"It's tomorrow!" Sakura exclaimed, pumping her fist into the air.
Ino laughed at her friend's antics. "I've never seen you this excited for a mission before."
That was probably true. Sakura was going to go on a mission with Team Gai as Tenten's replacement with her boyfriend, Neji, as her captain. They were going to a secret base for a large group of missing nins to save a Leaf civilian that had been captured by them. It was rumored that the civilian was quite handsome and had quite the female fan base. However, that what wasn't why she was eager to depart on the mission.
In truth, she was looking forward to it for a few reasons. The first being that she hadn't been on a mission in four months. Those four months had been spent working tirelessly in the hospital. While the girl didn't usually mind the hospital, being in it for so long was starting to make her sick of the place. This mission would be a nice break from the building. Besides, Sakura was a medic, but she was also a ninja, and she was looking forward to acting like one again.
Also, Sakura had never to the area that the base was located before. She was told that it was located close to a small village and that the village, and the landscape surrounding the village, was beautiful. It was filled with a variety of wildflowers and the village was apparently famous for its vast and gorgeous gardens. They also had quite a few strawberry fields, which just happened to be one of Sakura's favourite foods. If she was lucky, maybe before they left she could go and have some.
It was a combination of these things that made Sakura so excited.
"Make sure you bring me back some of the wildflowers ok?" Ino asked as they walked. "They would be a great addition to the flower shop."
"Will do," Sakura promised as they neared their destination. The two were meeting the rest of the Konoha 11 at a small restaurant for lunch.
"Oh, and tell me about that hot civilian when you're done too," Ino's eyes flashed with excitement and glee.
Sakura laughed. "Ok In-ow." She hissed and clenched her stomach as the area flooded with pain. But as soon as the hurt came, it left.
Ino's expression quickly changed to one of concern. "Are you ok?"
The medic nodded. She had these random pains for about two weeks now. A day before that she had been helping a team of medics deal with a mild poison. A small dose of said poison was in a needle, ready to be taken in for research. This normally would not be of any trouble but a new, clumsy medic had taken hold of the needle and had accidently tripped, causing the medic to fly in Sakura and the needle to enter in the pinkette's arm. She was pretty sure that these pains were a side effect of the poison. Thankfully, since that time she had been taking an antidote and the pains went from occurring twice an hour to twice a day to once every second day. And Sakura was pretty confident that today was the last day that she would have them.
By that point they were at the eatery. "Hey everyone," Ino greeted as the two sat down. Sakura gave a wink to Neji who was sitting across the table. He nodded at her in reply.
"Sakura, are you ready for the mission tomorrow?" Lee asked.
"Mhmm," Sakura nodded eagerly, already knowing the answer, she added. "Are you?"
"Indeed I am," Lee replied with his usual determination. "I will try my hardest to make sure that our mission is a success, and with you on our team, we are guaranteed not to fail!"
"Sakura won't be going," Neji announced, sipping his tea casually.
Say what now? "What?" Sakura and Lee both shouted.
Neji put down his tea and glanced up at them. "Sakura will not be going with us on the mission."
Sakura felt disappointment and disbelief consume her. Not going? Why not? The mission had been her main source of joy for the past week, and now she wasn't going on it.
Upon seeing her expression, Naruto was quick to come to her defense. "Why the hell not?"
"I went to Tsunade this morning and convinced her to take her off of it," Neji explained calmly.
The pinkette's jaw dropped. Neji did this? How could he? He knew how much she was looking forward to this. Heck, just last night they were talking about it in her apartment. How dare he do something like this behind her back! "What is wrong with you? You asshole!" Sakura spat out.
Not waiting to hear the response, Sakura stood up and walked away without another word. How could he do this to her? What reason could he possibly have for not wanting her on the mission? Was it something personal? No, Neji wasn't the type to let his personal feelings get in the way of a mission…at least she thought he wasn't.
She marched into her home, slamming the door after she entered. Afterwards she marched towards the first throw pillow she had and screamed into it. That bastard. The worst part of it was that Neji was her boyfriend. If he was just another member of Konoha 11, it would be different. His decision would be more impersonal. And sure, she would still be pissed at him for it, but at least she would be able to properly avoid him afterwards until she had time to calm down and sort things out. The fact that she was dating him prevented her from doing so.
"Sakura." Speak of the devil, it was Neji. Apparently he was above knocking now.
"What?" She snapped at him, turning so that she could deliver a cold glare to him.
While she appeared to be furious, his expression was calm as he shut her door. "That was quite the episode you made at the restaurant."
Why that ass. He sounded like he was scolding her. As if she had done something wrong! Without giving it a second thought, she picked up the throw pillow and chucked it at him. He avoided it easily.
"Why?" She asked him. "Why would you do that? You knew how excited I was for this. You didn't even hint at anything last night!"
"I was unsure about my decision until I left you last night. I had just discussed the matter with Tsunade this morning and because of this, I was unable to let you know until a few minutes ago," Neji told her as he walked into her home.
