The Brighter Side of Chaos
---
I: Scarlet Tidings
Think not for this, however, the poor treason
Of my stout blood against my staggering brain,
I shall remember you with love, or season
My scorn with pity - let me make it plain:
I find this frenzy insufficient reason
For conversation when we meet again.
--Edna St. Vincent Millay
Only eight forty-five in the morning, and already Haruno Sakura's day was completely unbearable.
It must be a record, the green-eyed twenty-two-year old thought savagely as she tapped her fingers on the coffee shop counter, and then soon after that came the impatient question, why can't these damned baristas hurry up?
The day had not started well for her. First of all, it was a Tuesday, and by the evidence the past gave her Tuesdays generally sucked (it was on a Tuesday she had declared Ino her rival; it was on a Tuesday Sasuke had left their apartment to go work in another country; it was on a Tuesday she had lost her favorite jacket). Second, she had woken up an hour and fifteen minutes later than she usually did on this Tuesday in October, resulting in a series of Bad Things, the least of which being her hot water being turned off for 'conservation purposes'. Damned landlord. It had felt like standing naked in an ice storm. If I get pneumonia I'm suing, she said fiercely to herself after a particularly violent sneeze that left her fellow coffee-waiters backing away slightly.
Finally, after a seven-minute wait, the teenager behind the counter-- he looked like he was on drugs-- handed her the usual ten drinks in two cardboard trays, and she hurried back to her car. Of course it would be her day of the week to pick up coffees for her coworkers, because that was just typical on a day like today.
With no roommate to vent on (Naruto and Sai had taken the other car and driven off without waking her, damn them both), Sakura had to take out her anger by jamming the key rather viciously into the ignition.
It was vastly unsatisfying.
Thankfully, she arrived at work without dying in a car crash or all of the hot drinks spilling onto her lap-- although she did rip her favorite dark red skirt by slamming the car door too fast. After a hasty check-in, Sakura had to half run, half scuffle to the employee elevators, held up by her ten-pound briefcase, the two trays of coffee in her hands, and her pair of impractical wedge heels.
---
Konoha Magazine, Inc. was founded around a hundred or so years ago by two brothers, who prided themselves on creating a magazine filled with 'everything under the sun'-- now the motto of the company. And, indeed, even today Konoha Magazine carried practically everything important that had happened that past month: sports, politics, news, celebrity gossip, music and movie reviews, superb columns on varying topics, and even health and fitness advice, all accompanied by superior photographs taken by the very best photographers the company could find.
The building alone was intimidating; fifteen floors in height, the entranceway contained a waiting room lobby and a large silver desk at which visitors could sign in. The spiral staircase that ran down the entirety of the building was draped in red carpet, and every floor was made up of marble and sleek brown wood. The lower offices were on the lower levels, evenly-spaced cubicles of a reasonable size… however, for the higher-ranking reporters and managers, there were the upper floors, highly stylized and with a separate room for each to use as an office. On the top floor was the editor-in-chief's office, a vast expanse of marble, gold railing, and red carpet, complete with a kitchen, a waiting room, and a personal recreation room containing a TV, radio, couches and chairs, and a pool table… not to mention the giant office itself.
It was for this editor-in-chief and this magazine Sakura worked. She had her own column, writing human interest pieces that ranged from music to philosophy to theology and back; in short, she wrote on whatever caught her fancy, and she wrote it well. Often she would be called into Tsunade (or Tsunade-hime, as many people called her) to be congratulated on the success of a past article. However, having the status of Tsunade's surrogate daughter and pupil did nothing on granting leniency from the queenlike editor-in-chief; on the contrary, Tsunade was usually more strict to Sakura than she was to any of her other employees… even Naruto, who was simultaneously her second-in-command, Sakura's roommate and brother figure, and the biggest knucklehead in the company.
---
Yamanaka Ino, editor of the popular culture section, was flipping through glossy 8-by-10s in Sakura's office when said pink-haired girl kicked open the door and demanded, "What the hell are you doing in here, Pig?"
Ino looked up, dark blue eyes slowly taking in Sakura's disheveled appearance. "Good morning to you, too, Billboard Brow. What happened to you? Did you get in a fight or something?"
Sakura growled in a rather animalistic way at her friend. "No," she said shortly. "It hasn't been a particularly great morning, that's all." She thrust a tall cardboard cup at the tall blonde. "Here, take it."
