BETWEEN THE TWO
By KeepMeInspired
CHAPTER I
The twenty-year-old medic nin, Haruno Sakura, suddenly found herself being hoisted up as a pair of big, strong hands clamped down upon her slender waist. Startled, she twisted around and prepared herself to fight. She started to claw at the unseen face of her assailant.
"Who are you?!" she demanded.
Furious for not receiving an answer, she started to gather huge amounts of chakra into her fist. Once more, she tried to turn around, exerting all efforts in trying to release herself from the grip of the bastard who had now, so easily, flung her across his broad shoulders.
He started to walk; Sakura slumped against him and all.
"Where are you taking me? Release me this instant if you still want to live, you jerk!" she snapped through gritted teeth.
She flailed her arms around, trying to annoy whoever it was who had 'assaulted' her with her continuous struggling.
"Quit squirming, Haruno." She froze.
For one instant, her mind seemed to stop working.
Could it be----? Did she hear right? Or was she just suffering from an extreme auditory-organ failure?
"Hyuuga?!" Her voice rang out in an incredulous tone. She couldn't believe it was actually his voice which she had just heard.
She also quite couldn't figure out why Hyuuga Neji had attempted something as scandalous as this when he, as an ANBU captain, could just easily summon for her in his office.
Has it now become normal for ANBU captains to abduct young medic-nins? This thought of hers sounded downright stupid, even in her mind. Her brain really had stopped working. She shook her mind mentally. But still, she couldn't help but wonder, What could Hyuuga Neji, a very skilled ninja, a very handsome young prodigy, and more importantly, a competent heir of the Hyuuga clan, possibly want from her?
A few moments later, with her mind still buzzing with questions, Sakura found herself being unceremoniously placed down. She quickly glanced around and was surprised to find out that the room was terribly familiar. Her eyes landed upon a woman behind a wooden desk stacked high with papers. And of all the things to find the woman doing, Sakura had to see her doing the thing she had specifically forbidden her to do.
"Shishou!!" It turned out Neji had brought her to the Hokage's office. "For the love of Naruto, is that sake you're drinking in broad daylight??!" she brought her hands up exasperatedly.
Gosh, she thought, I should really ban that sake in the whole of Konoha. But, even as the thought occurred to her, she knew that no matter how many times she would forbid the drink, there was no way that her teacher would not find a way in order to get her hands on one.
Tsunade looked past her fuming apprentice, only to find a smug Hyuuga smirking straight at her. He scoffed and took a step forward. A look of triumph was plastered upon his handsome features. "I told you I was going to find a way."
The Godaime's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Stubborn brat."
Sakura, of course, didn't miss this exchange. Her eyes darted from her frowning teacher to the smirking Hyuuga beside her. "Excuse me," her delicate eyebrows lifted ever so slightly. "..but would anybody care to explain to me why the hell an arrogant ANBU captain had just seized me in the middle of the streets of Konoha only to drag my butt into the office of one particularly drunk woman??"
Just as she expected, she immediately received sharp glances thrown her way. She didn't falter though. She kept her face determinedly straight.
Tsunade frowned once at Neji before thoughtfully scanning Sakura up and down. It has been a long time since Sakura had seen her shishou use that kind of expression. For some odd reason though, she got the feeling that her teacher was carefully sizing her up.
"Well?" Neji finally spoke up. "Aren't you going to say anything, all-powerful and all-knowing Godaime-sama?" His voice dripped with obvious sarcasm.
His comment made the Hokage transfer her stare from the beautiful pink-haired kunoichi to the bastard standing beside her.
Finally, she stood up and heaved a heavy sigh.
"Sakura." She started, abruptly taking on a professional tone. Sakura knew that tone perfectly well. It spelled serious business. "I'm assigning you to an important task."
"What is it?"
"It may seem frivolous but I consider this task very crucial and of utmost importance."
"I'll do it." Sakura said her voice firm and resolute.
"Nurse Hyuuga Neji back to health."
Two ninjas openly gaped at the Konoha leader.
"Are you serious?" Sakura raked her eyes up and down the ANBU Captain's physique. There seems to be nothing wrong with him.
Tsunade nodded at her question.
"That's nonsense, Godaime-sama." Neji's voice took on a hard, steely edge.
The Hokage ignored her and ploughed on. "Sakura, Neji is currently suffering from several internal injuries. He had obtained this form his previous battle with an Akatsuki member. It's quite serious and the way I see it, he's not recovering in a normal pace." Her voice was grave. "His healing capacity has drastically slowed down."
Sakura listened in rapt attention.
"I told him to give himself a break but, of course, being the supercilious bastard that he is…" Neji glared at this "...he insists on going after his team which I had previously dispatched to gather information about the other Akatsuki members."
