**More reviewers prefer long chapters. In addition, the past weeks were final week, so excuse me for the delay. I would appreciate those that have put me on story alert to submit criticism on my writing style. Otherwise, enjoy!**

Chapter 3

Neji shifted, or rather, tried to, as he frowned at the lump of blankets on his left. Sakura had evidently awoken in the middle of the night to retrieve more covers, he though hazily. And now, his covers and her covers were trapped under her deadweight. Deciding to be lazy for a change, Neji sat back to really consider the mission he'd been given.

He'd been avoiding this thought for the entire duration of the mission so far, preferring to act his part and forget about the consequences and asking no questions. But he supposed that this was going to have some sort of impact on his pristine records. Firstly, he hadn't really, truly joined in a team training session with Gai, Tenten, and Lee ever since the water canteen incident.

Secondly, he thought, tossing another glance towards the lump of blankets again, this whole debacle was, admittedly, more bearable than he had imagined it when he'd resigned himself to accepting the mission. He'd never really met Sakura formally, and this was equally true for her as well; he could be certain that Sakura didn't stalk him or anything. But they were building trust together in a totally different way than he had with his teammates.

This sort of thing was something they'd both been dumped into, and, like the faithful ninja serving the greater good, they had dedicated themselves wholly to the mission without second thoughts. And in two and a half months, they had done everything in their power to become faster friends than they were with their closest bosom buddies.

He supposed that the relationship he held with Sakura was more of a necessity than something they would be able to continue after the mission. That was two months prior. Now, she knew more about him than his own mother did, though that couldn't be helped because she was dead, he thought solemnly. There wasn't any way to erase the way that he knew all her favorite foods categorized by restaurant and her complicated weekly schedule better than her teammates.

At this time, the blanket monster stirred. There was no morning haze for a ninja, unfortunately, so Sakura didn't even stretch as she rose from the futon and promptly retreated to the back porch to use the wash basin. Neji, too, rose and made to brush out his hair. One run with chakra infused hands and it was done.

Sakura emerged from the back and held out her hand. "Time for morning tea with the old man?"

He scoffed. "You should address him as Hiashi-sama, but yes. Today is a rather important day."

She grinned and said, "Should we super scrub your forehead? I can totally do that for you."

"Ohayou, good morning. Please, sit."

Hiashi had a different tea for Neji this morning. It was colorless like water, but the odor was sweeter than jasmine flowers. Sakura sipped happily from her normal looking rosewater tea imported from the east, while Neji stared quizzically at his own strange looking tea.

Sakura spoke up, breaking the quiet of the zen atmosphere. "Don't worry, Neji, it's just to prepare your body for the removal of the cursed seal. It'll clean out your intestines and kidney and whatever, so I suggest you drink it while you're on the toilet."

Hiashi sniffed at this crude wording, but nodded. "I would also suggest that. We'll see you in the underground interrogation unit in ten minutes, Neji."

He nodded and padded off to swallow this suspicious looking concoction.

"Okay Neji, I will be standing in the circle with you as your assigned medic nin. If anything goes wrong, I'll be the first one to make contact with you and respond. The chains are there so that you stay in the circle. Hiashi-sama?"

"Haruno Sakura, you are hereby trusted with the wellbeing of Hyuuga Neji. Elders of the council. Hyuuga clan council members. Are we prepared?"

There was a ripple as the elders nodded in consent. Each was on the perimeter of the sealing circle, preparing to perform the joint seal removal. Sakura stood one foot from Neji, who was calm as ever. His luminescent eyes shined green in the glow of the circle maintained by the elders. The room was completely dark, and the only movement was Hiashi jumping into his place on the circle.

The long chain of seals commenced. A low hum emanated from the circle, growing louder and louder in a gradual crescendo. Neji's eyes closed and he inhaled from where he sat on the stone floor.

Then, the last seal was performed. "Kai!"

