned to Neji as soon as Tsunade turned her back to allow them a bit of privacy to talk. "Hyuuga-san, I believe a major change is in order. Walk me back home?"

Neji gave a scoff, but stood, offering his arm. "Thank you, Tsunade-sama. You'll have word on the upcoming nuptials soon. If I may ask about possible resistance…"

Tsunade interrupted him, "Hiashi doesn't need me to tell him to connect the dots himself. Anyone with enough power to stop you two from marrying will already be anticipating something like this and understand the roles you play."

"Then, excuse us Tsunade-shishou!" Sakura gave a wave before stepping out of the bubble of protection, arm linked stiffly with Neji's.

"Hyuuga-san, if you're going to date me, call me Sakura."

"…I understand," Neji frowned, before saying, "If you must, address me as Neji."

Sakura nodded before clutching his arm tighter in response to a passing pair of ninja. They were approaching slowly, and Sakura looked up to Neji, trying to put a bit of that old Sasuke fire in them, before giggling purposefully at his stoic expression.

This was going to be a long walk.

"Soooo…these are my living quarters Neji!" Sakura was out of her ANBU gear and relaxed in her own apartment. More open to pretending to date someone she didn't exactly know, she pulled Neji into the kitchen right by the noisy refrigerator to mask their voices.

"Neji, why don't we move in with each other?" Anything was possible for this mission. They couldn't screw it up; it meant the loss of a huge source of power in East Konoha and gaining trust of all the people involved with East Konoha's daimyo.

He nodded. He and Sakura were strangers, but they could connect on a crucial level: planning. That evening, they sat together as tacticians, planning the next six months of their lives on a few sheets of scratch paper.

It was six hours later at midnight when Sakura offered him the guest room and he acquiesced, settling in the down comforter, ANBU gear leaning by the bedpost, kunai under the pillow.

Neji awoke with a start, hand sneaking to the kunai beneath the pillow before relaxing. It was completely quiet in Sakura's apartment save for the grumbling of the refridgerator and—what was that out of tune humming? He sighed rolling out of bed, letting the memory of the mission wash over him again. Sakura.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Sakura was nodding her head to a tune she'd made up on her own, stirring the dashi stock she was using to make miso soup. The rice was already cooking in the other steel pot and she had the freshly sliced cucumber marinating in some sort of salt and water mixture. Better to make a good impression than none at all!

"Good morning, new best friend!" Sakura said cheerily, adding some tofu to the pot.

Neji grunted, sitting himself down at the table and pouring a cup of jasmine tea. "I'm going training in ten minutes. We'll bump into each other as planned at the ramen stall for lunch."

"Hmm, training at 5:30 in the morning? You can't do that right after eating breakfast!"

Neji frowned. "I have had no problems in the past."

Sakura rolled her eyes, saying, "Of course you don't have any indigestion, you don't eat anything substantial in the mornings—don't glare at me, Hinata's fainted before when she tried your training regimen."

"Not any consequence of mine what goes on with Hinata-sama." Even as he said this, he hid his guilty face behind his teacup.

Scooping two bowls of rice out, Sakura chopped up the toasted seaweed into rectangles and set it on the plate before putting the miso soup in two other bowls. Setting a pair of newly whittled bamboo chopsticks (with the Hyuuga clan crest chakra-carved into the top Neji noted drily) on the chopstick rest, Sakura sat and commenced breakfast.

"You know, I say we change things up a bit Neji."

"How so? Isn't this arrangement unsettling enough for you?"

"Well," she said, stuffing some rice into her mouth, "Go to practice late today. Be embarrassed or mysterious about why you're late. We've got to progress this little romance pretty fast to be marrying within the next half year."

Neji didn't say a word, but ate more slowly, watching with a bit of pain as the wall clock ticked its way past the 5:30 mark. "When do you think I should arrive for training?"

Sakura grinned, stroking her imaginary beard mischievously, "Weeeell…I would personally keep you here for another hour but I think 6:00 is enough for digestion of this meal to go through. Why don't I give you a full exam? I checked the hospital records on you a few months back when you came in wounded on that mission and you haven't had one of those in a year!"

Neji was horrified.

Stumbling into the training area, senses slightly out of whack, Neji nodded to Sakura before she flash stepped away from view.

"Neji-san! Where have you been? The springs of youth do not flow without regard to time! I cannot believe you are late! IT IS A MIRACLE, A MIRACLE! YOSH! RUN 50 LAPS AROUND THE TRAINING AREA!"

