Off-White
By: yume-chan29
A/N: I'm NOT dead! Hohoho. Just…inactive. Anyway, here's my first Neji x Sakura fan fiction. Filled to the brim with sickeningly sweet sappy, fluffy, bubbly, sappy, sappy, sappy, sap.
Dedicated to: My sister (whom with I share a love for NejixSakura) and god damn incessant babbling. Plus, to the people who review my stories (and who've probably forgotten all about me by now).
The day had started out frigid.
The winds were whipping. The hazy mist, an after-effect of the chilling shower the night before, was settling in on the atmosphere, crawling sluggishly through the Hidden Leaf and biting low at the heels of many Konoha citizens. The whopping 30-something degree temperature tingled the skin of passersby even through heavy overcoats and wooly sweaters. Puffs of breath were visible in every outdoor conversation. The faint sound of teeth chattering, breezes whooshing, and people hurrying to get home filled the usual empty silence that came with the winter season.
Bottom line: It was god damn cold outside.
So, Neji was sure, that when he had claimed Sakura to be absolutely insane for wanting to venture out in this weather for a measly cup of "Konoha's finest ice cream", he, himself, had actually been thinking quite logically.
Ah, logic. The Hyuuga actually had a very keen common sense and skillfully used the aptitude to piece things together.
Reason had never before failed him.
So why was it now? Neji grunted, shuffling slightly on the cold leather seat. Why the hell was he sitting here on a hypothermia-inducing December day, in an ice cream parlor of all places!
A soft padding of footsteps interrupted his internal rant. His gaze turned upward and he found himself looking into impossibly vibrant sea foam eyes and a cherry pink smile. Distracting.
"Vanilla." She clucked her tongue teasingly, placing the cup of ice cream before him. "You are so predictable."
He snorted as she sat down across from him. And suddenly, for some unfathomable reason, Neji had forgotten his complaints about the climate.
"Strawberry?" He raised an inquisitive brow, sarcasm rolling off his tongue, "You're sure one to talk."
The teenaged medic-nin smiled cheekily. "Yeah, well, for your information Mr., this particular strawberry flavor happens to be fat-free!"
"And all 16 other strawberry ice cream cones you've indulged in the past 2 months weren't?" He smirked dryly, a lazy grip on her wrist. "Maybe it's about time to lay off."
The pink-tressed kunoichi merely laughed. When one spent a lot of time around the white-eyed 18-year-old, one got used to his callous humor. And if anyone had to be said "one", Haruno Sakura would undoubtedly fit the profile. A regular medic at Konoha Hospital (and one of the best, rather), the girl had her share of treating ANBU officials.
Months ago, she still remembered, the chocolate-haired shinobi in front of her had been severely injured after a particularly difficult mission and Tsunade-sama had assigned him to her. And it was on that fateful (a term Sakura added in secretly) day she not only had her first real conversation with the older prodigy, she'd saved his life. The next thing she knew, he was requesting her (and only her) to doctor him to health.
Not that she minded, of course. She'd dragged him to this very ice cream parlor about 8 weeks ago (he did owe her for saving his life, after all), and they'd been going twice a week ever since.
Even in this frigidity, Sakura smiled. Hyuuga Neji was fast becoming her favorite patient.
"Hey! You've ordered the same flavor for the past 16 visits too!" She pointed out, swatting at his hand. "Maybe you should try something new."
"I like vanilla." He muttered, taking in a spoonful.
She rolled her eyes, "Of course you do. I'm just saying, that change can be good once in a while, y' know?"
"Here." She held out her ice cream cone to him, "Try strawberry."
And Neji blinked. "That's unsanitary."
Sakura couldn't help but giggle at the seriousness in his pale eyes. "Give me a break, Neji." She urged the pastel colored treat further toward his face, "Just pull that stick outta your ass, and take a risk!"
"Ha. Ha." He bit out. Still, he ignored the sweet-smelling cream she was waving in front of him.