Neji felt piercing pain. Something, somewhere, was being ripped from him—it seemed to be trying to drag his physical body with it, but he clenched his fists tight, making no sounds. It seemed like an eternity. His organs seemed to rebel against him, his skin crawling with the effort of concentration. Sweat poured from his pores, and he passed out on the floor, slumping against the stone.

Sakura looked on stoically without making a move, her brain running in circles. Vital signs, skin color, dilation of pupils, muscle spasms…the lists of symptoms were a mantra as she observed her patient.

The green glow died down, the circle disappearing into the ground. The room was completely dark, until the overhead bulb was flicked on. The elders looked on expectantly on the Hyuuga in the center of the room. Sakura stepped back respectfully to allow Hiashi forward, who brushed back his nephew's hair.

His forehead was clear. It had been a success. The elders all nodded, impressed with the success, and one by one, were bowed out by Sakura. Last to leave was Hiashi. He motioned to the prostrate form of the Hyuuga. "Take him home. I recommend you clear his schedule and force him to sleep for the day."

Sakura nodded and hoisted Neji onto her back, hung over her right shoulder like a sack. "Got it, Hiashi-sama."

Teleporting back to the Hyuuga compound, she lowered his body carefully to the futon. He was completely knocked out, vulnerable to attack. For this reason, the date of the seal removal had been kept largely random and was completely secret. There was a lot Neji didn't know about the removal of his seal.

Firstly, Sakura thought, checking the compartment hidden under her futon, the elders had all been required to be present for such a groundbreaking operation. It was the first Hyuuga in the history of Konohagakure to be relieved of the cursed seal. It was almost a breach of tradition, but highly necessary, protested Hiashi. Sakura had, as Hiashi's personal medic, been long informed of the role she would play in this.

There was food for seven days hidden in her compartment. Sakura would seal herself in this room with Neji for as long as it took for him to regain consciousness. This measure was taken in the hopes that the personal medic would be able to ensure the safety of the subject being treated. If there was going to be an assassination attempt, it would be now.

Sitting back on her heels and opening a large medical textbook, Sakura decided that the chances of this sort of security being breached little to none. However, Sakura hoped Neji would wake up sometime before a week was up because of the food situation as well as the fact that they had to be married and leave Konoha as soon as possible.

Yawning, she put down the textbook and began the first of many hourly health exams. She felt a bit like she was violating Neji's privacy as her chakra-infused hands hovered over his ribs, but it was required. She was surprised at the number of random fractures that he never let her check in his bones and tsked. As efficient and healthy he tried to be, there were some things that required professional help to overcome.

Sakura hated cursed seals. At four in the morning, she was snapped awake by the fluctuating chakra of her companion. Grumbling, she staggered to his side. The removal of something that had gradually become intertwined and part of his chakra flow was doing stupid things to his physical body as well as his chakra.

Putting a firm hand to his head, she diagnosed the problem. Hiccupping chakra. Of course, she thought, irritated. This happened at all hours of the day, where it was like a sucking on a straw but air bubbles getting in. She forced some more medicine into his system, knitted the chinks closed with her surgical chakra, and collapsed back into the makeshift futon she'd dragged by his for the purpose of easy access.

It was day four of this torture: cooped up with no one but the unconscious Hyuuga to talk to and only her medical texts and limited room for kata practice. She was munching on taiyaki sweets as a reward for figuring out how to mold water into shapes with her chakra. In these four days she had mastered a few techniques with practice.

Because she couldn't actually exercise, she ran in place, did wall jumps; all these simple things in huge quantities to make up for not sparring. She had already done at least 1000 push-ups that day. In the middle of doing flexibility exercises—contortions of the body—she heard him stir. Whipping back into standing position almost too fast, she burst into his room.

"FINALLY! HE IS AWOKEN!"