Neji grimaced at the dramatics of Gai-sensei, who, although was only a jounin, somehow still thought he had the power to order him around. But Tenten and Lee looked on, their ANBU gear flapping in the breeze, their faces the look of surprise and confusion, and he decided that perhaps running 50 laps was better than answering their questions.

During break, he sat down on a log to take a drink of water out of the canteen Sakura had given him as she winked. Remember Neji! Be mysterious! He heard Tenten walking towards his log to sit down. He sighed. And it begins…

"Hyuuga Neji, you look up from that canteen right now and tell me one, why you were late for the first time in…forever, and two, why you have a water canteen for the first time in forever!"

"Hn. I don't have to explain myself to you." Neji hoped that would satisfy his no-nonsense teammate, but there was a menace in her stare that told him he would have to give a little more to be believable.

"I was…occupied this morning."

Thankfully, Lee appeared on the scene. "MY GREATEST RIVAL! WHAT IS THIS? A WATER CANTEEN!" But suddenly, Lee's voice dropped to one of amazement. "You have…the water canteen of one called SAKURA HARUNO! MY FLOWER, WHAT A BETRAYAL!" And Lee wandered off, proclaiming he would do 500 push-ups at once.

Or…not so helpful. Tenten voice dropped low. "Hyuuga Neji, you explain yourself right. Now. What were you doing with Sakura-chan at 5:30 in the morning that caused you to miss an appointment for the first time in seven years."

Neji sighed. Perhaps he would just have to give a little more. "I was talking to her. That's all you need to know."

Tenten crowed in victory, "Ah ha! And the great prodigy admits it! He was held up by a GIRL!" She paused for a second. "Wait, a girl. Haruno Sakura. Holy mother of Sarutobi, I gotta tell Ino this!"

Neji sighed, satisfied. Within the hour, every ninja that met Ino today willing or unwilling would know, as well as any customer that walked into her flower shop during the hours of 3PM to 5PM.

Neji walked in silence towards the Ichiraku ramen stand. He'd cut off his chakra completely, forcing himself to use his metabolic energy like a civilian to get to the ramen shop. Granted, any ninja would have the maximum efficiency in muscle, stamina, and endurance compared to a civilian, but he still believed it important to move without chakra coursing through one's system. He knew all too well the effects of chakra being sapped from you, or worse, the great pressure of chakra being blocked from circulation.

As he neared the shop, he desuppressed his chakra and felt it. The strange feeling of focusing on Sakura's chakra signature still unsettled him, but he saw her strategically appear from a random jewelry stand to purposefully make her way to the ramen stand. And the drama began.

Neji approached the old man at the ramen stand. He still didn't really know their names. "Excuse me…"

The old man looked up, grinning instantly, "Irrashaimase! Welcome to my shop! What can I get for you today, honorable customer?"

Neji didn't turn when Sakura slid into the stool beside him. "Teuchi-san, forget that honorable customer stuff with this guy, it's his first time, but first timer or not, he's not cool enough for that label! Besides, he was once peering in for a look during the release of the vegetarian ramen, remember?"

Neji chanced a side glance at her. "Sakura, why are you here?"

Sakura grinned wide, saying, "The question is why you're here, esteemed Hyuuga! I'm here to eat of course—oh, Ayame-nee-san, can we get a tonkotsu ramen for me and miso ramen for the newbie? So, why are you here, again?"

Neji cursed her silently for putting him in the position of "pursuer" in the relationship. She smiled sunnily at him, waiting. "I was merely curious about this Ichiraku ramen Naruto has often talked about."

"Good enough!" She bowed her head down, accepting the steaming bowl from Teuchi. "Itadakimasu! I receive the meal humbly!" Blowing on the wooden chopsticks, she dug in. Neji looked down at his own miso, lips curling a bit. He never did like tonkotsu ramen…but for the sake of this mission…

"Here." He scooted his bowl over to Sakura's. "Have some of my miso ramen. We'll switch."

Appropriately, she blushed and said, "Sure, Neji." The old man looked on in approval, completely falling for the ruse. Neji knew that any ninja that came by would be hearing of this little unlikely budding romance. The power of gossip, he thought silently.

As they finished their ramen, Sakura started, "Neji, I'm going to the supermarket. Wanna come?"

Neji tipped the bowl back, setting it down empty. "Gochisousama deshita. Thank you for the meal. I will accompany you—I too, would like to browse the shelves."

They stood almost in unison and Neji paid their bill. Twirling out into the street, Sakura almost crashed into Genma, who almost stabbed himself in the tongue with the senbon. "Whoa, watch it kid!" He threw an easy smile at her, shaking his head seeing the Hyuuga standing there, "Kids these days."