Huffing, she sat back down. "I'm serious, Neji. You need a bit of color thrown into your off-white vision of the world."
He frowned and she grinned. "No pun intended."
"...What?"
"Just look at yourself." She took another bite out of her strawberry. "You have white eyes."
He, in turn, scoffed, but not harshly. "I'm so sorry I couldn't choose my family's genetic coding."
She blushed, slightly embarrassed. ...Right.
"Well, then, your shirt. It's white too."
"It's beige." He mumbled, automatically looking down to the cloth he'd donned. His casual wear was almost an exact replica of his former genin clothes, except elongated in choice places in sync with his measurements. "And it's simple. Practical."
"But that doesn't mean you have to wear the same white (or really, really pale beige) everyday!" She tapped her chin thoughtfully, staring at his apparel. "You can always add a splash of color..."
"I'm not tie-dyeing this shirt."
And she erupted in a comfortable laugh. Neji's dry humor sure was growing on her. He, in turn, felt her almost melodic voice in his ears and he suddenly felt like repeating what he'd just said to make her do it all over again.
"I meant trying a whole new color. Like red or blue or black." An idle picture of him all dangerous looking in his formfitting ANBU garb flashed through Sakura's head…
"Hn."
She continued pointing his cup, "How about ice cream! You're always Vanilla. Vanilla. Vanilla."
"And you." He retaliated. "Strawberry. Strawberry. Strawberry."
Ignoring the remark, she persisted, "I bet your favorite season is winter!"
"I'm not too happy about the temperature, but the snow is calming."
"You're favorite drink's probably milk."
"Sake." She held back a laugh. A taste for alcohol, had he? "That's white too."
"Hn."
"You like polar bears better than regular ones!"
He sent her a bored look, "So do you."
"You prefer lilies over roses!"
"…"
"You're favorite color is white."
He swallowed the urge to smart-ass reply and so responded, "Yours is pink."
"No! Haha!" She laughed childishly with her small victory, "It's green!"
He grinned slightly, "You're too easily amused."
And she smiled back, "You're like an open book." She exclaimed, "I bet all I have to do is stare into your white eyes and I can guess every facet of your personality."
The Hyuuga rolled his eyes, finishing off his ice cream. After he'd thrown away his empty cup, she took his hands in hers.
He raised a skeptic eyebrow. Internally, however, he was relishing the feeling of their joint appendages. Sakura grinned brightly. The feeling was very mutual. "I bet...I can predict your future!"
At this, he chuckled softly, incredulously. "Fortune-telling. So that's where all the extra money you waste on fattening ice-cream comes from."
The girl laughed shortly before presuming to look deeply into his eyes.
"Hmmm..." She rubbed his hands quickly before announcing, "You are an older-brother type figure with an authoritative, organized, and most definitely cleanliness-is-next-to-prodigy-ness type attitude." Neji sent her a dry glance.
"And you couldn't have noticed that in the past 256 days we've been spending in each other's presences."
Sakura blinked. Did he just say...256 days? What, was he...counting or something...?
She shook herself out of awe. She was, after all, talking to a genius.
"Eh..." She smiled sheepishly, "You have a no-nonsense type of personality with a knack for logical reasoning and thinking things out."
Whoa. Déjà vu, Neji noticed.
"And your future..." She leaned in deeper, taking in the intensity of the Hyuuga's white orbs. "You will one day be ANBU squad leader..."
He smirked lightly, "Tell me something I don't know."
"...Taking orders from Naruto, the next Hokage..." At the sudden proclamation, Neji's eyes widened a bit. It was amazing just how much faith the girl had in Uzumaki. His grip on her soft, worn-from-work fingers unconsciously tightened. They were best friends, after all, he reminded himself. A sudden image of them laughing together, his arms swung around her shoulders and hers at his waist, barraged his mind. It left him with an uncomfortable heart clenching, illogical irritation, and a little bit of something he couldn't quite place.
