A Change of Pace

Chapter 1: Surprise

She had worked a split shift at the Konoha Hospital four days in a row. It had really drained her of her energy. It was an act of God in itself that she still had enough chakra left for herself just to walk to her apartment. Sure, she loved being a medical nin—but the long shifts were making her job feel a little bit too routine. She always thought it would be a bit more exciting, and besides the sparring she and the Hokage engaged in, the only action she was getting was chasing squeamish kids through the halls of the hospital when shown a needle. The stories she got to hear behind the injuries her patients received during missions always intrigued her and she would listen wide eyed like a child at the feet of the sage grandfather before bedtime. But stories were just a placebo to her condition. Lack-luster. She felt dull, uninteresting, and frankly a little bit unneeded. Of course Tsunade and the many men and women she cared for would argue with that thought vehemently, but it wasn't enough. It never was. She couldn't remember her last mission.

Has it been that long?

Sakura fumbled with her keys as she approached the entrance to her place cursing as she dropped them. "At this rate I'll be an old hag before I turn thirty" she mumbled to herself, ruing the fact that the stress of her job was causing such exhaustion every single night. Even on her days off, all she could manage to do was tidy up her place, cook a little, and sleep. Yawning, she finally and clumsily unlocked the door and dragged herself into the dark abode. She plopped her keys and kunai pouch (which she never used except when practicing with the Godaime) on the little table by the door, turned on the lamp by the table which succeeded in casting a warm ambient light on her sparsely furnished living room, and kicked off her shoes—barely avoiding a nasty trip over her own feet. Cursing again at her clumsy footwork, she headed for the shower.

She glanced at the mirror in the bathroom, and immediately after turning away looked again, but this time long and hard. She had dark circles under her eyes, and her short pink hair was disheveled, and all the color that splays across a normal woman's face was all but gone. What am I doing? Is this what this job is doing to me? She ran her fingers through her hair to smooth out the rebellious strands and gently rubbed her fingers under her tired eyes, as though her movements could suddenly erase the discoloration there. But I love to help people. I really do love my job, but why is it torturing me this way?
She shook her head and sighed as she turned her head away from her reflection in disgust and began to disrobe. She pulled the pink uniform over her head with another yawn, and shivered as the cool air caressed the skin of her bare stomach. Her black shorts were next, and she managed to avoid tripping while taking her feet out of the constricting bottoms. She looked down at her figure and relished in the fact that even though she wasn't getting the missions assigned to her as she wished, she still managed to maintain a fit body. Running after the little rugrats has its advantages.A slight smile, more like a half smirk, drifted across her lips before they contorted into another yawn. She wiped the moisture beads from the corner of her eyes and turned on the hot water. After unwinding the wrappings around her chest and torso and kicking off her undergarments, she tested the water with her hand; sighing in satisfaction she stepped into the shower. She could barely muster the strength to keep her arms up while washing her hair and bending over with her weight on one foot to shave seemed damn near impossible, but the hot water and steam caressing her tired body seemed to lend her enough energy to endure. The rivulets that hugged her every curve and drops of warm, cleansing liquid that fell on her porcelain skin felt so good that she hummed a soft and nearly inaudible moan. With a metallic squeak from the shower knob, she stopped the comforting flow and slid the shower curtain to the side. The rush of cold air in contrast to the steam made her gasp. She quickly reached for a towel and dried the droplets of water from her hair and body. She walked to her bedroom quickly, flicked on a light, rummaged through her chest of drawers, and pulled out a pair of underwear and an oversized t-shirt. After putting the new-found clothing on her now clean body, she plopped herself on her queen sized bed, stared up at the ceiling, and breathed a deep and cleansing sigh. I'm off for two days. I never get two days off in a row. Maybe Hokage-sama finally recognizes that I am overworked a bit.She smiled a little at the thought of Tsunade giving her a break. Not likely. She felt that something was a bit off. Oh well, I can't complain. I might even be able to do more than sleep all day. She snickered to herself and looked at her bedside clock. It was after one in the morning. Damn! She rolled her eyes and reluctantly pushed herself off her bed, now warm from her body heat. She hurriedly backtracked through the little apartment and turned off all the lights she had left on in her wake before returning to her now faded heat signature. Good, there's a little warmth left. She pulled the covers back and slipped her slender legs under the sheets and rested her damp head on her full pillow. Last thing she remembered was flicking off the lamp, noting that it was fifteen minutes after one, breathing in the lavender scent of her shampoo, and everything faded into slumberous black.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEPThe annoying noise woke Sakura up like so many mornings before. She groaned and peered at the devil of an alarm clock through slitted eyes. Four AM? Dammit Sakura, you forgot to turn the alarm off! She clumsily reached for the evil contraption and slid the switch to the off position. With a loud clunk she firmly set it back on her bedside table before curling up into a fetal position and attempted to creep back into the comfort of a peaceful slumber that she had been so rudely ripped out of. Finally, with a relaxing sigh, she managed to feel her body fall—sinking deeper into her one-thousand thread count sheets, into another healing sleep.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK Her body jolted from the intrusive noises from the front of her apartment. Catching her breath from the shock of the noise, she glanced at the clock which read 9:30 AM, then she quickly made her way to the door and opened it. She squinted as the sunlight from the cloudless day slammed against her pupils. She took a moment to adjust to the contrasting difference from the dark of her curtain drawn apartment, to the wide and open sun-filled world outside. After her vision cleared and felt a little more normal, she looked at the long haired, white eyed Jounin standing at her entryway. "Neji, what are you doing here?" She asked with a hand still shielding her still squinting eyes.