He groggily sat up, and opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She knelt by him, back into medic nin mode, and hand on his back, tipped distilled water down his parched throat. She realized a bit later that loud noises would more than likely bring on a huge migraine, so she lowered her voice to the bedside-manner murmur. "Neji, you have been incapacitated for upwards of four days. I will be nursing you to health for now: is there anything you want?"

His throat raspy still, sounded a word that was something like, "Tenten…"

Sakura stood up, mortified. Tenten? The bun-haired girl on his team? "Neji, I don't mean to be rude, but you're about to be married to me. Seeing Tenten right now would be one of the worst ideas ever."

Neji collapsed, his arms unable to support his body. Oh, that's right, she remembered. He'd been deprived of food for the better part of five days. "Okay, okay, sorry, I'll see what I can do about getting Tenten to see you as soon as you're well."

She shook her head, looking down at her friend. Of course the first person he asked for was a girl. She would look into matchmaking for the two of them once the mission was over. She felt sort of bad for Tenten, now, seeing things from the girl's perspective. Tenten didn't know a thing about the mission, so the jealousy must be palpable, Sakura thought.

Picking up a serving table from by the wall, Sakura prepared a very light meal. There was no kitchen here, so Sakura had stored mainly instant foods in the underground. She selected instant miso soup and racing through hand seals, filled the bowl with cold water and emptied the block of instant soup in. Taking a deep breath, she tried an extremely simple fire jutsu. Every time she chanced doing fire jutsu in this tatami room, she was chancing burning something in this ancient place.

Thankfully, the miso turned out okay. She presented the sliced daikon, pickled umeboshi, arranged sushi, miso, and sardines to the Hyuuga. He was having trouble sitting up so she dragged a low table over for him to lean on.

"Sakura," his voice was still raspy, "Everything is rolling about…I feel dizzy."

"Oh! Okay, wait just a second, I'll check your head," Sakura said cheerfully.

She relaxed the overfiring of neurons in his brain that was causing him to see doubles and triples instead of one single image. "It's an aftereffect of coming to consciousness after so much darkness. Here, have miso soup: you don't want to look sickly when Tenten comes to visit!"

Sakura grinned, expecting some sort of blush. But instead…

"Tenten? Why would she come to visit me? Does she know I am incapacitated?"

She folded her arms, saying, "Well, you did ask for her when I asked you what you wanted."

"You are too bored in here. I was not referring to Tenten. I was referring to myself feeling dizzy and seeing everything in motion. Tenten."

"OHHHH…I get it." Sakura promptly shut up in fear of embarrassing herself. The word, tenten in Japanese was also the word for rolling about. Which, in Neji's state of haziness, he said to try and convey the fact that he was seeing inanimate objects in motion and "rolling about."

"Okay, cool. That's one problem solved. Now, those sardines…Eat up!"

It was a day later when the pair was able to view real sunshine again. Neji was stoic as usual, having been unconscious for most of his stay in the prison. On the other hand, Sakura was ecstatic, her energy visibly bubbling over into the expressions on her face. She walked quietly along with Neji, who was still not 100%, but good enough to make a walk to the hospital to go to a "physical" administered by Sakura herself. Of course, this physical was an excuse to let Sakura have access to real equipment to give Neji the necessary supplements for him to recover.

"You should be up and at 'em within two hours of the hospital visit. I'm surprised you've recovered so well, actually! The tenacity of the ninja body is amazing; I've always wanted to do a comparison on civilian and ninja bodies, but that would require—"

Neji stopped short in the middle of the road. Turning to her, he said, "Sakura. Thank you."

Sakura beamed, even happier now, having earned the respect of a senior ANBU member. "Don't mention it! Anyway, like I was saying…"

And they chatted, soaking in the sun and getting closer as friends. Neji found that it was like he was exposed in some way. Everything he did, everything he thought, seemed to be completely transparent to this medic nin, whose job was centered around close observation and analyzing those observations. He, on the other hand, seemed to have trouble seeing through her actions.