"That mission was highly dangerous and you know it." Neji's voice was ice-cold. "Put in mind that the people my team is going against are the same people who are responsible for the betrayal of the Uchiha survivor." Sakura stiffened at this. "You obviously underestimated the skills of the Akatsuki members."
"And you had obviously underestimated the abilities of your team members." Tsunade's voice was twice as cold. "They are not ANBU members for nothing."
"Still, you increased the risk of them being killed by sending them there without me."
"You forget, Hyuuga, who you're talking to." Tsunade advanced upon him dangerously. "I am the Hokage, leader of the Hidden Village of Konoha. I love my people. I care for them. And if there's one thing I'm absolutely sure about it is this:" She stared hard into Neji's resolute eyes, her voice turning into a dangerous hiss. ".. I didn't send them there to die."
Hushed silence followed this remark. Not one of them spoke a word and Sakura uncomfortably fidgeted her weight from one foot to another.
"Sakura."
"Hai."
"Neji will stay in a private ward on the west wing of the hospital. You will be his private nurse. You're dismissed."
Sakura was about to open her mouth when Neji interjected. "I would do no such thing." She turned to him and saw that his eyes were narrowed down into silver slits.
"And what do you want to do, Hyuuga? Either that or you will have to stay at Sakura's apartment for the rest of your treatments." There was obviously a hint of challenge in Tsunade's voice.
Hyuuga hesitated for a brief moment. He was obviously weighing whether he should stay at the hospital or just will himself to stay put in Sakura's apartment. He found himself opting for the latter.
"Apartment." He said curtly and before neither Tsunade nor Sakura could react, Neji had already pulled her out of the Hokage's office.
He hoped to God he had made the right decision.
It was amazing how one unexpected thing can drastically turn your whole life upside down.
But as it is, in Haruno Sakura's case, she still doesn't know how exactly one particular Byakugan-user can reduce her world into nothing but shambles.
Sakura opened her apartment door and scanned the inside for anything strange. It may seem an odd thing to do but as a shinobi, she has been trained that nowhere is considered absolutely safe.
Spotting nothing out of ordinary, she proceeded inside followed by a curious Hyuuga.
His first impression of Sakura's apartment would be all pink and girly. Turns out, he was wrong. Her living quarters were nothing as he imagined it. Her living room, for one, doesn't explode with girly aura. On the other hand, he was very surprised to note that her house was comfy and very comfortable to live in.
"Come in, Hyuuga. Take a seat." And she attempted to guide him by taking him lightly by the arm.
She immediately realized her mistake when he roughly pulled away. He eyed her sarcastically. "Might as well let you know, Haruno." he leaned down and breathed in her ear. "I'm not a fucking invalid."
His harsh tone sent shivers down her spine but she ignored them. Instead, she said "I'm sorry. It's just that I don't even know what's wrong with you."
He smirked, that irritating, familiar smirk. "Don't worry. I'm not made of glass."
Sakura rolled her eyes. "Is it Sarcastic Day today or what." She muttered under her breath.
"Excuse me?" Neji asked though she was absolutely sure that he had heard what she had just said.
"Nothing." Some things never really does change, she mused.
Hyuuga Neji glanced at Haruno Sakura. He couldn't quite bring himself to believe that the sloppy genin he once knew had now transformed into a beautiful, brilliant medic-nin. She had always been weak. Haruno Sakura always ends up as the damsel-in-distress in most of their genin missions.
But now, here she was.
Standing right in front of him was a fully-fledged woman, inducing an aura of great ability and unmistakable skill. Maybe drunken masters really are good teachers. He smirked inwardly.
"I noticed you were quite wary when you first opened your door." he said. "Were you, by any chance, expecting an attack?"
Sakura turned to face him. Keen as always, huh? she thought.
"No" she said. "I just got traumatized by a particular ANBU Captain who had suddenly nabbed me while I was taking a leisurely walk down the road." She turned her back to him once more as she rummaged through her drawers for something she was looking for.
Neji's smirk was still in place when he said, "Let's just say that that was one situation in your life which you couldn't have possibly avoided."
Sakura snorted. "Yeah right. You're telling me that being a personal nurse to one particular clan heir would happen to me sooner or later?" She whipped around, only to blush at the sight of a shirtless Hyuuga in front of her.
Her eyes wandered as they unconsciously traced the masculine outline of his muscular arms. She sucked in a breath. She allowed a deep scowl to penetrate her features, hoping against hope that this may well cover up the blush that had instantly crept upon her countenance the very moment her gaze landed on his well-toned body.
She hitched up a shaky breath but her voice was firm and intact nevertheless. "What the hell do you think you're doing, Hyuuga Neji??!" she practically screamed.
He glanced at her and, of course, being the observant person he was, he immediately noticed the pink tinge on her face which he was absolutely sure was not there moments before. He gave her a point-blank stare. "Quit ogling, Haruno."
