Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
CHAPTER ONE
Sakura thumped her head against the wall in frustration, repeating in a mantra to herself, "I'm so stupid, stupid! What made you think you could do it!" She repeated this for nearly 10 minutes and probably would have continued if not for the voice that interuppted her.
"Sakura," a male voice said hesitantly. She looked up to see Neji staring at her as if she had lost her mind, which she couldn't blame him for. She sighed and pushed away from the wall to face him as he asked, "Is something wrong?"
She was completely floored that he would even ask. Neji made it perfectly clear that he barely tolerated or respected her as a shinobi. 'He's probably only checking to see if he has to contact Tsunade to put me in a straight jacket,' she thought snidely. Aloud she said, "Yeah, its...nothing," she responded shaking her head. "Nothing is wrong," she repeated firmly.
He looked doubtful but was about to turn away when someone ran down the hallway towards her. "Sakura! Sakura," the person cried out. She looked up to see her assistant Keiko running towards her. "Sakura it worked. He's completely stable now. He's still comatose but he's out of the red. You did it, Sakura, I knew you could."
Sakura felt her legs trembling, 'It worked. He's alive,' she thought in disbelief. "Are you sure," she asked.
Keiko beamed at her, "You have to stop doubting yourself. You're going to get your promotion as head surgeon so stop worrying. You're one of the best doctors here, and I don't know why you always doubt your ablility when you're good at every procedure you do! The kunai pierced his heart and lung and you managed to revivive him, so stop beating yourself up and order me to fill out the paperwork," she finished.
Sakura somehow managed a feeble smile, "You're right. I've just...had so much on my mind lately." Her expression took on a fazed out look, "Don't worry about the paperwork, just keep watch over the patient and I'll take care of it."
She could tell her assistant wasn't pleased but she merely nodded. Sakura walked off with a determined stride in her step.
Keiko looked over at Neji. She had seen her superior talking to him and was surprised, she said to him, "I'm glad Sakura is confiding to someone. She's been so lonely and sad these days, and I didn't know she had anayone." She couldn't see his reaction since he kept his expression impassive but she continued, "The thing that happened with her mother was so sad wasn't it?"
Neji had no idea what the assistant was talking about but he nodded. He had never heard about Sakura wanting to become head surgeon, he didn't know she was that skilled in the first place. He himself avoided all injuries and knew she was a medic but just assumed she was a typical one, and not also a doctor at the hospital. The girl was beginning to annoy him, what did he care about Sakura's mother, it had nothing to do with him. He wasn't even friends with Sakura.
She obviously wasn't very strong being the weakest when she was in team 7 when she was younger, so she was probably forced to become a medic due to being weak. They rarely seen each other and the times he did she always was wearing a silly grin on her face for the Uchiha boy. The only person she was friends with that he tolerated was Naruto, who had earned his respect. Something the girl was prattling on about caught his attention.
"I was shocked to hear that her mother had been abusing her all those years. Despite the fact that she was a ninja she could never bring herself to retaliate and strike back. And her mother killed herself right in from of her," she exclaimed.
Something akin to surprise flashed briefly across Neji's face and Keiko realized all she had just said. "You didn't know about any of that did you? I have a terrible habit of rambling on and I never told anyone else this. She accidentally told me when she let herself get drunk one night and confessed. I just assumed she had told you when I seen her talking to you. Please don't tell her I told you," she pleaded her eyes begging him to agree.
Why would he talk to Sakura about it, he didn't really care about it. But one thing stood out in his mind. "When did you say Sakura's mother killed herself?"
Keiko looked nervous but said, "She killed herself 2 weeks ago, and Sakura tried to save her but she shoved the knife thru her heart, and there was nothing Sakura could do about it. She had tried to revive her for nearly two hours and she had passed out. When she awoke she was laying in her mothers blood," she whishpered with horror infused in her voice. "I've been wanting to get that off my chest for days, so you can only imagine how Sakura feels. Sasuke and Naruto have been gone for 4 months now so they don't even know what happened and she hasn't had a chance to talk to them." She suddenly looked embarrassed, "I've done it again, I'm going to go check on the patient before I make a fool of myself."
Neji looked at her as she already had, and she scurried away down the hallway. He shook his head in disdain, Sakura should know better than to loosen her tongue around that girl it'll be her own fault if that gets around Konoha. He moved furthur down the hallway and remembered why he had came to the hospital in the first place! The whole debacle with Sakura had distracted him to the point he forgot that Tsunade had actually sent him to deliver a assignment to any medic nin on staff at the hospital. That made him even more irritated with Sakura. Looking at the rolled up paper he decided he would give her the assignment as payback. With a sligh smug look on his face he turned around and walked the direction Sakura had went.
He didn't have to go far, she was in a staff room a few doors down sitting at a table filling out some papers. He walked in the room and she show any sign of even noticing anyone was in the room with her. Not a good quality for a shinobi, he thought snidely.
He looked at her, and to be honest he would have to admit she was beautiful. She had long pale pink lockes of hair that fell a few inches above her elbow and pastel spring green eyes that sparkled with a intelligence that couldn't be contained within. She was small, barely at 5'2", but made up for it in shapely curves with lithe muscles and flat abs. He let his gaze skim over her body, today she was wearing a snug black skirt that skimmed her knees and a red v-neck top under her white jacket.