Sakura began walking—almost skipping towards the supermarket at the end of the street. By now, everyone was greeting the energetic pink-haired girl and Neji was waiting for her at every stand.

"Mm hm, I'll be right sure about getting Kenji that cough medicine you prescribed. These spring months are when kids get sick the most, what with all these unpredictable temperatures. Who's that with you, Sakura?"

Sakura hesitantly linked her arm in his. "Just a good friend of mine, Hyuuga Neji."

The shop owner looked impressed. "A Hyuuga? First one I've met, but your clan is notorious even among us common shopkeepers. Pleased to meet your acquaintance, esteemed clan member."

"It is nice to meet you as well. Shall we go, Sakura?"

Sakura nodded, waving a farewell to the bread seller, who looked on them lingeringly, staring at their linked arms.

Bending down to reach her ear, he murmured, "Laid the sugar on thick enough today?"

Sakura giggled in response to the sweet thing he might have been saying and turned to him, pinching his arm painfully, "Shut up, we're going to the store for real. I need to restock."

Later, Sakura said, sitting on her kitchen counter, "I'm going training in a few, you want to come with?"

Neji was surprised. "Things are moving fast, Sakura. It isn't too suspicious?"

Sakura shook her head. "This is how it works when you like someone, don't worry Neji." She thought of Ino and Shikamaru, who had out of the blue begun to show signs just as they were trying to do now. It would work.

"Then, I wouldn't mind."

"Good!" She hopped off the kitchen counter, her gaze stopping on the arm she had been clinging to for the better part of two hours. "Maybe a few spars will get us both more comfortable with touching and stuff."

"KAKASHI-SENSEI, YOU'RE LATE! DATTEBAYO!" Naruto shouted loudly, sending a few birds flying from the trees beyond.

"Well, I would say that is the least of your worries, Naruto-kun." Sai motioned to the pair making their way to the red bridge.

Yamato looked up from the tree he was coaxing out of the ground. "Hm. Interesting."

"Kakashi-sensei, I know it's a bit weird, but can Neji spar with us today?"

Kakashi narrowed his eyes. He knew. The old lady acted fast. "Of course. How about I take on Neji today. Naruto, you can spar Yamato for a change, and Sai, spar with Sakura."

They nodded and moved to different parts of the field. Sakura whipped out a scroll. "Yamato-senpai, can we try something different? I want to practice with a naginata."

Yamato nodded and watched as a simple practice naginata appeared from the summoning scroll. It was simple wood and tipped with a freshly sharpened blade. "Let's go."

Spreading her stance wide, she moved her body sideways and pointed the naginata forward. No sense in leaving more body open to the opponent. Yamato eyed her, indicating she should make the first move. Charging forward with a yell, she planted her dominant foot to make a slash at him.

Sweeping back, Yamato made to avoid it, but Sakura twisted the blade and it came swooshing back at him without pause. She thought she'd caught him on the arm, but a poof sounded and a tree branch fell to the ground, sliced in half.

Sakura crouched low, ready to spring up or to dart sideways. She felt a very tiny tremor. Underground! She stabbed the butt of the weapon right below her and felt Yamato's chakra spike. She got him!

He reappeared, nursing a bump on his head. "That was fast: but I don't specialize in close combat. Perhaps we should revert to a normal spar. You'll get more out of it."

She put away the naginata, and readied herself. This time, Yamato made the move. He made a series of hand seals, slamming his hand into the ground. Wood began streaming out from that origin, weaving towards her in a blur. She withdrew her wakizashi, slicing away wood that came too close before letting loose an explosion tag at the origin before rolling back. Yamato had long abandoned his former position and seeing the wood cut off completely, began sparring with her intensely.

Avoiding an uppercut, Sakura blocked and parried. All that was visible to the human eye was flashes as kunai met kunai. The confrontations slowly reached the outskirts of the forest, where Yamato threw three shuriken, one after another. The last one grazed Sakura's shoulder.

She hissed, but went through more hand seals, putting her hands to the ground. A sort of muddy substance trapped Yamato's lower limbs and began sucking him downward. He tried to get out, thrashing. The doton jutsu had the mud up to his chest. He thrashed, sending wood out to try to keep him in place.

He froze, thinking terribly that this was the end. Suddenly, there was a pop. The environment shifted, and his eyes defocused. He was lying prostrate on the ground, a large amount of foliage disturbed by his thrashing.

"Here, Yamato-senpai."

He took her offer of water shakily. "That was a very believable genjutsu. I am…still shaken."

Sakura laughed loudly, "Ha! So it worked! I've been developing it with Hinata for some time now. If it had the slightest chance of fooling Byakugan, I wanted to try it with you."

