Authors Note: this fic is a three shot. This is number two of three in Neji's POV. It has been five years since they last saw Sasuke which makes Sakura 20 and Neji 21. Neji is an ANBU captain, which I'm sure will become very evident. Sakura's POV is next.

Summary: NejiSaku Three-shot! Neji appreciates what destiny has handed him.

Disclaimer: I own nothing…


Days that started out like this were always wonderful. Even if the rest of the day was wretched, waking up net to her made everything bearable.

Last night when he returned from his latest mission he raced through Konoha to get back to his home. He'd been gone for a long and lonely month and a half with a team that had lost their leader and was in need of a temporary replacement. As the top ANBU captain in Konoha the responsibility fell on him to lead the group he didn't know. They were a dull bunch which led to a rather quiet and boring month and a half.

Now he wasn't normally a very talkative person but lately he had gotten fairly used to going to A-class and S-class mission with Naruto, Shikamaru, Kakashi, and his wife Sakura. That in it's self made any mission eventful. And having Sakura there with him all the time meant that he didn't have to worry about her. Well, he worried about her in any circumstance but at least he knew what was going on when it was going on. And one thing Hyuuga Neji hated was not knowing, especially when it came to Sakura.

So when he got home at the ungodly hour of two forty five in the morning, he quickly took off his shoes and raced into the bedroom. As he removed the metal plates that completed his ANBU uniform a weight both physically and emotionally lifted as he took in the sight of his sleeping wife.

He tried to quietly slip into the bed next to her but it seemed that he hadn't been quiet enough… then again he never was. It was almost as if his wife had radar or something because she always knew when he was around.

"Neji?" She turned her sleepy green gaze towards him and a lazy smile graced her face. He laid down beside her and pulled her closer to him as he kissed her gently as to not wake her fully.

"I missed you." At his admission she snuggled closer to him and wrapped her arms around his waist like she always did at night.

"I missed you too. Any injuries?" He chuckled lightly. Even half asleep she remembered the important things. She always worried about that. He hardly ever came home with a scratch but when he did get injured, no matter what the time, she would heal him straight away.

"No love. The mission went off smoothly." She gave him a kiss on the cheek and started to drift off again.

"Good." She was asleep in seconds. She must have had a long day at the hospital. Deciding to follow her lead he too began to fall asleep.

When he woke up the smell of apples, her long pink hair brushing against his arm, greeted him for the first time in over a month. Looking over at the clock he realized that they must have slept in a little. They both usually got up around seven when they didn't have a mission. She usually let for the hospital around eight or nine. It was now a little after eight.

That's when he felt the weight on his chest shift and he knew Sakura was awake. He felt her hair on his cheek as she moved to hover over him. His gaze shifted from the clock to her eyes. She kissed him softly and rolled out of bed.

"I'll make breakfast." She called over her shoulder as she headed into the bathroom. They both knew what that meant. She was really saying 'I am brushing my teeth, which gives you about five minutes to get out of bed and while I make breakfast you are taking a shower'. He was proven right when he heard the sink start running.

When she stepped into the hall he knew it was time to get up. Besides if he stayed in bed too long breakfast would get cold. And while Sakura's cooking was great under any circumstance, he really wanted a hot meal right now.

After a quick shower and a change of clothes he was greeted with wonderful smells coming from the kitchen. Sakura was already dressed for the day. She must have changed when he was showering.

"Morning Babe! Are you hungry?" A growl from Neji's stomach answered her question. He hadn't eaten all day yesterday in hopes of getting home sooner. Sakura began to laugh as she set down a plate piled with food in front of him.

Neji couldn't say that her laugh was like tiny bells or anything as frivolous as that. Her laugh was real, strong, and confidant and it made him happy. Sakura was not longer a boy crazed teenager and she had not been on for quite some time. She was self assured and didn't really care about what others thought. Now, admittedly that fact hadn't pleased his uncle at first but the family had come to love her. They respected her which had made their acceptance of her role as "alpha female", as Kiba liked to call it, that much easier when Neji had been made clan leader after his uncle's death. He watched as she gathered things for the day.

"Neji, I have to go in for my shift. Oh, you're having a clan meeting today and don't forget to turn in your written report to Tsunade-sensei. I'll see you tonight. Love you!" With a hug and a kiss she was out the door.

Neji had two thoughts as he finished his breakfast. First being that the meeting and the report were both un-welcomed duties that were inevitably going to be rather tedious. Second being that Sakura was going to have to make his night infinitely better than his oncoming day.

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He had been right. The report was rather mundane except for the drunken Hokage chasing after a cackling Naruto. What was the point of giving a verbal report if you were already turning in a written one? That question had a simple answer. Should the Hokage be drunk when you gave the report and thus did not remember the information you had relayed to her come the next day, she could refresh her memory with the written report you turned in to her previously.

The family meeting had ended exactly where it had started with no one getting anything done. So he was meeting with them again tomorrow and if they couldn't make up their minds he was going to decide for them.

As he approached his home he felt a presence near by, far too close to his kitchen window for comfort. He would take a closer look once he got inside. As he went through the door he heard someone bustling about and knew Sakura was home. He took off his sandals and placed them next her hers. If she wasn't too concerned about the presence out side then he wouldn't worry about it too much.

She was putting plates on the table when he entered the dinning room. She was setting it for more than two, which meant that they were expecting guests. She turned to face him.

"How was your day Neji?" A grunt was her answer. A look of sympathy crossed her features.