Just like Sakura had said, it was only two hours later that he was sparring and doing target practice with her confidently, beginning to be able to hit the targets blind. As always, Sakura was amazed at his accuracy.

"How can you do that, even when the targets are changing position from each round of throwing? I can do it blindfolded, but if you change the position and then put me in, I couldn't even hit the grass in front!"

Neji closed his eyes again, saying, "Closing one sense opens all the others. I can hear the breeze separating around the targets, which allows me to find their new positions. If there was minimal to no movement of wind or air, I would be as you are, completely confused."

Sakura nodded, saying, "Okay, that sounds like it works." She closed her eyes too, and successfully used the trick that Neji had taught her on the first try. He nodded his approval, and they both packed up for the day, heading back home. Tomorrow was the wedding, after all.

Sakura and Neji were simultaneously awoken by an approaching signature. From the looks of it, it was some random maid. Sakura looked up in horror. She was still in her own futon. In the hubbub after training yesterday, they had just gone to their own beds. She scrambled up from her futon, trying to smooth out her blankets and remove all her body heat from the sheets. Tripping into Neji's futon, she had just assumed a sleeping position by his equally panicked heart when the shouji door slid open with a "snick."

"Haruno-sama, Hyuuga-sama, please wake up!" She was a cheery lady, plump and red-cheeked. She exited the room, allowing them to get ready on their own.

Sakura fell back, trying to still her beating heart. "That was close. Very close." She turned to him. "Give me a morning kiss you loser…they're watching."

Neji grumbled into his pillow. "This is ridiculous. Sometimes I do not like living in the company of other Hyuugas."

Seeing no move from Neji, Sakura reluctantly pushed him over and aggressively kissed him, before getting up to fix her appearance. For some reason, this morning was very bad, very bad indeed. They were both, for unexplainable reasons, irritated.

She scrubbed herself down extra carefully today because of the expensive silk that she would be wearing for the wedding ceremony and the brocade she would don during the reception, the uchikake. Her mood was like a dark raincloud, sullen and prone to sudden bursts of thunder and lightning, but she followed the maids and hairdressers about willingly, reining in her temper.

"Haruno-sama, tip your head back, please." The hairdresser was trying to do something with her choppy hair. Sakura had never quite felt awkward about her boyish cut. She'd always preened in front of the mirror with it and took very good care of it, like any self-conscious girl did, but she'd never really thought about how boyish the cut was.

She sighed, more put down than snappish now. She could hear the murmurs of the hairdressers, who she knew were being polite. It would have been easy to shut out the voices, but she let herself hear it anyway.

"Dear, dear, dear, what can we do, Nana-san? It's just…"

"I know. I know. There has never been a situation like this. It is very rare to dress hair traditionally for a head with such short hair. I'm afraid…"

"I suppose we can't be very orthodox, then, can we? There isn't enough to make a ponytail, let alone a topknot. I cannot just gather her hair at the nape like a common mendicant monk!"

"Ruka-san! That is very rude. We'll use wax. Much of it. The wedding head covering will disguise the hair."

Sakura pretended to be dozing when they turned back to her. She was tapped on the shoulder and she put on the show of blinking herself awake. Sakura, for the first time, felt self-conscious about the style of her hair. It had been a long time since she'd thought about that. She looked up at the stylists. "What's going on?"

The hairdressers gave polite smiles, and bowed apologetically. "We will be doing something different with your hair, Haruno-sama."

They had a bowl of wax heating over a little fire on the floor. An assistant lifted the hot bowl with a pair of mittens and the stylists went to work with combs. The wax covered combs kept her hair the way it was, and they simply combed all her hair up to a tuft at the back of her head. Even the shorter hairs were in place because of the solidifying wax and Sakura grimaced as she withstood the incredible pain of the pulling from all sides of her head by the combs.