Yamato, despite being an ANBU and one of the most trusted ninja under Hokage command, shook his head at this girl. She was rising in strength, fast. The genjutsu had lasted longer than he had thought, and he could see Neji and Kakashi, already done with their spar, watching from beyond the treeline.

"Don't worry guys, Yamato is alive!"

"Alright, I'm heading off." Kakashi waved, before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"Me too, Sakura-chan! Heard about you and Neji—don't stay up late!" Naruto grinned before running off towards Ichiraku.

Sakura and Neji sighed simultaneously. Sai and Yamato had both left without goodbyes, so it was only them.

"Let's go home?" Sakura asked, looking up.

Neji shook his head. "I have nothing at your apartment that would allow me to shower. Perhaps we can part now and announce our intentions officially to Hiashi-sama the next morning. I will speak with him tonight."

Sakura agreed, and they went their separate ways: Neji to his clan compound in the north and Sakura to her apartment to the east.

When Sakura got back home, she scanned the kitchen warily. Something was off. Her perceptive eyes picked out the little obstruction even in the muted shadows of evening. A piece of paper was on her orderly kitchen, tucked under the toaster.

Flipping a switch to bathe the room in light, Sakura deftly snagged the paper from the toaster. She could feel the chakra residue that Tsunade had left for identification and opened it, sinking down into a chair. It was only accessible by her chakra signature, she found, noting the technique with interest.

Haruno Sakura,

I'll make this brief so you can get your beauty rest. We're sending you out even two months early so you guys had better get notoriously in love fast. This missive is pretty informal because it was decided in the clan meeting just a few minutes ago.

Hyuuga Neji has been sent a similar missive. You will meet him in my office tomorrow at 7AM. Questions? Too bad, save them for later.

Don't be late,

The Fifth Hokage of Konohagakure (ah, the satisfaction of writing my title)

Sakura sighed wearily. Sometimes, faking affection for the stoic Hyuuga was just too brain-bending. She couldn't have met anyone less receptive, let alone responsive to human contact. At least Sasuke met her fangirling with some level of annoyance, as punishing as that response was. With Neji, there was nothing. Even Naruto would have been fun to flirt with, if that extreme was reached.

She wondered about how weird the clan meeting must have been. The four noble clans of Konoha, the Hyuuga, Aburame, Akimichi, and Uchiha clans met in clan meetings to discuss the issues of the village. As the Uchiha clan was completely wiped out, only three clans met these days. But she thought of testy old Hiashi-sama, watching as the heir-apparent was carted off to be in a potentially reputation bashing relationship and abandon ninja duty to go and spy on some random Fire daimyo.

Neji awoke, refreshed and in his element. The soft cooing of mourning doves and carefully selected bird species greeted him. The Hyuuga compound, branch or main, was designed for ultimate comfort and religiously stuck to traditional Japanese themes. He decided this tatami and futon was much more preferable over the suffocating weight of down and wools. Outside, he was greeted by the familiar plinking of the water in the bamboo fountain. Ah, in his element indeed.

"Uncle, ohayou, good morning."

Neji had taken the trip to take his morning tea in the main compound with Hiashi. Hiashi looked at him knowingly over the cup. Neji sighed, seeing all these nonverbal signals.

"I must…ask something of you."

"Don't restrain yourself."

"I am…" he was a bit pained to say this, "interested in a girl."

"A girl, you say? Who might this be."

"Haruno Sakura, the apprentice of the Godaime herself. You have seen her abilities with your own eyes when she came to spar with Hinata-sama."

Hiashi, of course, could have no say against it, but if he were asked about this courtship, he would tell the unassuming offender that he was allowing Neji an indulgence—to play around before he is truly arranged into a marriage.

"Neji, you ask much of me but I believe this may teach you some lessons. Bring her for tea in the afternoon." There, he thought, enough vagueness to pass as believable. He finished his tea, not willing to draw out this little conversation any longer.

Neji followed his uncle out the shouji door. He had not walked a few meters when he was confronted by Hinata.

"Is it true, Neji-san? Are you…?"

"Hinata-sama, I cannot lie to you. I am pursuing a relationship with Sakura."

Hinata's face broke into a shy smile. "I can see the effect she has on you: you look better rested and you just had a breakfast. I am happy for the two of you!"

Neji turned away, continuing on his way to the main gate. He would have to find Sakura. He stopped at the gate, wondering where she would be at this hour. There were signs of life as the shopkeepers began preparing for the day. He made his way first to her apartment, flash-stepping to save time.

Once he had gotten there, Neji could feel instantly that she was not there. He turned to follow the tracks she might have left behind. None. Neji sighed, lost as to what to do: sometimes, he wished Sakura were less careful. He made a turn and headed to the Yamanaka's flower shop.