"Oh, thanks, I forgot it was your day to get coffee," Ino replied, taking the cup gratefully. "Was that why you were late?"
Sakura hesitated while unpacking her briefcase. "Partly. Oh, damn!"
"What?"
The petite girl groaned, sagging wearily in her chair. "I left my article at home, the one for next month's issue. Tsunade-san's going to absolutely murder me!"
"How will she know?"
Sakura motioned to her computer. "She just sent me an e-mail asking me to come up to her office as soon as possible. I'm sure she knows I'm late, and she'll ask me about my story. She's one of those 'involved editor-in-chiefs'."
"Well, you're screwed," Ino said cheerfully.
Sakura shot her a venomous look. "You're a little too perky today, aren't you?"
"I'm going out with Chouji tonight. He's taking me to a restaurant he's reviewing… a five-star. I'll get a chance to wear that cocktail dress I just bought." Ino swooned-- whether at the thought of Chouji, five-star food, or a new cocktail dress, Sakura had no earthly idea.
The pink-haired girl rolled her eyes instead of commenting, something which would have resulted in another round of teasing from both sides. "Whatever. Hey, d'you want to help me deliver the rest of these?" she asked hopefully, motioning towards the remaining coffees. "I need to see Shikamaru about the photos you were just holding-- he wants to have them ready for when he does the layout-- and then face my doom up top."
Ino grimaced. "Lazy-ass and Tsunade-hime all in one trip? I don't think so. I have work to do, anyway."
"Some friend you are," Sakura snorted, picking up the folder of pictures and the tray of coffees. "I'll see you later, okay? Wish me luck."
Ino watched her friend go, a small smile gracing her full lips as the pink-haired girl walked down the hallway. Sakura was a state, with a messy bun completely failing to keep her hair out of her face, a ripped red skirt, and a cream-colored filmy top that had a smudge on it, but was otherwise rather pretty.
She did not, exactly, look the part of a successful columnist at one of the most famous magazines in the world.
"Good luck, Billboard Brow."
---
Sakura stopped by Marketing only to deliver TenTen's iced coffee, and did the same in Advertisement to give Hyuuga Hinata her hot tea. Hinata, though coming from a clanlike family of the pompous and ruthless, was perfectly sweet. She had joined Konoha Magazine, Inc. a year and a half ago and had immediately risen to the post of Advertising Manager… not so much thanks to her influential background (although hiring Hinata had created a useful alliance of sorts with the Hyuuga Bank) but because of her creativity and skill in the field. With her compassionate disposition and fierce loyalty, she had soon become friends with Ino, Sakura, and TenTen. It was always a pleasure to talk to her.
Hurriedly, Sakura rushed towards Shikamaru's office. The Haruno girl kicked open the door to the largish room only to find her friend rather predictably snoring at his desk.
Nara Shikamaru, though truthfully dubbed as the lazy-ass of Konoha Magazine, Inc., was nevertheless in charge of the layout of every issue of the magazine. He was a tactical genius, and was often called to help with some problem in Public Relations or Managing, but one could never have guessed his superior intelligence by his open belief that everything was 'troublesome'.
"Shika, wake up!" Sakura said loudly, shaking him by the shoulder. The ponytailed man looked up at her groggily, one hand going to his stud earring to twirl it, a force of habit.
"Wh'ssup, Sakura?" he groaned, rubbing at his eyes.
"I come bearing coffee, and pictures for Friday's layout." Sakura put the folder and the cup on his desk. "Do you really have enough free time to get in a good nap? Maybe we should switch jobs."
Shikamaru chuckled. "I don't think I have nearly enough energy to take on a weekly column," he said dryly, "and I really don't have that much free time… not as much as it seems, anyway. Temari kept me up late last night is all."
Sakura blushed furiously at the innuendo, and cursed at herself for doing so when Shikamaru looked quite unaffected. "If you're quite finished telling me about your sex life-- which, by the way, I don't at all want to hear-- can you tell me which pictures you're going to choose so I can tell Lee?"
Shikamaru opened the manila folder and flipped through the photos as Ino had done. "Lee did a good job on these," he admitted grudgingly. "If he wasn't such a good photographer I might feel justified in telling him to shut up about the 'youth of spring flowers' or whatever the hell he rambles about." As Sakura giggled, the tanned twenty-two-year-old selected five photos and gave the rest back to her. "I'll take these five. There's not much room with the novel you wrote."
