Chapter One

It was apparent that he was annoyed.

Why was he annoyed?

Because of her.

Sakura giggled for the fourth time during their mission, it was beginning to get on his nerves. Though he never showed it, that would be completely out of his character, but it was evident enough that he scowled. It wasn't even the sound of it that annoyed him but that it had gone on for hours. There had to be a point in which it would stop. He'd never known her to be so annoying before.

"Oh come on Hyuuga-san, it was a little funny, wasn't it?" she asked him which followed more giggling.

"No." He grumbled and continued walking along the path toward Suna. He curse the Hokage for placing him with the medic-nin from hell. Haruno Sakura was unaware of the Hyuuga's discomfort and continued to follow him. "Shouldn't you be acting a little more seriously? This is a mission after all, be on guard." He cast his eyes toward the girl and found that she held a straight face. It surprised him how quickly her expression changed.

"I know, but it's not too far up ahead. No worries" Her face was quite calm, although there was an underlying worry to it as well. "I still think it was funny when TenTen hugged you goodbye you practically fainted in her arms."

A light tint made it's way upon his cheeks and he turned his head away. "It was a normal reaction."

"Are you serious? How do you show affection towards the ones that matter to you?" she asked thoughtfully looking up at the tall, rather handsome Neji. She never noticed that before now. Hm.

"I don't." he stated giving her a blank stare. He did though in his own way. A head nod, a light wave, even sparring to him was a sign of affection but he chose not to verbalize that to Sakura. She wouldn't understand anyway. Showing too much affection could be seen as a weakness of sorts.

"I don't believe you. You care for your team right?"

"I do, but I don't go hugging Lee-san every time he does something admirable." Sakura cringed slightly as the image of Neji and Lee embracing in front of a sunset ran through her head. It was just too much for one mind to handle at once. Neji fainting in Lee's arms. Oh the horror.

"I guess you have a point." she sighed and watched as Suna came into view. They'd traveled for a few days and being stuck together was a rather cruel twist of fate, in Neji's mind. He'd worked with her many times and never had this much of an issue. Besides that he was just her escort. He just had to take her and bring her back since she was a medic-nin it wasn't as safe for her to go on her own. To some extent he didn't mind her company but it seemed that this trip she was trying especially hard to get on his nerves. It was working. "That would be so wrong, I mean I get sick from watching Gai-san and Lee-san doing that." she cringed again. He silently agreed.

The trip in itself had been a trial. For the first two days they camped out and got caught in a rainstorm. Sakura made a point to remind him of his teammates rather unorthodox way of saying goodbye. At one point in his life he could remember a time when he slightly respected the girl standing next to him, this shattered at the start of their mission. He remembered previous missions with her had gone so well. What the hell happened to that?

"Hn." he muttered frowning slightly as he too found the image of Gai-sensei and Lee embracing. He had to see it on a daily basis and he could understand fully how the image could damage a person's vision. Then again if he had witness say his uncle embracing Gai he'd be eternally scarred. Somethings are better left unseen.

"Oh hey Hyuuga-san." Sakura's voice brought him out of his thoughts. "There's somewhere I have to go before we go see Gaara-san."

"Shouldn't you be showing more respect toward him now that he's Kazekage?" She was just getting worse by the minute. What was wrong with this woman?

"He doesn't mind." She smiled up at him as they entered the gates of Suna. Sakura then deviated from the path toward the Sand Village HQ. He followed to her destination, which he found to be a cemetery. He raised an eyebrow as she entered it and walked down the rows of gravestones. She then stopped in front of one and sighed. He decided it would be best to leave her be so he jumped up in the tree a few feet away.

Sakura bent down and pulled something out of her bag. She then placed it on the edge of the headstone. "Hey, I brought you something. Silly as it is I always need to bring you something from my homeland. I miss you so much Tai." she whispered. "I remember how you used to tell me so many times not to cry whenever someone was looking, I've tried hard to follow that statement. Sometimes it can't be helped and then I wish more than most times that you were here to make it all better. But foolish Sakura always had her head in the clouds right?" she stopped for a moment and looked at the graves sitting on the left and the right of 'Tai's'. "I guess even in death you are the center of their world, eh onee-chan..."