"Yamanaka-san, can you tell me where Sakura is?"

Ino looked at him long and hard. "What's up?"

"Yamanaka-san…"

She grinned at him, breaking her façade. "Of course I'll tell you, I do believe in true love!" She winked and put out a thumbs up. "Buy a flower for her when you find her: she doesn't have a particular favorite flower, but I think a sunflower would be nice. Last I saw her, she was heading for training."

Neji peered at the sunflower display, chose the healthiest looking one, paid, and set off. He wasn't sure when he would find Sakura.

He was at training ground three, but Kiba and Shino were practicing there. "Excuse me, Aburame-san, have you seen Sakura?"

Even Shino had some sort of glint in his eye. "Hmm, Hyuuga-san, I would suggest you go to the Hokage Tower. I think Hokage-sama had sent for her; she let us have the training time she wasn't using."

Neji grumbled, impatient. He hated wasting time. Finding Sakura without any clues was difficult because she seemed to always find a way to be completely occupied with something different at every hour of the day. He nodded to Shino and flash-stepped away.

The Hokage Tower loomed in the distance, its great bay windows glinting in the sunlight. He paused at the guard at the door. "Has an ANBU by the name of Haruno Sakura entered the Hokage Tower recently?"

The random nin at the door was a rookie, who was shaking visibly. "N-no, Hyuuga-senpai, you've just missed her. I last saw her going towards the hospital. I think it's her shift."

Neji shook his head. He ran quickly towards the white building, desperate to just get her the message and go meditate or train. He saw her pink hair bobbing towards the hospital doors. "Sakura!" he shouted uncharacteristically. The people around him glanced at him. It didn't work. Instead, he spiked his chakra. She turned—thank Sarutobi's grandpa.

"Neji! What are you doing here?"

He snapped at her angrily, "I've been tracking you with no evidence for the past half hour." Neji looked down at the sunflower that was, surprisingly still hanging in there. "And this. This sunflower is yours." He bent down to her ear, looking as though he was saying something sweet. "And I am almost at the end of my line. You're to accompany me for tea at the clan compound today at 4PM."

Sakura laughed, the sound disappearing in the wind. "Neji, you're so sweet! Thank you!" Her eyes told a different story. She was completely late for her hospital shift…Sarutobi's underpants, why didn't he come at a different time. She, attempting to be girlfriend-y, dropped a peck on his cheek. And then she sweat-dropped. Stupid Neji didn't move a muscle. What a bad actor, she thought, annoyed.

"Alright, you've made me late for my shift. You get to help me do my rounds now."

Neither knew it consciously, but their hearts fluttered just a beat faster. Whether that was anger or love…it was certainly some sort of passion.

Neji was in a stark white room where Sakura was attending to the elderly. For rounds, Sakura was mainly assigned to elderly patients because of her positive effect on them: the bright color of her hair, her energy, and her personality. More serious medic nin attended to the middle-aged patients, while older medic nin attended to the myriads of children coming in from day to day.

"Isha-san, doctor, what ails me? My back aches and I have headaches."

Sakura smiled indulgingly. Neji was filling out the medical chart with his by-the-book handwriting while Sakura interviewed the old man.

"You don't need to call me isha-san, doctor, please call me Sakura-san. Now, what have you been eating the past week? Let's start with a basic health check-up…"

And so it went, for an hour. Neji was patiently filling out medical charts, dogging Sakura's footsteps. Her job was quite interesting. He was impressed by the depth of Sakura's knowledge and her skills with elderly people. Usually, civilians were the patients, but from time to time, there would be an esteemed elder from a ninja clan.

"See, with the honored elderly, it could be a rich civilian or one with high standing in a ninja clan. Typically, these patients have assigned medic nin that administer the care in the comfort of the patient's own home."

Neji nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, Hiashi-sama does have someone that sees to his illnesses as well. I have never seen the medic nin, however: they are extremely sneaky."

Sakura laughed out loud. "Yes, well, we are told not to intrude. It's funny because…I am Hiashi-sama's oh-so-trusted medic nin. I was assigned to him a year ago after his primary medic nin, Ayako-chan, took maternal leave in early February."

Neji was surprised at this, and said, "Medic nin are sworn to secrecy? When did you see him?"

"Well, I can't tell you that! It's all confidential!" She leaned over the break lounge table and pinched his cheek. "Okay, let's go, beloved boyfriend. I actually need to do a bit of poison work in the greenhouse today before heading out with you."

Neji followed her, every inch the dutiful boyfriend.