Sakura frowned at him. "The upcoming election is a serious subject," she defended stubbornly. "I wanted to give it my all."
"Anything to get the editorials, eh?" he said shrewdly. "Your last piece on abortion got so many protests and support letters Inuzuka didn't even bother to read them all."
"Yeah, well, Kiba can hardly read, anyway," she snapped jokingly. "What time is it?"
He (lazily, of course) checked his watch. "Ten oh seven," he answered. "Why?"
"I need to go meet Tsunade-san," Sakura said with a small moan of trepidation. "She said she wanted to see me about something important, and I'm willing to bet my job that it's on me being late. And I forgot my draft for next month's article."
Shikamaru winced sympathetically. "Let's hope it won't be likely you'll have to bet on your job, eh? But if you're going up there, can you take these to her?" He dug in his desk for a moment before selecting a stack of thin binders, full to the brim with papers, and shoved them into her arms before she could protest. "She wanted them by eleven, and since you're going up…"
Sakura gave him a nasty look. "This building is just overflowing with friendliness today, isn't it?" she murmured to sarcastically, half to herself. "I'll see you later, Shikamaru."
"Aa. Bye."
After her friend's goodbye, Sakura hurried from the room and to the elevators, tucking the binders under her arm on the way. If she was any later to this meeting, she might as well sign her resignation and turn it in when she stepped in the door, and she actually happened to like this columnist job quite a lot.
There was a man in front of the elevators when she arrived, breathless and clutching the binders. He wasn't familiar-looking, which was a small surprise… Sakura always tried to make it her business to know the faces and names of everyone she came in contact with in the enormous building. It was quite possible he was a lower reporter or on the Public Relations staff, but somehow he didn't seem to be the type to settle for any kind of lower-ranking job.
Maybe it was the way he looked at her, with his chin straight and his familiarly light eyes almost chiseled-looking, as if they had been carved from quartz. Maybe it was the air of disdain and cool pride around him as he looked at her from his great height… this guy was probably over six foot, where Sakura barely scraped 5'3".
Suddenly all too aware of what must be a severely disheveled appearance, Sakura gave the stranger a bright smile, hoping to break the awkwardness. "Morning."
He inclined his head to her. "Good morning." His voice was a low baritone, very smooth, and yet with a hint of undisputed arrogance under it. It was nearly as chocolaty as his long, lustrous dark brown hair, which was tied neatly midway down his back in a low ponytail. He was dressed professionally, she noted as the elevator doors opened and they both stepped in, wearing a black dress shirt rolled to the elbows and black pants.
Mindful that she was staring, Sakura pressed the highest button, 15, and noticed that he didn't move to hit another button. "Are you heading to the top, too?" she asked conversationally, checking her reflection in the polished gold metal of the elevator. Her neat bun had become undone, and strands hung around her face.
"Hai."
Sakura nodded to hide her irritation at the curt reply as the elevator climbed steadily higher. "So you're seeing Tsunade-san. Do you work here? I haven't seen you before."
"No, I do not."
The green-eyed girl shot the stranger a discreet look of annoyance. Just because her hair was mussed and she was a little less than a foot shorter than him didn't give him the right to completely snub her like this! What a jerk. I'll just stop talking altogether, see if I care.
The elevator doors opened smoothly when they reached the fifteenth floor, and Sakura and the stranger stepped out of the machine, both of them heading to the giant oak double doors. A gold plate next to it shone, catching the light from the large windows: Hokage Tsunade, Editor-in-Chief.
Out of habit, Sakura checked the door across from Tsunade's: Naruto's office was empty; the lights were on, but nobody was inside, and on the computer was a screen saver of jumping frogs. As the arrogant man from the elevators knocked rapidly on Tsunade's door, Sakura poked her head into Shizune's office, Tsunade's personal secretary. "Shizu-san!"
A tall woman with short black hair turned from her computer. "Sakura-san! How are you?"
"Fine. Well, no, not really, I have an appointment with Tsunade-san, and I don't think it's for something I did right." She made a face. "D'you know where Naruto is?"
Shizune gave a shrug. "He left a couple of minutes ago… I think he went to the cafeteria, he mentioned ramen."
Sakura sighed. "What a pig. When he comes back up, can you tell him I'd like to see him?"
"Sure," Shizune said, giving her an easy smile. "You'd better get to your meeting, though. Tsunade-san--"
"…doesn't like to be kept waiting, I know." Sakura grinned at her. "See you."