Without announcing himself he dropped the paper on the table with a plop and Sakura still didn't look up, and then he noticed something odd. She was sitting up with her head bent down but the pen hovering over the paper wasn't moving, and he realized she was actually sleeping.
"Sakura," he called out and she didn't budge. He called her name again and when he didn't get a response he reached out a hand to shake her and just before his fingers touched her shoulder she lifted her head up and said, "Yes?"
'How? She just-' he thought in confusion. She didn't even appear to have even been asleep but he was positive that she was, otherwise she would have heard him with all the noise he was making. Only when he was about to touch her did she aknowledge him. Maybe she wasn't as imcompetent as he thought. But to make it to Chunnin she would have to have some skills at least. She was staring at him with one brow raised waiting for him to say something.
Neji pointed to the assignment, "Tsunade informed me to bring this mission to a medic nin on staff between either you or Hinata were her exact words. And you're right here," he said as way for explanation. "And she wants a response immediately."
Sakura rolled her eyes and unrolled the papers. Hinata didn't work on Mondays and Tsunade knew that, she wanted Sakura to have this assignment. Her eyes scanned the paper and sighed in exasperation and she leaned back until she was reclining in the chair. Apparently Tsunade wanted her to go on a weeklong mission with Neji and Ten-Ten with them leaving tomorrow morning. She looked up at Neji and gave a small smile, "My first A-class mission is with you and Ten-Ten," she announced.
The look on Neji's face was priceless, he couldn't mask his shock quickly enough and he said his voice strangled, "W-What do you mean your first A-class mission. Those are ranked for jonins."
Sakura rolled her eyes again, "I don't need the basic ninja terms review, I already know that, and if I didn't that wouldn't be good for Konoha because I am a jounin."
He narrowed his eyes at her, "What are you talking about. At the last jonin exams I didn't see you there."
"I didn't get a chance to be recognized by everyone. Soon after the final test I was called away on an emergency," she said wryly. Four months ago all those qualified were invited to take the jonin exams and she took them with Sasuke and Naruto. The next day they were sent on a long-term mission.
Neji still looked skeptical, "How can four months go by and I didn't know you were a jonin? And it took this long for you to get an assignment? Why would Tsunade assign this to you if she wouldn't send you with your normal teammates," he fired the questions at her.
Sakura struggled to keep her temper reigned in, "Apparently for the same reasons Lee-Rock isn't going with you. A medic nin wasn't needed on Sasuke and Naruto's assignment but obviously there is a need for one or else Tsunade wouldn't have sent you to me."
He grabbed the papers back, "She gave me a choice between either you or Hinata. I would trust my cousin at my back, and I'm confident enough in her skills."
"Oh, give me a break," she exclaimed. "Hinata doesn't even work here today, she want be back in Konoha until tomorrow. Shouldn't you know this? Tsunade was giving this mission to me." She snatched the assignment back.
He glared down at her, "I refuse to go on a mission with you. It doesn't matter if you're a jonin now that doesn't mean anything. I don't anything about your competency as a ninja other than you're weak," he declared. "I'm going to speak to Tsunade and say this won't work out. And you should be thankful to me, because I may very well be saving your life. I don't have time to look after a handicap while I'm working, and this is your first A-class mission of all things!"
Sakura shot off from her chair and slammed her fist on the table in anger, "How dare you insult my abilities and my value as a shinobi. It doesn't matter if you go to Tsunade she's still going to send me. So why don't you just give her my reply, I'll be ready in the morning," she finished smiling sweetly.
Neji's silver eyes glinted at her with a mixture of coldness and a trace of crueltly. Sakura felt unease trickling down her spine. His lips twisted slightly in an (emotionless) smile. "I could just tell her I don't want someone who's mentally unstable on my team. From what I heard, it runs in your family."
Sakura felt all the blood drain from her face and she felt faint. She grabbed hold of the table to hold herself up. "W-What do you mean by that," she questioned hoarsely. There was no way he could know, could he?
"Does Tsunade know about your mother," he asked smugly.
"Of-Of course," she answered falteringly. "But-But how do you know? I haven't told anyone else." She reached up to grab a hold to his shirt, "Who told you? Who told you," she whisphered urgently clutching his shirt tightly.
He grabbed her wrists and countered, "I'll tell you how I know if you agree to withdraw from this mission."
Sakura released her breath on a sob, "Who," she cried.
"Give me your word first," he stated.
"I just said who," she said nearly yelling.
"Your assistant," he replied, and Sakura's legs gave out. Automatically he caught her to prevent her from falling than he immediately released her so he wouldn't have to think how she felt briefly in his arms. He stepped back and put his hands in his pocket. "I'll inform Tsunade of your response, thank you."
He looked down at her and refused to feel any remorse for what he said and did. Without another word he turned around and left.
AN: I'll update in exactly a week on Thursday. I have all my stories on a specific timeline and the closer it gets to May the sooner the updates will be, because I will began on my new set of stories. Thanks for reading!