Overwhelming the security seal on the greenhouse door, Sakura let Neji in. The greenhouse was muggy and hot: Sakura kept her ANBU vest on, however. "We don't want to be caught off guard by some of these poisonous feelers," she said cheerfully. Neji sweat-dropped.

Neji relaxed on the stool as Sakura went through and checked on all the plants, making sure the watering system was doing its job and trimming back some shrubs. She hummed but the sound traveled slowly through the heavy air, making the sound waves bounce all around the room. Neji activated his Byakugan to follow Sakura around the greenhouse, unwilling to get up from the stool.

"Are you not making poisons?"

Sakura half-turned towards him. "Eh, not today. I would, but I think we should both freshen up before making impressions on Hiashi-sama, right? Now…where was that clipper…"

It was much later when Sakura finally flash-stepped back to her house. Neji had already teleported to his own room in the branch member compound, and Sakura was now cleaning up. To meet such a highly esteemed member of the ninja class, Sakura would have to bring it all out, even disregarding this stupid mission. Romance or not, she definitely didn't want anything negative on her reputation.

Going to the only well-aired room in her apartment, Sakura approached the gleaming cedar-wood chest. It was a special 100% cedar chest for storing silk kimono. This kimono was worth at least a lifetime of salaries, but a kimono seller had bequeathed this precious length of cloth to her after she had worked with him (and saved his life) during a mission. Kimono had to be wrapped in breathable paper—washi paper—and if cleaning was necessary, the entire kimono had to be separated into its original pieces, cleaned by a professional, and resewn back together afterward.

For those reasons alone, Sakura hated to take it out. But this was the occasion, she thought. She scrubbed her hands vigorously in the shower and tried to rid her body of oils and dirt. Her hair was already arranged in a traditional style, straight down the back (as short as her hair was) and tied with a small black tie at the very end of the tail. Holding her breath, she opened the chest lid.

The silk seemed to glow a bit, and Sakura lifted the deep crimson cloth. The cranes with their bobbing necks and crooked legs and the white plum blossoms were almost in motion as the cloth pooled a bit on the tatami mat. She sighed at the beauty. Some things were worth a lifetime of salaries. The obi was black and dusted with gold.

It was quite some time later when she had finally gotten the undergarment kimono and actual kimono layers on correctly. Tying the obi in a simple way to show deference to Hiashi, she turned to second drawer in the chest. Pulling out the silk tabi socks and wooden geta, Sakura was finally ready. She would not risk running or flash-stepping to the compound. Instead, she readied herself, picked up the fan and traditional silk purse, and teleported to the perimeter of the compound.

She planted her feet when she appeared to avoid falling, and slowly shuffled to the gate, restricted by the kimono and geta. Bowing to the guards at the gate, she entered with Neji, who had appeared just as she had teleported onto the scene and spiked her chakra.

"Think the old man will approve?"

Neji sniffed. "Hiashi-sama will certainly be understanding to your circumstances, but I am also certain that 'old man' is not the right term to address him with."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Oh, let up, will you? I'll behave like an angel when I see 'Hiashi-sama,' alright?"

It wasn't long before Hiashi himself greeted the two nin at the entrance to the tea room. "Please, be welcome."

As Sakura entered the tatami room, she bent to shuffle forward on her hands and knees as was the custom in a tea room. Her geta were already outside. But Neji stopped her. "There's no need for that."

She stopped in relief. The kimono is saved, she thought. She immediately noticed the suffocating nature of this room. It was sealed from the outside, just like it was during the mission briefing with Tsunade. Hmm, pretty fancy, she thought.

"Take a seat. You may have already noticed, but this room is secure. I understand what you are undertaking, so there is no fear. I believe the wedding is coming in some three months, is it not?"

Sakura and Neji looked at each other. "Yes, that's right. We haven't really gone over how we're going to turn in resignation forms and run off together to East Fire Country. But eventually, we'll get ourselves some sort of a mansion or compound up there and start blending with the elites."

Neji nodded, and continued with Sakura's explanation. "Uncle, is there any advice you would like to offer us inexperienced spies?" He said this in respect to his Uncle: he was not inexperienced in spying. However, he had seldom had to act as a spouse to other ninja for the sake of a mission.

"Don't be discovered. I say this now: if you cannot add a real emotion to what you do, that fire daimyo will know. I have dealt with him before. He saw past even the façade of the head of the Aburame clan, despite his eyes and mouth being covered. I would…not be opposed to a true union between the pair of you."

Neji was frozen. Even his uncle had jumped on the matchmaking bandwagon. Sakura laughed out loud, and said, "I love all of my friends deeply, so it's okay! We'll have lots of fun."