"Oh really? And you never thought to talk to me about this?" Sakura demanded to know, her glare still present.
"There wasn't time."
"Really?" She stated, clearly unconvinced. "So what prompted you to make this decision?"
"There were a few reasons," he explained, still as calm as ever as he moved towards her.
"Such as?"
"For one," he explained, suddenly coming to a halt when he was directly in front of her. "You were too focused on side attractions such as the scenery and not on the mission itself."
Her fists clenched. Who did he think she was, Naruto? She had self-control dammit! "That's bull and you know it. Yes, those things are exciting to me. But I wouldn't let them get in the way of the mission and you know that."
"Will you let me finish?" Neji asked, annoyance finally showing on his features. Sakura's glare intensified, but the Hyuuga continued. "Another reason was because of your current chest pains."
Suddenly she regretted ever talking to him about them. She had mentioned them casually to him last week. He had been concerned, but she had explained to him that she had been taking the antidote and the pains were calming down considerably. And now he was using the conversation against her. She couldn't help but feel violated by his actions. "I told you that in private!"
"So I'm just supposed to ignore it?" His voice was beginning to rise in volume. "I'm not going to pretend that I don't know that you're hurt just because I wasn't your captain when you told me it. You would be endangering both yourself and possibly others on the mission if you had one of your pains while we are in the base."
"I told you before that they are lessening. They barely even happen now." That was the last time she told him anything about any injuries or sickness she had.
"Barely still means that they still happen." Neji insisted. "And I'm not going to risk-"
"You're not the one who would be risking something!" She retorted. "I would, and I'm fine with taking the risk."
"I'm not," he stated. "As a captain, the wellbeing of my team is important to me. I'm not going to send someone in knowing that they're suffering from the after effects of a poison."
She had to admit that he did have a small point there. However, one thing didn't make sense to her. Tsunade knew about the poison and its effects when assigning Sakura to the team. And she knew much more about the poison than Neji did. So Neji wouldn't have been able to convince Tsunade with just the poison and her excitement as an argument. There must have been something else. "What is the other reason?" Sakura wanted to know.
Neji tried to mentally prepare himself for her reaction. He knew that she wasn't going to like this. "Your current abilities do not coincide with the demands of the mission."
There it was. The real reason why he didn't want her to come on the mission. Her fists tightened even more and she began to see red. "Excuse me? So I'm too weak to go on the mission?"
"I didn't say that!" By that point he was starting to yell too. Very few people had seen him like this, so full of emotion. She used to secretly take pride in the fact that she had seen his emotional side. But now, she just didn't care.
"Well you implied it!" The pinkette raged. How dare he! He knew that she was really sensitive about being called weak.
"Would you let me finish?" Neji shouted.
"No!" Sakura yelled. "I am not too weak for this mission!" Even though now she wouldn't be able to show him. Tsunade likely already got a replacement for her. "Thanks for you lack of faith in me you dickwad!"
He thought she was weak and had convinced Tsunade as such. This had cost her the mission. There was nothing she could do about that right now. And that only added to her frustration. She hated feeling helpless, like she couldn't do anything and everything was out of her control.
Well, there was one thing she had control over right now…"Maybe I think that your abilities don't coincide with the demands of our relationship."
His eyes widened, but she didn't give him an opportunity to speak. "Get out of my house now!"
At first he didn't move and Sakura thought that he was going to leave. But then he started to move and he left her home without another word.
With him gone, Sakura retreated into her room and screamed into a pillow there. She knew that she was being a tad bit unreasonable, but he deserved it.
She was not weak! She was no longer the powerless weakling she used to be, and she was determined to stay that way. It was why she spent at least two hours a day training, even if she had to pull a twelve hour shift at the hospital that day. It was why she was now a jounin. And it was why she had asked Tsunade to be her mentor in the first place. She was strong now, but apparently not enough for Neji's standards.
Her gaze traveled to an old story book she had read quite frequently when she was a child. Usually she didn't keep such mementoes, but it had been a favourite of hers. It was a cliché tale about a princess. After reading the book the pink haired child would always fantasize about being a princess, and if she was one, eventually becoming a queen. At the time, she was convinced that her king would be Sasuke. But, now that she thought about it, who would she want as her king now? Neji? Ha, yeah right. He wouldn't want a burden such as her as his queen.
Really, what did she see in that guy anyway? Sure, he usually seemed polite and calm to most people. But he could be crude, judgmental and, like he had just displayed, heartless. She really needed to stop going for this type of men. For now, she'd just stick to giving Neji the silent treatment.
She sighed and got up from her bed. Well, since she wasn't going to spend the night preparing for the mission, she might as well do her usual time waster when she was feeling down: watch some sappy romantic comedies while pigging out on ice cream.
Sakura had a small smile on her face as the credits rolled on the tv and the stars shone brightly in the window behind it. These movies always did make her feel a little better. Even if they were totally bogus. Love was never that easy, she should know.
Just then she heard a knocking at her door before it opened and a figure emerged. "Sakura."
