A/N This one's a little short, and no NejiSaku in it yet. Just Naruto and his friends. I realized that I miss that Naruto-baka's loud mouth too. :'(
Yeah, this chapter doesn't say much. I just don't want to drop this story. I already have the next chapters. In my head. -_- I just wish I'm not too lazy to type them. Sheesh.
Again, the mandatory disclaimer: Naruto is not mine. Just borrowing some characters for fun. :)
Soul Vacation
"He's a little late tonight, isn't he?" Naruto suddenly commented. It is almost 10 pm. "I wonder if he decided to actually take a good night's sleep at home instead?"
"I wouldn't bet on it. That stupid man won't let anything stop him from spending the night in this hospital. Had it been any other circumstance, his insistence to sleepover would have been a miracle." It was Tsunade who answered Naruto's query. "How about you, aren't you heading home yet?"
"Yep," Naruto grins. "But only until Neji-teme gets here."
"Oh all right. Listen, I'm glad she has such dedicated family and friends like you, but seriously, Konoha Hospital becomes too crowded sometimes with you lot loitering around like this!" Clearly annoyed, she points to Kakashi, who is leaning against the wall and seems too engrossed in his reading (of a very familiar orange book no doubt) that he can't bother to join any conversation; Sai, who is just sitting there, seemingly content with his life, and Yamato, content with his tea. "The only one missing is the Uchiha. But I'm not really expecting him to be here. Anyway, that's beside the point. Visitors aren't allowed here anymore at this hour."
"Don't mind me, I'm just waiting for Ino. I won't hang around very long," a smiling Sai explains.
"And I'm just finishing my tea." It was Yamato.
"I'm not even here. My real body is probably helping some helpless old lady cross a street somewhere." Kakashi probably ran out of excuses since he already used this last time.
"You're being unfair, baa-san," Naruto counters and feigns a pained expression. "You let Neji loiter anytime he wants as if he lives here."
"Well, if it hasn't come to your knowledge yet, Naruto, Neji actually decided to live here, and I can't do anything about it. I swear, he is the worst among all of you. But I can promise you that I am already so close to either making him a regular nurse to help with the rounds at night or restraining him to a bed next to Sakura's and attaching an IV on him."
"And I'm sure either option won't sit well with me."
"You're late tonight, Neji."
"I realize that, Naruto. But unlike you gentlemen, I have a kid to put to bed."
"Right. I really should consider a separate room for Sakura's visitors. The corridor is not a place for reunions like this." Just then the door to Sakura's room opens, and out emerged Ino and Hinata.
"Gosh! An unconscious Sakura puts up as much fight as a normal Sakura when she is being dressed."
"That's not true, Ino. Sakura is always very cooperative."
"Yeah,yeah, Hinata. I'm exaggerating, you know. But I can't help but imagine that Sakura will suddenly snap her eyes open and yell at me for undressing her." The Yamanaka merely sighs. "Even a violent reaction will be fine with me as long as she's not in that state anymore."
Hinata laughs softly in an effort to cheer her friend up. "That would surely be a scene."
Naruto seems pensive for a bit. "It makes me wonder if her punches would hurt as much, given that she hasn't been using her strength for a while." Naruto finishes, flashing a toothy grin at Ino.
"I'm certain she will be practicing that with you a lot when she wakes up, Naruto. Now, all of you, get the hell out of my hospital before I decide to admit all of you!"
"Okay, okay. Leaving now. Sheesh baa-san. You'll wake all the patients!" Naruto grins as he reaches to hold HInata's. His warm gesture catches Neji's attention. "You get some sleep too, you white-eyed teme. I wouldn't want Sakura-chan to take care of you when she wakes up because you are being stupid and creepy for not trying some sleep."
"We'll be going now, nii-san. Please get some rest."
Neji merely nods.
"Call us if you need anything, okay?" Ino offers.
"I will. I thank you and Hinata for attending to Sakura's needs. And thank you everyone for coming."
"See you tomorrow then?" Kakashi jokingly addresses everyone. "Same place?" .
"Absolutely not! I'll make sure to ban all of you from here until she wakes up. I can't have all the famous people in the fire country in the same place. My nurses are always so distracted with you around. Now shoo!" She makes a mental note of commending Shikamaru and Choji for having some sense to decide to leave early because sticking around is too troublesome and there's food at home waiting for them; Kiba and Shino just because they are on a mission and would probably not stay this late anyway; and Lee and Tenten because they are busy being good parents to a one year old; and Gai too because he decided that he can take a mission and come back before Neji does.
"Good night, nii-san. See you tomorrow."
In a matter of seconds, the corridor is relieved of the crowd that Tsunade has been complaining about.
"You brat. Just because Sakura has been asleep doesn't mean you have to compensate by not getting some shuteye. I will really make true my threats about confining here you if you keep this up."
"Hn." And that sums up just about all of Neji's stubbornness. "Thank you for everything, Tsunade-sama."
"Whatever. Just don't pass out when no one else is around, okay? I wouldn't want that to be the first thing she sees. I'm off."
And just like that, Neji was left alone in the once-crowded hallway. It was not that way for very long though because he wasted no time in entering his wife's room.
To be continued...you better believe it!
Another annoying author's note: I'm sorry about some spelling and grammar lapses. I did not proofread because I'm too tired from doing so much reading for some research I'm currently working on. Also, I'm kinda frustrated that I can't get the hang of formatting my uploaded documents, and I'm too impatient to actually try to study how to properly upload my work. -_-