Soon, she looked a bit bald, the hair was combed so flat. The hairdressers patted the hair, and once they were sure it was dry and hardened, placed the head piece on her. The experiment was a success and one couldn't tell she had short hair. However, Sakura only thought more about her choppy hair, thinking about the long dark-brown hair of the Hyuuga clan. Perhaps she would grow it out, she mused as she was led down to the kimono cellar.

Neji was in a different area of the house. His hair wasn't any problem; it was as it was usually, and he was sitting in his kimono, chatting with his uncle and Hinata. All were decked in their kimono already, and were calmly sipping tea. The wedding was taking place in the adjacent room. Hiashi stood, and cued Hinata and Neji to go to the room with him. It was time.

Neji was still irritated as he was led down with Sakura to the priest. The old man in white murmured some words over them and the room of important people sat solemnly. Neji wouldn't even look at her. There was a palpable, but invisible wall in between them and he didn't care to breach it.

The priest finished, and Neji approached the incense and shrine first, bowing three times and offering a stick of incense to his ancestors each time. Then, Sakura went, her kimono shimmering as she shuffled forward to bow three times. The newlyweds turned to the room and bowed some more, and it was done.

The congratulations was a solemn affair, and the room was filled with a low buzz as the guests exchanged conversation and the newlyweds traveled the room together, as was custom. Sakura and Neji, Hiashi noted, did not seem very in sync, and the wedding reception was sure to be a nightmare for the disgruntled pair. But, ninjas do what they have to do.

As Hiashi loaded them into the covered carriage and tucked Sakura's skirts past the carriage door for her, he threw out, "I suggest the pair of you take this thirty minute ride through the village to sort out your differences and put out a good face for the village."

And with that, Hiashi was gone, shutting the door.

The carriage jolted, and the pair stared each other down stonily. Sakura broke the silence. "Neji, what's wrong today."

He scoffed, leaning back in his cushions. "I cannot pin blame on anything. It seems you are the unhappy one."

Sakura bristled, sitting up in her seat. "I'm annoyed because YOU didn't remind me to sleep in your futon and I had to trip into your room and fix the mess on my own in the morning. You didn't move a muscle!"

Neji turned away, glaring out the window. "None of this is my fault. You collapsed in your own futon instead of in mine. What was I to do at that hour? Drag you into mine and risk death?"

Sakura gaped, pointing at him angrily, continuing, "Death? DEATH? I wouldn't have killed you, that's counterproductive! You need to be alive for this to work out! I would have just complied. You should have at least made an effort to run to my room in the morning. But no, you just slept there like a king while I had to rush around to fix it."

Neji frowned, saying, "Is that all? The morning incident?"

There was silence. Sakura sighed, wanting to bury her head in her arms. Unfortunately, she was swamped with more expensive silk that she knew what to do with. "I can't even give a real tantrum…this is actually pretty stupid."

Neji hmmed, crossing his arms with a rustle and closing his eyes. "There is little to apologize for, in both our cases. We were both tired last night, and the morning incident has had no effect on the mission."

Sakura shook her head, not properly calmed yet. She wished she could hug Ino so bad at the moment…There was no reason for her to be freaking out about something as inconsequential as getting out of her futon and going to Neji's. She shivered. It must be the wedding jitters or something. Were these signs telling them not to be married? Sakura tipped her head back, letting out a garbled sigh.

They sat, the atmosphere charged and silent. What a wedding this was turning out to be.

Neji and Sakura emerged from the carriage to cheers as they greeted what appeared to be the entirety of the hospital staff, all their shinobi friends (the rookie nine, ANBU collegues, various Interrogation members, guards, pub owners, and others included), all of Sakura's civilian side of the family and friends, the Hyuuga clan members, and Academy teachers.

They smiled congenially, hands linked, hearts cold. Despite Neji dismissing the matter, it was still fresh in their minds, and they made the rounds with the guests as fast as they could manage it. The pile of wedding gifts on the table increased as the day dragged on. Sakura and Neji stood beneath the shade of the orchard trees where their reception was held at high noon, ready to bid adieu to the last of the guests.