"That bad? Well, Naruto, Kakashi, and Shikamaru wanted to talk about the next mission so they're coming over for dinner." He sighed as began to help set out the chopsticks.

"We have another mission. All of us?" She came over and kissed him on the cheek.

"Yes, this one will be a short A-class. We are just guarding Tsunade-sensei during the upcoming delegations between the Leaf and the Mist." She went into the kitchen and opened the window. He decided that now was the best time to scan the area for that presence.

"Byakugan." He saw through the walls and continued to scan through the trees. There in the large tree near the kitchen was Uchiha Sasuke watching Sakura make dinner through the window.

"Do you see him?" Sakura asked as she stirred something, presumably soup, in a pot. He deactivated his Byakugan.

"He is in the tree." Neji said as she walked over to his wife.

"He has been there since I got home earlier." He went up behind her and placed on hand on her hip and the other in her waist length hair.

"Is he bothering you?" Sakura leaned into him but he couldn't truly feel her body because of the metal plate on his chest. Sometimes he really hated that armor. She brought her lips merely a breath away from his.

"No, but I have something important to tell you." He closed the gap between them for a few seconds.

"What is it?" Sakura closed her eyes and smiled onto his lips.

"I think you'll like it. Today I had Tsunade-sensei give me a check up. Remember how I was sick before you left? Well, it turns out that I'm pregnant." She opened her medical coat to show a barely visible bump. If she hadn't said anything he would have assumed she was on her cycle. Neji stared at her stomach and then looked into her slightly worried eyes. He must have stared longer than he thought. He turned her around to face him and pulled her into a kiss that was both gentle and intense at the same time. It made her breathless. When they parted he picked her up and began to spin her around as she laughed. He kissed her again just to make his feelings towards her news clear.

"You don't know how happy you've made me." It was true. Destiny had been very good to him and for that he was thankful. If Sakura stayed with him until the day he died and they never had to live with out each other, he would never complain about fate and destiny again. She giggled and kissed him lightly.

"I think I have a small clue." She remained in his arms as she finished dinner. Then Naruto's voice echoed in the night air.

"She knows you're here. They know you're here." When Sakura stiffened up Neji pulled her closer to him. He glared into the trees where Uchiha Sasuke's Sharingan eyes were clearly visible in the night.

"Come to the bench." The words were barely loud enough to hear, barley a whisper in the night. Sakura grabbed Neji's hand in asking and he replied in kind. He trusted his wife and he could tell that this was obviously a confrontation that was necessary. This matter needed closure.

He watched as his wife disappeared in a rain of Sakura petals. Kakashi and Naruto entered with grim faces. Silently the three of them sat down at the table and waited for Shikamaru. Soon enough the strategist entered and sat down.

"Whoa, who died?" Kakashi tapped his covered Sharingan eye.

"It's more like who didn't." realization dawned on Shikamaru's face.

"How troublesome…" this was going to be a very short and tense dinner. He wasn't sure if that was better or worse than a long and tedious meeting…

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The boys had pretty much shoveled down their food and left knowing that the couple would want to be alone when Sakura got back. And Neji's overly quiet attitude may have contributed to their swift departure.

He moved towards the bathroom and washed his face. When the smell of flowers wafted around him from under the door he knew she was home. He leaned against the door frame and watched as Sakura began to take off her coat. She laid the white medical coat on the back of a chair and picked up a brush from their desk against the wall.

She walked over to him, grabbed his hand, and pulled him to the bed where she sat down behind him. He closed his eyes as her small hands undid the knot of his forehead protector and bandages and then she began to run her fingers through his hair.

Neji had been surprised by her easy acceptance of the curse mark on his forehead when she first saw it. He didn't know why but, seeing as though she didn't have great experiences in the past with such things, he half expected her to end their relationship over it. He had thought that just about any woman in her position would. But then he quickly realized that he shouldn't have been worried about it at all. She understood that it was part of who he was and was slowly helping him get past that mark. The brush replaced one hand as she got all of the knots out of his long hair.

They sat that way for a while until she started to remove the metal that covered his black uniform. This was the only place he took it off, when he was alone in his room with Sakura. The plate that covered his blind spot was the last to come off as always. He felt her chin rest on his shoulder and her body press deliciously against his back with out any metal in the way.

"He's not coming back." He heard her whisper near his ear but it wasn't a shaky upset sound. Her hands came around his shoulders to rest on his chest. He took her hands in his.

"Is that good or bad?" Sakura kissed his neck.

"Good, I think. We won't have to deal with him unless it's on a mission, in which case you can beat him to a pulp." Neji chuckled.

"If the opportunity ever arises Sakura, you can be sure I will take full advantage of it." Sakura laughed and pulled him towards the bathroom with a blush. He allowed himself to be pulled until they reached the door frame. He gently grabbed her hips and pulled her close to him, her hands tangled in his hair.

"I missed you, Neji." Neji smiled against her lips and closed to door with his foot. This was the only time he smiled, when he was with her.

This was how he loved to end his days, with his beautiful and understanding wife who always seemed to know exactly what he needed when he needed it. His nights with her were always equal to his mornings spent with her and infinitely better than his days spent with out her.


End Comments: Only one more to go!!! I want to have that out by tomorrow but it may be out as late as Sunday or Monday. I'm not quite sure yet. I hope you liked it. Sakura's POV is up next. Love to all reviewers!!!!!!