Sakura's jaw dropped wide open. WHAT??! Quit ogling? she thought incredulously. Was I ogling? Can you call what I just did, ogling? I simply stared at him, for Pete's sake! Was it ogling?!
Yeah, it was!
Sakura mentally slapped herself. Gosh, why did she ever let her eyes wander! She was a well-respected medic nin, for the love of Naruto! It was a part of her job to be confronted by shirtless torsos everyday!
So then why the heck did she just ogle at the half-naked man sitting in front of her?!
She wanted to kick herself. It was embarrassing as it already is. She doesn't need anything to make her day more uncomfortable.
Admit it. You were staring. , Inner Sakura burst in on her thoughts.
Great, Sakura thought. Even my Inner Self admits I just ogled at the man.
"Haruno"
"I wasn't ogling!" She suddenly burst out. "And—and even if I was…" she blushed deep pink again. "...that doesn't change the fact that you just removed your shir------"
"Don't you want to conduct a personal 'medical' check-up?"
Sakura blinked. Medical check-up?
"Godaime-sama insisted so I figured you would too." Neji grimaced as he remembered the punch he gained when had refused to take off his shirt at the command of the Hokage.
It took a while before the statement registered in Sakura's mind. Of course! For the second time that time that day, she wanted to kick herself. How stupid could she get! Darn it! His mere presence was totally confusing her! She feels as though her mind had gone haywire.
"So… what now?" Neji raised his eyebrows. His tone of voice made it sound like he was accusing her of forgetting the most important and most basic step of healing.
Which is an absolute truth! Inner Sakura screamed. You really did forget!
Urrgh! Would you stop now? Ok, ok. I admit it, I forgot. Now, quit messing with my head! Sakura screamed right back.
She glanced at her companion and realized that he was waiting for her. She sighed inwardly. If she was Shikamaru, she would have said 'troublesome' a hundred times by now.
"Yes, of course. A check-up it is." Sakura scooted over beside Neji. She started to gather chakra into her open palms and Neji watched as they glowed green.
Next, she placed them over his back. Slightly hovering at first, she gently inserted her chakra into his system. Neji immediately felt the warmth which her hands were inducing. He couldn't help but sigh as her deft fingers untied knots of tense muscles here and there.
"You're so tense." she remarked. 'Have you been skipping your meditation habits recently?"
Neji could do nothing but nod as he allowed himself to relax under her skillful hands.
After a while, she then moved to sit in front of him. She placed her hands directly upon his chest.
"Hmm..." she mused as she gently probed.
Neji fidgeted slightly in his seat but Sakura was so engrossed in what she was doing that she totally missed the uncomfortable expression that was now on his face.
She was so near. The scent of her shampoo tickled his nose and he suddenly had the urge to lean in on her.
Instead, he abruptly pulled away. His sudden movement startled her and she directed her surprised emerald-green eyes up at him. "Are you all right?"
He cleared his throat. "I'm tired. Let's rest for now." He lied.
"Oh." Sakura said. "Of course."
And as she pulled away, one simple thought crossed both of their minds. Thank God.
Sakura handed Neji his pillows and blankets. "I hope you'll be comfortable in there." She said. "I'm just in the next room if you need anything." She flashed him a smile.
"Good night, Hyuuga."
His only response was a curt nod.
The dream chose that particular night to bug her once more.
Sakura opened her eyes to a gentle, clear sky. She lifted her head and was not surprised to find herself once again lying spread-eagled on the green grass of the hillside.
She slowly sat up, receiving the gentle breeze that was whipping her hair tenderly across her face.
Where she was, she had no idea. All she knew was that she was looking for someone. And that someone, she terribly needed.
She looked around seeking to find what it was she was looking for. And in that moment, she felt that her desperate glances all but summarized her search for the part of her life that she was missing.
A chunk of her heart was still wandering around and she knew that she wouldn't be able to obtain the peace she terribly needed until she finds that lost part of her.
Suddenly, her surroundings changed. Darkness engulfed the serene view of the countryside. A strong gust of wind blew around her fragile frame.
Sakura looked up. She saw the moon. A perfect circle of a full moon.
She glanced around and a shiver ran down her spine. She clutched her hands in front of her and for an unknown reason, white hot tears brimmed in her eyes. Oddly enough, the scene was frighteningly familiar.
She looked down and her eyes widened in shock. She was back in her genin uniform. She had transformed. She had reverted back to her old self. She was the weak Sakura once more. And as the realization hit her, she immediately wrapped her arms protectively around herself. She felt vulnerable. She felt unsafe, as if all the means that she had worked so hard to develop in order to protect herself had suddenly abandoned her.
She was weak. That's what she was. A useless, terrified weakling.
"Sakura."