"Bye, Sakura."
The columnist exited Shizune's office and headed toward Tsunade's, rapping on the oaken doors to request entry.
"Come in," Tsunade's voice called from behind the door, and Sakura pushed it open. The blonde editor-in-chief was sitting behind her desk, arms crossed beneath her ample bosom, and she was looking at the same man from the elevators, who was sitting in one of three seats in front of her desk. Sakura had forgotten that he had a meeting with her boss.
"I'm sorry," she said apologetically, "should I come back later?"
"No, it's good that you two are in here together," Tsunade told her with a brusque shake of the head. "Have a seat, Sakura."
Sakura put the thin binders on Tsunade's desk before sitting next to the dark-haired man. "From Shikamaru," she told Tsunade.
Her boss gave a nod. "Right. Well, first thing's first, I suppose… Haruno Sakura, meet Hyuuga Neji. Neji-san is Hyuuga Hinata's cousin."
So that was why his features had seemed so familiar… he had the Hyuuga eyes. How had she not noticed that? "Nice to meet you," she said a little stiffly, remembering his treatment of her in the elevator.
Hyuuga Neji frowned and did not repay the comment, turning instead to Tsunade. "Hokage-sama, I'm afraid I don't understand. This is the reporter who will be conducting the report?"
"What report?" Sakura asked curiously.
"Hai, she is," Tsunade answered, studiously ignoring her young apprentice. "I think you'll find she's quite capable, despite the grunge style she seems to be sporting today." She cast a pointed look over Sakura's dilapidated state, and the pink-haired woman flushed.
"I've had a rough morning," she protested hotly, but Tsunade ignored her still.
Neji cast an appraising look over her. "I read her work. It was… incredible," he conceded, and Sakura beamed with pride despite the fact that he had seemed to force the word out with extreme difficulty-- "but I was expecting someone a little less… memorable. She will stand out."
Sakura huffed at his, but Tsunade defended her almost at once. "You yourself came in here last week to tell me of your request, Neji-san, and you also called to tell me exactly what you wanted: an excellent reporter, someone capable of a job such as this. I gave you what you wanted. Do not underestimate her."
Hyuuga Neji had the grace to look a little ashamed, but Sakura had gone too long listening to people talking about her as if she wasn't there. "Tsunade-san, what is this all about?" she demanded.
At last, the blonde woman turned to her, pursing her rouged lips before answering. "The story of a lifetime."
Sakura smiled at this, excitement rising in her chest. 'The story of a lifetime'? Just how good was this assignment, anyway?
Tsunade elaborated. "You know of the Hyuuga family, Sakura." At her nod, she continued. "Then you also know that as prestigious as they are, there have been rumors circulating about their behavior to what they call the 'Branch House'-- a section of their family that is dedicated solely to protecting and supporting the Main House members, at, I believe, any cost?" She ended the phrase as a question, looking to Neji for confirmation. He nodded a bit reluctantly, and she continued. "Because of this arrangement, Branch House members cannot rise higher than their Main House counterparts… if their skills or ambition surpass the Main House members, well… it sucks for them," she said bluntly, lacing her fingers on the desk. "They are still obligated to service the Main House."
Sakura frowned. "Well… no offence meant, Hyuuga-san, but why don't Branch members simply break from that restriction? Run away, or just refuse to bend under those rules?"
Neji looked towards Tsunade rather than answer Sakura directly (Sakura fumed), and Tsunade replied instead. "That's where you come in," she told her apprentice. "The Hyuuga Main House seems to have some sort of strange… power over the Branch members," she told Sakura hesitantly, a rather skeptical expression on her face, and Sakura knew that Tsunade's disbelief in anything mystical was preventing her from saying it like it was the absolute truth. "I don't really know much about it, and neither, in fact, does Neji-san over here." She hesitated and turned to the man in question. "Could you elaborate?"
Sighing softly, the handsome Hyuuga member straightened and spoke to Tsunade rather than facing Sakura. What is with this guy? the journalist felt a voice inside her mind ask angrily, but pushed it aside to listen to his words. "Although I am a Branch House member, I have not been exposed to this ability, for I have been obedient to them…" A flash of something indistinguishable crossed his pale eyes, but was gone as soon as it had come. "Keep in mind we are a large family. I do not even know a fair amount of my cousin's names. But there have been many cases of a rebellious Branch member being outspoken, and then taken into the head of the Main House, Hiashi-sama, and not coming back out. The standard explanation is that they have been banished from the family, and forbidden to get within fifty feet of the estate."