On the other hand, Neji was more morose about the matter. Real emotion…he supposed that he could channel a bit of his brotherly concern for Hinata into this thing. But was it going to be enough?

It had been a good two weeks of sneaking around, trying to spread the rumors about a possible romance, when Neji unexpectedly made the first move. He told himself that this sort of thing was propagated by the male counterpart, and that in order to remain the dominant figure in this relationship to preserve his reputation as a all-around role model Hyuuga heir-apparent, he would have to do it.

So, resolved and resigned, he proceeded to do the most non-manly thing he could think of in the privacy of Sakura's kitchen. He inhaled sharply…and turned on the stove. Hyuugas have to be good at everything. They are good at everything. They—Oh shoot. He turned off the stove. The crepe was near burnt, but he saved it from being totally inedible.

He decided that complicated Western cooking might be a little out of reach. Instead, he made tofu dango and ichigo daifuku. He boiled some spinach, tossed it with soy sauce, and finished off the bento with three well-shaped—perfect!—onigiri. Each had a different flavor: umeboshi, tempura, and miso. Nodding in approval at his perfect bento box, he wrapped the lacquerware in a deep brown furoshiki and set off to the training ground, where he hoped to surprise her.

Once he arrived at the training grounds, he was pleased to see they were just wrapping up. Team Seven was used to his appearances by now, and Sakura ran up to greet him.

"What's up, Neji?"

He froze for a moment—what should he do? Touch her hair? Touch her hand? Touch her…back? What was he supposed to touch again? He didn't know what to do for a moment, when she saved him from embarrassment again.

"What's that you've got there?" Sakura pointed at the furoshiki. Neji gave what he hoped was a proud smile. He hugged her close—a bit stiffly, but that was totally okay, he thought—and pressing his lips to the top of her head, presented her with his soul—okay, no, the results of his hard work. She was, as he had expected, he thought smugly, happily surprised. Or, she didn't say anything negative.

"Wow…uh…Neji! This is unexpected…want to share? Here, we can sit at this bench—I was going to tell you about how training went and—your hair looks nice today and, uh—anyway, let's just sit." She was blushing hard. A bit too hard. He leaned down. "Lay off on the blood flow Haruno, you look as though you might pass out."

She smiled sweetly at him, but he noticed that the redness had decreased significantly. Activating his Byakugan, he watched, fascinated, as Sakura mentally directed the chakra flow pressure in her face back where she had summoned it from. And slowly, the blush disappeared.

Sakura and Neji had by now made their way to a bench in the training area's outskirts. Neji sat upright, legs on the ground and arms at his sides. However, Sakura curled up beside him, worming her way under his arm as she folded her legs beneath her. He reluctantly wrapped that arm about her shoulder, allowing her further into his personal bubble.

A snick sounded as Sakura opened the bento. They began with the onigiri, splitting each into halves. "So, Neji, how are you doing today?"

"I've decided we should go public." He wanted to scoff in amusement at the two ninja spying in the background. "Most of the ninja we know already have some sort of inkling about our relationship anyway."

Sakura ducked her head, eating another bite. "But Neji…it was a lot sweeter having you all to myself these past months!" Another gasp from the bushes. Months?

"I don't like all this sneaking around. Besides, you will be moving in with me in the clan compound. That should make it obvious enough."

Sakura didn't know about that part of the plan. "Oh…I suppose. Then, how—"

"No need." He bent closer, pressing a kiss to her cheek. "We have company."

A few punches later, Sai and Naruto lay prostrate on the ground in the wake of a furious kunoichi. Neji and Kakashi held her back as she pointed her finger. "YOU! AND YOU! DON'T THINK I WILL FORGIVE YOU FOR THIS EPISODE. If ANY of you eavesdrop again…" Her carotid artery throbbed with the passion of her speech. "I'll have you two…DO MY LAUNDRY. GOT IT?"

There was no answer from the unconscious boys.

It wasn't even a week later when Sakura packed her entire life into two suitcases, bound all her weaponry into summoning scrolls, cleaned her apartment, and paid the last month of rent and headed to Neji's compound. She had thought this would be easy: dealing with Neji only and living a blissful life: taking advantage of the great living area and ignoring the fact that it was all a mission. Take what you get, right?

But…no. The moment she entered with her short pink hair and extremely expressive green eyes, she knew she was an outlier. Every person in the compound had curse seals (that were, unhelpfully, green like her eyes), dark brown hair to the waist, and colorless iris' to match the pale stoic white of their silk garments. Dressed in her own ANBU gear and spandex leggings, Sakura certainly felt the stares. Sometimes, she didn't even know where the stares were coming from—they could all use the Byakugan to spy on her from even the underground kitchens.