She whipped around and her eyes met with the eyes of the person she so wanted to keep close at heart.
"Sasuke."
Sakura longed to reach for him. Her heart ached for him. She so wanted to touch him, to care for him, to show him that he was not alone, that she loves him. She longed to embrace him, as if this alone can keep him safe from the haunting nightmares of his past.
The tears fell down, one after the other.
"Sasuke" She was afraid to say anything else, frightened that he might go farther away if she said anything that would offend him. She extended her hand, trying to give him assurance. This was the night of his departure. Behind him, Sakura can clearly see the silhouette of the huge gates of Konoha.
"Sasuke. Don't go." More tears fell down, clouding her vision. But she quickly forced them away for fear that the next moment she looks, Sasuke would not be there. "Don't go. Please."
Sasuke looked at her and for a split second, she felt her hopes soar up. She thought she saw something flit across Sasuke's features. But she blinked, and in the next instant, it was gone. It went as fast as it appeared.
Sasuke opened his mouth and for the love of God, Sakura's eyes practically screamed at him, begging him to stay.
The corners of Sasuke's mouth lifted slowly and Sakura's heart broke. It was his version of a sad smile. "Goodbye, Sakura."
And in the blink of an eye, he was right behind her, pressing a vein in her neck, making her go limp. And as Sakura fell down to her knees, her eyes wide, she willed herself to move. Her hand shot out and managed to grab a part of Sasuke's shirt. She knew that it'll only be seconds before she would lose consciousness but still, she held on to him. She clung to his shirt as if for dear life.
"Please." She pleaded. Again, that slow, sad smile. "Goodbye, Sakura." Then darkness engulfed her.
Sakura bolted upright. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears as her lungs desperately struggled for air. She was panting and cold sweat had broken out all over her body. Her hand immediately flew to her chest, clutching at her shirt, trying to ease the fright that was trying to overcome her.
Slowly, her shaking ceased to a stop and she was able to return her breathing to its normal pace. Running a shaky hand through her already tousled hair, she slowly eased herself out of bed.
Maybe a cold glass of water can do wonders tonight, was all that crossed her mind.
------------
Sakura's moans had stopped, Neji noted.
He listened further. No other sound came from her bedroom except for the shaky rasping of her gasps. Careful so as not to give her any impression that he was wide awake, he quietly activated his Byakugan.
He saw her. He took in her hunched form and her pounding heartbeat. She definitely had a nightmare, he concluded.
He observed her as she frantically struggled to calm herself. He saw her take deep intake of breaths and he couldn't help but admire her determination. He wanted to ask if she was all right but he was hesitant of the fact of being discovered. The last thing he wanted her to know was that he had witnessed her in one of her vulnerable moments. He knew how humiliating that could be.
Besides, Hyuuga Neji was famous for being a cold bastard. He doesn't show any feelings. He doesn't let out any of his emotions. And the one thing he was absolutely sure he would never express in his entire life…. was concern.
-------------
Sakura leaned heavily against the kitchen counter. Maybe the dream wouldn't go away after all, she thought.
During the past few weeks, the absence of the nightmare that had constantly deprived her of sleep had given her the impression that, at long last, she would finally be able to sleep peacefully once again.
It turns out, she had been wrong.
At half past five, Sakura couldn't take it anymore. Ever since she had awaken from that terrible nightmare, she had done probably a thousand tosses and turns on her bed. She lay there, arms spread out and eyes glued to the ceiling. She had fought the urge to wander listlessly around the house knowing very well that the Hyuuga sleeping in the next room would definitely sense her.
But, as a very skilled ninja, she doubted that he had not yet sensed her trying to destroy her bed. The fact that the bed creaks every now and then, of course, doesn't help even one bit.
She tried to check what he was doing by reading his chakra flow. She was surprised to note that his breathing was even and his chakra was not concentrated anywhere in his body. That means he's fast asleep. Either that or he really was good at controlling his chakra that he can fool even the apprentice of the fifth Hokage, she thought.
She quietly got up and tiptoeing to his door, she dared one little peek at the tiny opening of the keyhole. He was still lying, one arm splayed across his eyes.
Satisfied that he was still in deep slumber, Sakura went to the kitchen to cook some breakfast.
A/N: I really hope I'm not, in any way, disappointing anyone. Please review! =D
By the way, somebody asked about the first chap and I just wanted to clarify it. I forgot to emphasize that Tsunade had challenged Neji that if he wanted her to give him permission to assist his team, then he would have to find somebody who would 'cure' him. Of course, even though he insists that he is perfectly healthy, he knew he didn't have any choice in the matter so he sought for Sakura's aide. See, Sakura is one of the best medic-nin that time. Good point, though. I highly appreciate it. Thank you.
I kinda edited the chapters for your reading convenience XD