How unlike him.
"You'll also be happily married," she continued, catching him off guard, "with 3 lil Hyuugas running around, doing their best to give you a hard time."
Before he could stop himself he commanded, "Tell me about my wife."
Bright green eyes lit briefly with curiosity. She then laughed warmly, "Oh, don't worry, Neji." She continued with her theatrics, "Your wife, I see, is very beautiful and smart and kind, and absolutely angel-like. Perfect for a perfectionist such as yourself."
The shinobi lowered his head, his white pools gazing down at their still touching hands.
Sakura was confused, now. Had she said something wrong?
"My wife..." He said in an almost-whisper, "Aah." This time around, she felt the squeeze of his fingers around her palm.
"What?" She questioned unintelligibly, her features reddening to match the color of her shirt. Had he just…? What had he…?
Oh, Kami-sama.
"Sakura." She heard her name on his lips, she was sure. …Right?
…Or maybe she'd just imagined that! Sakura's eyebrows knitted as her large brain went through possible explanations and probable scenarios, racking every corner of her mind for a reason, some sign to explain his and hers current situation…their current relationship…
She was his doctor for Pete's sake! His friend, undoubtedly. Recently, one of her best too.
There was no way that he, with his cool indifference, his unperturbed intelligence, his jaded view of the world, would ever dive head first into a totally unexpected relationship…with her.
And…what would she do if he did?
Maybe she was just overreacting.
…Goodness, haven't they let their hands go yet?
The next thing he said both totally surprised and utterly confused her, "Let me try the strawberry."
Or maybe he'd just…wait…what?
"Um…" She mumbled, looking for her strawberry cone with unexplainable urgency. Oh that's right, she'd finished it off already. "…I ate it all." Sakura suddenly wanted to smack herself. Did that sound like an appealing kind of girl or what?
They settled into a silence bizarre to the both of them. Her heart was thumping wildly and his was banging against his ribcage. Their hands were still locked.
Sakura sighed softly, an unknown feeling of disappointment lowered uncomfortably in the pit of her stomach. So, it was just my imagination…The winter wind suddenly blew in through the door and it was cold again.
Unbeknownst to her, the Hyuuga was merely trying to gather up the courage to do something he'd probably unconsciously desired to do ever since that fateful (apparently, he used the same word to differentiate the time from all others) day she'd saved his life.
Keyword: Trying.
This was wrong. She was his companion, his medic-nin (Oh Kami-sama, did that sound possessive), his confidante (more so than anyone else, at least), his, his…
Logic wasn't failing him at this point. It was, in fact, interfering with his taking a risk.
She was his friend, he told himself firmly.
But…he wanted something more.
He looked at her avoiding his gaze. Green eyes staring awkwardly down at the polished surface of the table between them, pink hair glossy in the fluorescent light.
The sheen of strawberry cream on her lips glimmered at him. Tempting…
Screw it.
And Hyuuga Neji, at that moment, threw all caution, all reserve, all reason, all white blandness, and all that other trivial crap to the wind, and took a risk.
He kissed her. Softly and ardently all at the same time. The couple did not notice the snow falling serenely outside the glass dividing them and the outside world, too caught up in each other.
She brought warmth…They parted slowly, half-lidded teal gazing into impossible white. Heat radiated in waves due to their closeness and the blood gathered to their cheeks. He fingered a carnation lock.
…and color to his off-white world.
He muttered a soft, "Sakura."
And she'd responded with a reply so befitting to her role as Konoha's top medic-nin and oh-so-wise kunoichi, "…Eh?"
He smirked, licking his lips, "Strawberry's my new favorite."
-End-
A/N: Whoa. I almost died writing this. …Not really. I certainly should have put a "Read at your own Risk" warning though. I got to get my creative juices flowing however and I have to start off with SOMETHING right?
Review please and I'll…shower you all with…er…love?