When the final well-wishers had departed, Sakura and Neji trudged slowly to the carriage again. A new carriage awaited them. It was very long, but narrow, and a screen was in the middle. A maid was in each side, helping them undress on the journey home. Sakura thanked Hiashi and the kami-sama, the gods above, for thinking of their comfort.

The evening meal was silent. Neji and Sakura were relocated to a room meant for married couples and they shared the meal provided stonily. Very soon, the two ninja would embark on the other part of their mission. The most important part. They would be starting a new life as civilians that wanted to start a business selling antique weaponry, casting off their former life as ninjas. At the same time, they would be entering the acquaintance of the esteemed East Fire country daimyo. The filthy cheat, Sakura thought, snatching up an innocent slice of raw salmon.

It was Neji who, again, broke the silence. "I…do not understand the problem that still exists here."

Sakura looked up in surprise. "It's been a while, I guess. It's just…." Sakura sighed, the air leaving her feeling mature and suddenly hit with the severity of the mission. Only twenty-something and they were both already doing a dangerous combination of recon, espionage, and identity swapping.

Neji nodded in understanding. "It needs to be said. As ninja, I sympathize with the difficulty of being open, but for the sake of living through the mission, we must put trust in each other."

Sakura was being endlessly surprised tonight, and she didn't like it all that much. Her and Neji having some sort of girlfriend heart-to-heart variation? She shook her head, but went on, "Yes. I think putting on this good of a façade for our friends has truly been taxing. Have we really become friends before lovers? I mean, we completely skipped the friendship part in the desperate attempt to suddenly be engaged. I just…didn't imagine all my firsts to be like this, I guess."

Neji scoffed at this. "You are too complicated. I thought nothing of what you call 'firsts.' I am merely tired of acting. It may suit us better to become friends. You know of the might of the forces we face now."

Sakura shook her head, grinning. "So we're okay, now?"

"It all depends on what we tell ourselves to think."

That night, the ninja packed their bags and made their last in-person report to the Godaime.

"Hyuuga and Hyuuga." Tsunade's face was grim as she addressed Sakura with the new title. "I expect you all to make a report within the next two days. After that, we're looking for a report once a week or more on your progress, preferably before I check the cabinets. You'll have to do a bit of cleaning on your own, but the Hyuuga mansion is ready for their new owners. Travel fast, travel efficient."

"Yes, Tsunade-sama!"

And they were escorted out, their Konoha headbands left in the care of the Godaime. With a wave to Kotetsu, who was doing guard duty at the East gate that night, Sakura and Neji flash-stepped in unison towards the tree line, flitting from shadow to shadow like crows flying in the night.

It was silent as they assumed their roles. Neji covered the long distance areas and Sakura focused on the immediate area as they traveled as a unit. They would be headed far east into the domain of the daimyo. The guy was obviously trying to stay as much out of Konohagakure's control as possible, Sakura thought, annoyed.

With nonstop running, the pair would make it to their new location around sunrise. Slowly, the trees began to thin about them, the oaks and sequoias lessening and more maples and fruit trees becoming prevalent in the landscape. There was much more shrubbery and Neji took account of the road that twisted 300 feet before them. Two dashes and they were there.

"Neji, do you think we should start traveling by foot?" Sakura's voice was very quiet.

The ninja dropped to the ground in reply. Sakura leapt to his right to cover his blind spot. Speaking of the blind spot, not many besides the Hyuuga knew of the blind spot. But due to hours of training and careful observation, Sakura had been able to at least guess that there was something Neji was compensating for. Something around his upper back. She couldn't say exactly where it was or why it was there, but he had a blind spot and she could only guess that it was related to his Byakugan. Grimacing, she kept walking. They were only guesses, after all.

The town lights began to make themselves known in the dark. The two walked leisurely, taking precaution to reduce their chakra emissions a bit. Any ordinary citizen would be talking, but they were ninja. Neji had indicated with his silence that he did not want any interruptions on the way to the mansion and Sakura had no problem with following along.