"Neji, where's my room?"

Neji motioned to his own room. "It's connected in here. Traditionally, to protect a future bride, she would stay in a room adjoining the groom. Any perpetrators would most likely encounter the groom before the bride. That's old tradition now, but unfortunately, due to the circumstances, Tsunade-sama expressed the wish that you would stay here."

Sakura nodded. This would be helpful in terms of planning and communication. However, she'd be stuck here. Under stupid Hyuuga's watch all the time. She made to unpack her suitcase, but Neji stopped her. "There is a nosy little elder over there. Kiss me."

Sakura didn't know if she could kiss on command, but she'd done enough cheek pecking that perhaps it would work. Their first kiss on such a short notice…she sweat dropped.

The kissing process seemed to last forever because of their abilities to slow down actions in order to plan and think. His large hands were about her shoulders, guiding her to him, and she had awkwardly tried to put her hands somewhere, but gave up and just decided to clutch the front of his shirt. Tipping her head back, she raised herself up a bit to reach the taller Hyuuga's level and their lips met. She pulled on every bit of romance novel she had ever had the misfortune to suffer through, any sort of gossip from Ino and even tried to search the archives that had Kakashi talking about Icha Icha in it.

She was determined not to bump noses and had already turned her head to the side. Neji was obviously as much of a newbie as she was but somehow he had the confidence to move. And it worked, her feelings exploding like fireworks. She closed her eyes and let him suck her bottom lip, moving her arms to go around his neck and into the nape of his hair.

They drew apart, and padded all the way into his room before Neji slid the shoji door shut. Sakura was wide-eyed. She collapsed into the bamboo chair to the side.

"Wow. That was awesome."

Neji smirked, his confidence and ego inflated to the very max. "Of course it was. Now, we were going to unpack?"

The kiss was forgotten, as amazing as it had been. Such was the nature of the mission and the nature of any ninja. It wasn't a survival tool yet, so they held it in low regard until it would be useful again.

"Hey, Neji, hand me that scroll."

There was a small scroll the length of a chopstick. Opening it with a flourish, she did the summoning jutsu. In a poof, a large cedar chest appeared on the ground. She looked up expectantly at Neji. "Where do I put my kimono?"

Neji tipped his head back thoughtfully. "That silk is much higher quality than the silk that we wear every day," he said, pulling at his own shirt. "I believe that Uncle has his own place for kimono like that. You may be able to store it there."

"Okay!" She hopped up, packing the chest back in the scroll, and went out to find Hiashi on her own. She turned the corner and bumped into a small child who had dried tear tracks on his cheeks. Sakura melted on the spot at the sight of the kid.

"What's wrong, chibi-chan?" She knelt down to his eye level.

His face twisted and he pointed his nose up. "Hmph! You may address me as Yosuke! I'm no chibi! I'm the second son of the great Hiashi-sama's grandmother's second daughter's middle son's son's family! I come from afar—" he pointed at an adjoining set of stairs, "And I seek medical aid for my ailing hand!"

"Yo-chan, how old are you?" Sakura was literally melted pudding at this adorable kid's feet.

"It's Yosuke! I am seven years of age this next month!"

"Alright, let me have a look at your hand, Yosuke-chan." She took his left hand in hers. "It seems you've just got a skinned palm. I'll speed the healing process, but you know it's not one-hundred percent effective to heal everything with chakra. You've got to let the body heal itself too!" During that speech, she'd left only a raw pink patch.

"Let's take a visit to the in-compound infirmary, Yosuke-chan."

Completely sidetracked from her original goal, Sakura accompanied Yosuke to get an herbal wrapping for his palm. She sent him back to his rooms, chuckling, and finally started on finding Hiashi.

Hiashi was sitting in the garden, pensively staring at the koi in the fish pond.

"Hiashi-sama, may I intrude?"

He looked up. "Sit. What is it that you ask?"

Sakura held up her scroll. "I need a place to store my kimono. Do you perhaps have a place I could place it without fear of damage?"

He nodded, and stood. "Follow me; I will show you my private kimono collection."

She felt extremely special and excited until, "It's a pretty well-known collection. Any kimono maker worth his salt has seen it, anyway." She face planted mentally, abolishing all thoughts of being special.

Neji was quietly studying arts of war from the old shinobi wars when Sakura slid open the shoji door. He turned his face towards her and was greeted by a kiss—a short peck, but the second kiss nonethess. Sakura was unaffected and sat down on his futon and began trying to make a ball of water over the large wash basin she had brought up from the kitchens.

So this was what life was going to be like.