At Sakura's open mouth and questioning look, Tsunade hastily spoke up. "I know what you're wondering, Sakura, but nobody has ever paid any attention to these so-called 'banishments'. It is suspicious, but highly classified information. I only know as much as Neji-san has told me, and the small bits Hinata has relayed. Also, even if there was some sort of call for investigation, money talks." Tsunade ducked her head to Neji as if in apology for the insinuation. "And the Hyuuga family-- or the Main House, anyway-- has plenty of money. I'd imagine any rough patches are smoothed pretty quickly on matters like that."
Sakura frowned. "Is Hinata a Branch or Main House member?"
"Hinata-sama is of the Main House," Neji answered, and Sakura grimaced at the overly-formal suffix. "She is Hiashi-sama's oldest child." It was the longest sentence he had directly spoken to her for the twenty minutes she'd known him.
"So he's your uncle, then?"
"Hai."
And the eloquence stops there. Sakura pushed the dry thought from her lips and instead asked what she had been leading up to. "If Hinata is of the Main House, why doesn't she know this mysterious secret? Wouldn't she be heir to Hyuuga Bank if she's the oldest?"
"This is all speculation on my part," Tsunade said slowly, tapping her red-painted fingernails on the desk thoughtfully, "but I believe that the Hyuuga Main House leaders wouldn't entrust their secrets to someone like Hinata, especially if there's something illegal about their treatment of Branch members… I mean, we already know it's unfair, but if there's something legally threatening, it's a secret I think they'd like to take to their graves. Hinata would not likely do that."
Sakura understood the reasoning, much though it sickened her. Shy and gentle Hinata, although most likely bullied by the Hyuuga leaders, would probably not hesitate to put a stop to anything harmful in the family procedures if or when she ever escaped their grasp. "Tsunade-sama, you said earlier that the mysterious 'power' was where I came in. I still don't understand. What does this have to do with me?"
Tsunade hesitated, turning a pencil over in her fingers, and Sakura realized with a start that her mentor was nervous… worried, even, if such a thing could be said for the fortress of Hokage Tsunade. "You will be doing an undercover, in-depth report on this method of submission… and indeed, the whole Hyuuga family." She took a breath. "If you succeed in getting the secrets of the family, the effect will be… momentous. It would most definitely call enough attention to the problem so that it could be stopped by the authorities. We'd put it on the front page, we'd make it our biggest headline…" Tsunade trailed off.
Sakura felt the familiar thrill of anticipation rising in her chest, lifting her heart into her throat. Tsunade hadn't been kidding when she'd called it the story of a lifetime. If she succeeded, this piece could lead to untold honors. It could lead to the joining of the two Hyuuga houses. It could change the world!
If there's anything going on in the first place, that snarky Inner Voice reminded her dryly, and Sakura scowled slightly before catching a glimpse of Tsunade pursing her lips. "Tsunade-san, if it's such a great opportunity why do you look so worried?"
Tsunade opened her mouth to answer, closed it, and then opened it again. "This will be very dangerous, Sakura, and I want you to fully realize it before you go on this assignment. The Hyuuga Main House has money, and lots of it… they have ambition and secrecy shrouding them like a blanket, and the two are a dangerous combination. Along with that, they have the Branch members, who have been trained from birth to protect the Hyuuga secrets and Main House members until the day they die. They will not give up any skeletons in the closet easily."
Sakura nodded, not really hearing her. Danger from a banking family? What were they going to do, throw money at her? "I understand," she said, without really doing so, and then turned to Neji as a thought came to her. He had been silent for the better part of five minutes. "Hyuuga-san, if you have been trained from birth to protect the Hyuuga secrets, and if you've been as obedient as you've said… well… no offence meant, but… why did you suggest this article be written?"
Neji frowned at her. "That is not, I believe, any of your business. All you need to know on that front is that I am in earnest. I want this article to be written. I believe in the need for it."
Rather taken aback at this, Sakura hastily looked back at Tsunade, fighting determinedly to keep a blush of shame and anger from her cheeks. "So, why me? Why not Hinata? Wouldn't the Hyuuga clan trust her more, being the heir and all? How am I supposed to just merge into their family?"