And her anger was back again. "Neji," she grounded out.
Neji sighed inwardly. He had thought that if he waited for her anger to subside, she would be more willing to hear him out. He had been incorrect as the sight of him seemed to provoke her anger. Well then, he would have to try a different tactic. Neji began to move.
Sakura looked with confusion as her boyfriend suddenly rushed forward. "Neji, what are you-mmph" She was cut off when Neji's lips descend upon hers.
The pinkette was filled with shock. What the heck? Sure, she and Neji had kissed many times before, but it was never this random. What was going on? She pulled away. "Nej-"
His lips were sealed to hers once more. His arms wrapped around her, drawing her to him. Slowly, she began to respond to the kiss. While she had been determined before to not talk to him in order for him to have justice for what he did, she felt her drive for this slip away. This kiss seemed different than others he had given her. Usually they were sweet and gentle. This one had more pressure to it, it felt more determined. But it still felt, and tasted, like him.
She closed her eyes and returned the kiss and his grip on her tightened. Her arms found their usual position around his neck. It almost felt like nothing had changed between them.
"Sakura," he breathed, breaking the kiss. Her eyes opened and she looked at him. He was bathed in moonlight coming from her window. It made his eyes look almost luminous, and definitely made him look breathtaking. He moved forward so that their foreheads were touching, never once taking his gaze away from her eyes.
"About what I said earlier," he explained softly. "I didn't mean that you're weak, I don't think of you that way. I meant that your abilities don't match the mission."
"Huh?" She asked, still slightly dazed from their kiss.
"While a medic is always useful on a mission, your other abilities are not ideal for this particular mission. We need to sneak in, get the man, and get out. Your strength is not exactly something that can be used quietly. It would draw a lot of unnecessary attention, and since our goal is not to engage the enemy in combat, that's not something we should risk."
Ahh, she understood. She felt heat rise to her cheeks as she realized her mistake. "Well thank you for letting me know."
He gave her a small smile. "You're welcome." With that, he released her, or at least partially. An arm still remained around her waist. "Come on, I want to take you somewhere."
"What?" Well, sure the sun had gone down, but it wasn't late enough for everything to be closed yet. "Oh, well ok."
They walked side by side out of her home and onto the now quiet streets of Konoha. She looked over at him curiously. "So where exactly are we going?"
"You will see when we get there," he answered. Although his face had returned to its usual emotionless look there was slight amusement evident in his eyes.
Sakura looked up at the night sky. It was calm tonight, and for that she was grateful. She was not the biggest fan of storms, especiallly when they had thunder.
She contemplated trying to figure out where he was taking her on her own, but decided to let herself be surprised. So she nodded and allowed him to lead her to their destination.
After about five minutes they stopped at a food stand. "We're here," Neji told her.
She looked at the stand. It was unfamiliar. "I've never been here before," she announced.
"I haven't either," he looked at her and offered a small smile. "I know that you were excited to visit someplace new. I'm aware that this is barely comparable to that other village, but it's better than nothing. Plus, I heard that they use strawberries in many of their recipes."
She couldn't help but let her lips spread into a smile at his consideration. "Thank you." She wasn't completely over him taking her off the team, especially since he hadn't discussed it with her first, but it was nice of him to try and compensate for her. Besides, it was really hard to stay angry at this guy, especially when he kissed her like that.
Still though, it was strange how he took her off the team for her strength being too loud when he had Lee and Gai on his team. "Hey Neji," she started as they walked in the stand.
"Yes?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.
They sat down. "I get why you took me off. But what doesn't make sense to me is that you still have Gai and Lee on your team. And while they're both great assets, they're not exactly quiet people. Especially when they're talking about 'the flower of youth'."
Neji visibly grimaced. "Don't remind me." Sakura laughed at his reaction. It was obvious that he cared for his team mates, but that didn't mean that he agreed with most of their ideals.
The remainder of their date went by nicely. Sakura got a strawberry desert and, after some convincing on her part, he got one too. Although his enjoyment of the sweet was considerably less than hers. After she finished her treat she stood up. "Well," she began. "It's been fun, but I should probably go to bed. Since I'm apparently going back to the hospital tomorrow I need to get up early."
"Wait," he reached out and caught her arm.
"Oh?" Sakura asked curiously.
"You don't have to go to the hospital tomorrow," he explained. "When I talked to Tsunade I convinced her to give you the days you would have used on the mission off. You're officially on vacation."
Once again, she couldn't help but smile. Yes, her boyfriend could be crude, judgmental and heartless. But he could also be kind and considerate. And she felt blessed to be able to witness it first-hand.
Yes, now that she thought about it, she wouldn't mind having Neji as her king after all.
Hey everyone, I hope everyone enjoyed reading this. I just wanted to clarify a point in this fic. Sakura (and Neji), believed that their relationship and their lives as shinobi should be kept seperate. So when Sakura told Neji about her stomach pains, she didn't expect him to use the information when acting as her captain.