Neji, one of the most powerful and skilled ninjas in Konoha stood with his lips slightly parted as he gasped in surprise at the sight at the doorway in front of him. Normally he wasn't surprised by anything as trivial as someone answering their door, but this case was special. He took a moment to take it all in: The disheveled pink locks just barely grazing the tops of her shoulders, the squint of her emerald-green eyes, the peaks of her breasts poking at the too-thin fabric of her oversized t-shirt, the hem of her shirt gently brushing against her porcelain waist, the laced fabric of her bubblegum-pink panties set just on her petite hips, her ivory legs marked with indentations of what looked like wrinkles from her bed-sheets, and her delicate feet with slightly worn pink polish on her toes. He swallowed, hard, as he barely squeaked out a barely audible "S-Sakura".

"Neji, what are you doing here?" Sakura asked still shielding her eyes.

"Before I answer anything," He began, "You should probably go put on some clothes."

He pointed at her, and frowned slightly after just regaining his composure.

Sakura looked down at her scantily clad body, and blushed a pink almost as intense as her hair.

"Ah Hell!" She yelled and with a loud crack, slammed the door in the man's face as she rushed back into her apartment to remedy the situation.

Was that a smirk on his face?

She rushed to her bedroom, trying not to trip over anything, and found another pink uniform and pair of black shorts. She quickly hid her breasts away by twisting herself up in her wrappings, pulled on the form fitting shorts, and pulled her pink uniform over her head. Still in a huff from the embarrassment, she quickly assessed herself in the bathroom mirror, smoothed her bed-head hair down and away from her face, and headed back toward the door. With a slight click from the door knob, she opened her apartment once again to find Hyuuga Neji sitting on her step with his back to her.

"Took you long enough" he sighed, not bothering to turn around to look. "Are you at least decent this time?" he asked sarcastically.

"Yes I am, you pervert." Sakura retorted.

"Pervert? I'm not the one who opened the door half naked." He quipped in reply turning to face her.

"You could have averted your eyes, Hyuuga! And I wasn't half naked! If I was, you'd be having one hell of a nosebleed right about now." She said with a slightly amused tone.

Neji picked up on the half-joking glimmer in her verdant and intense eyes.

He twisted his lips up into a half smile, and breathed a hmph at her comment.

"Why are you here anyway?" She asked with a shift of her weight to one foot, causing her hip to jut out slightly.