"Yes, that is an issue," Tsunade acquiesced, and Sakura was relieved to see that she was in control of whatever worry she had expressed before. "I believe you will have to disguise yourself… not in appearance, of course, but in nature. I think," she continued after a moment, "that the best course of action would be to act… with your permission, of course, Neji-san… as this man's girlfriend. And," she added, "I think it'd be best that Hinata have a very vague idea of what you're doing, so she doesn't unwittingly sabotage the report."
The two young adults immediately stiffened. Sakura couldn't keep back the flush that was surely at her neck now, and she blurt out a "what!" as she seeped into mental panic-mode.
"Surely that's not the only way," Neji said, a little more calmly, although his fists were clenching.
"If you have any other ideas, I'd be happy to hear them," Tsunade said serenely.
Of course, they had none. Sakura sat back in her seat and put a hand to her head in weariness. How was she to pretend to be in love with a man who had absolutely no passion?
"I do not think it will work," Neji said honestly, with a sideways glance towards Sakura's slumped form, and the pink-haired girl sprung up at once.
"What was that little look supposed to mean?" she asked hotly. "I can pretend! It's just you, you're the coldest person I've ever met!"
Neji turned on her with a look of supreme disdain and equally large irritation. "How could I fake feelings for someone so… garish?"
Sakura turned on him. "Garish? What's that supposed to mean? In case you didn't know, I didn't choose to have pink hair! Blame genetics!"
The Hyuuga Branch member scowled at her. "I wasn't referring to your hair color, although that's certainly showy, too… you are garish in personality. You are loud, you are opinionated, you have no idea of proper etiquette, and though those things may not trouble you, you will not last for more than five seconds in the Hyuuga household if you insist on being so brash." His tone had not risen, and yet Sakura felt as if she had been slapped; she immediately opened her mouth for a harsh retort, but was cut off by Tsunade's fist hitting the desk so hard the wood let out an ominous cracking sound. The quarrelling adults quieted at once.
"Be silent!" Tsunade demanded of them angrily, face contorted in impatience. "If you two will insist on acting like teenagers, I will call off the article… I am not joking!" She glared at them silently for a moment, nostrils flaring, as Neji and Sakura settled into a moody quiet. Only when she was reasonably calm and the two in front of her had been silent for a whole minute did the busty editor-in-chief continue. "This is a dangerous assignment for both of you, and I don't think you realize just how much. Neji-san, you stand risk to be subject to the mysterious punishment we aim to expose. Sakura, as an outsider to the Hyuuga clan, you are in equal danger. I don't know what they would do to silence you if you fail to keep your cover, but I'm positive it won't be pleasant." She took a breath. "You will find a way to make your cover work because you simply must. There is no question to it. And if I get the slightest idea that you two won't work together enough to get this finished in safety, I will personally abort the research. Is that understood?" When the two parties nodded sullenly, Tsunade fell back into her chair, massaging her temples. "I feel like I'm babysitting you two," she said sharply.
After a moment, Neji stood. "Hokage Tsunade-sama," he said formally, "are we dismissed?"
"Aa," she said tiredly, "you are. I want you both back here tomorrow, though, at noon. Neji-san, think of ways to get Sakura accepted by the Main and Branch Houses. Sakura, I want you to study as you've never studied before. Try and get as much background information on the Hyuuga clan as you can… try the public library, they most likely have old documents that could help you. We will have a lunch meeting at the café down the street and discuss your plans. Are we in agreement?"
"Hai."
"Aa, Tsunade-san."
Rather stiffly, Neji turned to Sakura and gave a jerk of the head that was probably meant to be a small bow. "It will be a pleasure to work with you, Haruno," he said, holding out his hand.
Keenly feeling the lack of honorific, Sakura gripped his hand tightly. "And with you, Hyuuga."
There was a long moment in which Neji and Sakura squeezed each other's hands as tightly as they could, glaring a fiercely challenging glare into one another's eyes, and Tsunade let out a groan of "oh, good gods" and called loudly for Shizune to bring her sake.
---
"Sakura-chan, you look tired," Naruto said quietly, sitting next to her on the couch and handing her a glass of red wine.
Sakura started; she hadn't noticed him behind her. "It was a long day," she muttered, turning off the TV and taking the wine with a grateful nod.
Naruto looked a little panicked at this. "If this has anything to do with Sai and me leaving without you this morning, I swear it was all him!"