"Ah I see you've arrived Pinky." chuckled Kunkurou who had suddenly appeared beside her. She glanced over her should to find Gaara himself standing just a foot behind her. Her face brightened and she practically tackled him to the ground. It had been a year since his revival and she was more than happy to see him again after all that time. She clung to him for dear life ranting on about missing him and so on. Gaara at first was surprised by the sudden attack but allowed a smirk to appear. For Sakura he would allow the contact. "Oh I see how it is, you're happy to see him but not me." Kunkurou pouted and Sakura laughed.

Gaara showed slight amusement as he watched her run over and hug his older brother with the same force as she had him. He rather enjoyed the pink-haired girls antics. She was what Naruto had described so many times. A precious person, a friend and most of all family. It was so new for Neji to witness Gaara as a normal young man, free from the monster that once ruled his life. It seemed that Sakura mattered a great deal to him as well.

"Yes, I missed Gaara-san but it's you who I miss the most." She grinned then she paused for a second and looked around her. "Hey, wait a second, where's Temari-chan?" she looked around her and found that the older girl wasn't anywhere to be found.

"She's right her." a voice said from behind her and she turned and hugged her.

"You know maybe we should visit less, then we'll all get hugs when we do, eh Gaara?" Kunkurou laughed as he nudged his younger brother. Gaara rolled his eyes and made a mental note to visit more. He did enjoy those visits more than anything.

"I see that you're still coming here after all these years." Gaara stated eying her and then the headstone with the name Haruno Tai on it.

"Yeah." She looked at it as well and sighed again. "I miss her everyday."

"You still blame yourself don't you Pinky?" she looked up at the older brother of Gaara.

"Sometimes...all the time actually. But it is my fault, honestly it should have been me that day..."

"Do not place blame on yourself, she made her choice and her love for you and her sacrifice would have been for nothing." Gaara placed a hand on her shoulder and gave a slight squeeze.

After he and Naruto had become friends she soon followed. She understood their friendship and knew that Naruto saw something special in Gaara. He also understood Gaara's pain and she could also place her confidence in him. Soon following his revival and return to his village things a turn for the better. A few months after that, she and Naruto had returned to celebrate Gaara's birthday, though he clearly didn't like the whole debacle that could be viewed as a party. In some turn of events Sakura and Gaara became very close. He allowed himself to put his guard down with her. If it had been a few years ago she would have been attacked by his sand, before she even had a chance to move.

Neji watched from above in his tree as the Kazekage and his siblings all stared at the headstone. He wondered what had happened to Sakura sister. He found that her having a sister shocked him. She had never once mention having siblings, then again she never talked about her family. For some strange reason Gaara's 'comforting' hand didn't sit well with him. Not that he should care about said hand on said pink haired medic nin but that thought had crossed his mind.

"Say, aren't these your parents here as well?" Temari asked eying the graves, one on the left of her sister's and on the right. Sakura nodded but her expression showed she hadn't wanted to be reminded. "Why do you only visit your sister and not them?"

"I never meant a thing to them but an extra child, a burden on their lives. My sister was a constant in my life. She reminded me each day that I was her precious person...but they...they never..." she sighed and looked at their names pressed into the stones. "...apart of me had always hoped they loved me...but I know they didn't... It's just easy not to feel anything for people I didn't know."

The silence that followed chocked the group. Sakura had never once openly discussed her family. It made more sense to Neji at that point. Who would want to state that they were unloved and parentless for most of their life? He himself understood what it was like to not have parents. His were gone as well. He felt strange at that moment, like he was just meeting Sakura for the first time. He almost forgot about the woman he was annoyed with before, seeing this one differently.

What started off as a cheery trip to Suna now ended in Sakura's crushed spirits. But the questioned that remained in Neji's head was this...


...why were they buried in Suna?