"Tsunade-Sama sent me here to get you. She needs to brief us on some goings-on in the Hidden Village of Sound before she sends us out on a mission." He replied.

A mission? Hidden Village of Sound? Sasuke. That's right. That's where he and Orochimaru had previously been hiding out before they fled to another rock to hide under. I wonder where he is now. God, I hardly ever think about him anymore since I've been so busy with hospital duty. Does that make me a horrible person? Will we ever find him? Will this mission be about bringing him back?

"Sakura." Neji blurted.

Sakura shook her head as though she were clearing the cob-webs out of her mind.

"Are you sure you got enough sleep? You were lost there for a minute" Neji asked with a concerned look.

"Oh, I'm fine." Sakura said with a half giggle placing a few strands of lavender scented hair behind her right ear with her hand. "I just haven't been on a mission in so long; it sort of took me off guard."

She stepped back a few paces into her apartment and left the door open.

"I need to get a few things together before I go with you. Wait here; feel free to sit in the living room. I won't be long." She called as she headed for her bedroom.

Neji walked into her dimly lit apartment and looked around at the quaint quarters.

Her place was very clean and tidy. He looked to his left and saw a kitchen that looked like a picture straight out of an advertisement in a magazine. It was spotless. No glasses on the counter, no dirty dishes in the sink. It didn't even look used. He looked back toward the bedroom door that Sakura had disappeared behind. He could see the end of her bed, which she now sat on. He watched as the medical-nin began to pull on her boots. He saw how she pointed her feminine foot and her calf muscle flexed as she slid her socked foot into the black leather. He watched as she slowly pulled the pliant material over her pale skin. He could hear the hushed creak of her bed frame as she extended her lithe leg to accommodate the knee high cut of the footwear. He watched as pink tresses licked her knee as she bent forward, distributing her weight to her foot on the floor. He gazed on as she slowly—deliberately pulled the zipper up with long ivory fingers, tightening the hold of the material around the dipping curve of her toned leg. He unconsciously licked his lips. He watched with half lidded eyes as she lifted her head again, the locks of hair fluttering in response to her movement. The bed frame creaked slowly as she transferred her weight to her other side, preparing to repeat the motions with her other boot. He watched carefully as her hands moved with fluidity, making such a mundane task as putting on shoes seem to be a dance. Neji swallowed, now fully aware that he was gawking, and quickly moved his attention to something else before she caught him looking into her bedroom.

She got up from her pink and red blanketed bed, and began walking toward the living room where Neji stood. She could see the sillhouetted figure of the shinobi in front of her. He was a prestigious one. His long hair half tied in the back, and his flowing garments only enhanced the effect. She gazed at him for a moment, noting the slight parting of his lips, and the endless depth of his silvery white eyes.

"What are you staring at?" Neji prodded.

"I could've asked the same question a minute ago" she replied with a smirk.

She noticed. She really is Tsunade's prodigy.

"Ah, about that..." he bagan.

She interrupted him with a laugh.

He marvelled inwardlay as she threw her head back and tossed her hair behind her in a wide opened laugh.

"What's so funny?" He asked, starting to sound a little irritated.

Sakura studied him for a moment. "It isn't a big deal. I was just putting on some shoes. It's not like you were thinking dirty thoughts." She giggled and closed her eyes to form upward arcs in a genuine smile.

I really wasn't thinking anything. Right.

Neji shook his head. "Can we get going?" He changed the subject. "We really don't want to keep her waiting. You're her apprentice. You know more than anyone what she's like when she has to wait."

Neji began walking out of the door. Sakura stopped at the door and picked up her kunai pouch and keys she had left at the door, and tried not to trip over her work shoes again. She glanced around her home once again to make sure all was well, and closed the door behind her and locked it with a 'click'.

"Ok. Let's go." Sakura sighed. Not a sigh of fatigue or duty; it was a sigh of anticipation.

She was excited.

For the first time in a very long time.

She always loved surprises.