"Liar," Sai's voice called defensively from the kitchen, where he was washing the dinner dishes.
Sakura let out a little laugh at this and sipped her wine. "Nah, that was nothing." Debating whether or not to tell them for a moment, Sakura bit her lip. Well, what harm could it do? Sai and Naruto were her roommates, her brothers. And they deserved to know. "Don't go telling anybody this, but Tsunade-san called me into her office today."
"Uh oh," Naruto said sympathetically. "Tsunade-baa-san angry with you?"
"No, that came later," Sakura said dryly. "She called me in to talk about an article she wants me to do." Briefly, she gave the two boys a sketchy outline of the conversation between Tsunade, Hyuuga Neji, and herself.
Naruto's eyes were wide when she finished. "Wow. D'you know how famous you could get if you busted a family like the Hyuuga?"
Sai snorted from the kitchen. "Why was that a bad part of your day, Ugly? Sounds to me like a good opportunity."
Growling a little at the familiar nickname, Sakura let her head fall back on the couch, where it landed on Naruto's arm. "The Hyuuga guy that suggested the article is a total jackass."
"What's his name?" Naruto asked casually, reaching over for the bottle of wine and pouring her another glass.
"Hyuuga Neji. His Hinata's cousin, but he's nothing like her. You should have heard what he--"
Her blonde friend put down the bottle and stood up, and Sakura's head fell hard on the back of the couch. "Hyuuga Neji, you said?" he asked excitedly.
"Ow. Yeah, why?" Sakura rubbed the back of her head.
Naruto was bouncing on the balls of his feet, obviously pleased. His tanned face split into a smile so that the whiskerlike marks on his cheeks curved upwards. "I fought him once, a couple tournaments ago." Naruto grinned. "Damned set on fate, he was. After the match he said he was glad he fought me, said I taught him a lesson that he could change his own destiny. Kicked the tar out of him," he added hastily at Sakura's raised eyebrow, "but he was one of the toughest opponents I've ever faced."
Sakura frowned. Now that she thought on it, Hyuuga Neji had been built under that dress shirt… his rolled-up sleeves had revealed quite a bit of muscle that she hadn't thought to dwell on when he was calling her garish. "That makes sense. You must have gotten into him hard to make him rebel against his family like that."
"Maybe," Naruto agreed with a little frown, "but it's been years since I fought him. It'd be odd for him to do it now."
"Maybe he's been working up… what's the word?" Sai asked expressionlessly. "Courage?"
Well acquainted with her dark-haired roommate's trouble with emotions, Sakura nodded. "Yes, that's what it's called."
Naruto shrugged. "He could've been. But he's not the type to do that. He always has courage, he just plucks it out of nowhere. Freaky, almost. But more likely he went to Baa-san because of something that just happened to him, something that pushed him over the edge. Wonder what it was."
Sakura's features formed a scowl. "Whatever it is, he's still a complete jerk. I can't imagine pretending to be his girlfriend."
Naruto let out a hoot of laughter at that. "You've got your work cut out for you on that, Sakura-chan. He actually has emotions, unlike Artsy-Fartsy over there, but it takes a lot for him to show them to you."
"'Artsy-Fartsy'?" Sai repeated dispassionately.
"Hey, you give all of us nicknames, why can't you have one?" Naruto argued, storming into the kitchen.
"I only call you Dickless because you are dickless, Dickless."
"Shut up, Sai!"
Sakura knew that unless she interfered several dishes would be broken, and the landlord would no doubt pound on their door for the fifth time that month to tell them to shut up, but she didn't really feel like settling another fight between Naruto and Sai.
The thoughts of endless researching in a stuffy library, sneaking safely into the most prestigious family in the country, and an afternoon meeting with the despicable Hyuuga Neji weighing heavy on her mind, Sakura looked towards her refilled wine glass.
Screw it, she thought, and over the sounds of her two brother figures wrestling on the floor, she tipped the contents of the whole glass into her mouth.
---
Author's Note: I believe I'm ready to start another chapter fic. Life has calmed down somewhat, and this is something I'll definitely finish. In case you didn't realize, this story is very much AU, something I don't think I've done before for Naruto. It's kind of an experiment, but I think it'll go well.
As I've said before, I really appreciate your feedback and constructive criticism… and it's certainly not too hard to press that nifty blue button down there and jot down a couple words on what you think of the story so far. Thanks so much, and I hope you enjoyed the first chapter!