A little later than they had previously predicted, they were finally making their way down the road into the more countryside like area to the mansion gates. They were huge, but Sakura and Neji easily overcame the gates. It was safe to talk now. "The Godaime has her own protective jutsu being maintained here, as well as a few guards for the first week. We will have to figure out a defense stratagem before her protection is withdrawn that will not be obvious to a civilian but strong enough to warn us and allow us escape."

Sakura nodded seriously and slipped into an upper story window after Neji. The house was silent. Not eerily so, but silent, cold, and empty. There were no furnishings and the persons hired to clean it were not extremely thorough. "This place…is not habitable yet. It's too dark to really scope out the scene." She turned back to the window. "We'll sleep hidden on the roof until there is more movement from civilians around town and then figure out something for the house."

It wasn't actually too bad of a house, Sakura thought. The problems they would encounter with the house upkeep and the reputation buildup however…Sakura just lay back on the roof tile, balancing her pack on her stomach to try and put those thoughts aside.

The pair was still tired, but sat in the empty parlor together as the morning light shone through a slit in the door. "Neji, let's set some traps and have some rest in the master bedroom."

They had already scoured the entire house from attic beams to underground kitchen cellars. It was boring, nerve-wracking work, but they were finally free to take their first nap in twenty hours. "Hm. Meet by the main banister in fifteen minutes. I'll cover the back and left sides."

Sakura set a series of juvenile traps near the entrances before setting the big boys at the perimeters. Those would warn them, the inhabitants, of presences to let them escape, while the entrance ones would trip the intruders up on their way in. There were already genjutsu traps for the windows. Neji was waiting for her at the main banister.

"When I was in the kitchen, I noted that there was also running water. We can take a bath!" Sakura was ecstatic about this, and eagerly walked to what looked like the master bedroom. She noted that this house was incredibly westernized in some places, like the kitchens and the rooms, but very traditional in the personal areas, like the baths.

Neji began to unpack his things and hide his emergency weaponry. He figured out their possible escape routes, and within minutes, Sakura was out of the shower, wrapped in a towel. He already had his bath slippers on and went in after her, looking away from her direction. Ah, well, Sakura thought. Nothing to imagine for Neji, as she had already bathed him a couple times during his little curse seal removal stint.

Sakura settled in the side, again, farthest from the door, and promised herself to stay up for Neji so they could talk before their random early morning nap, but had already slipped into dreamworld before he had even reached the bathroom doorknob.

Neji dressed in sleepwear and slipped in besides Sakura, slipping her comfortably in the spaces and crooks of his own body. Alone in the middle of some random village with no Konoha headband to identify them, no occupation to describe them, really, and no real homely place as of yet…he felt immensely lonely for the first time. His only reminder of Konoha lay here, and he was glad he had a partner in this crazy mission for the first time. With that thought, he, too, allowed himself to go to sleep.

It was late afternoon when Sakura and Neji had finally gotten out of the bed. There was still many things to be done, not all of it just cleaning the house.

"Neji, we have to register ourselves with the daimyo within the next two weeks."

Sakura was hurriedly flipping through a large book of regulations that she had picked up from the magistrate's office that day. Neji was upside down, catching water in a bucket as he rinsed the chandelier with a basic water jutsu. "What else is on the schedule?"

"Hmm…we might as well register to take the test for the license that allows us to possess weaponry with blades longer than 36 inches."

Neji dropped the water bucket, deftly catching it in midair before landing on the ground with it, not a drop of water spilled. Setting it down in at the foot of the stairs, he sat down on the plush carpeted stairs next to her. "There are regulations about that?"

Sakura shook her head, the corner of her mouth quirking. "It's a civilian thing, Neji."

He shot a look at her. "A 'civilian thing,' you say?"

"Yes, Neji. It's unfortunate, but many Konohagakure ninja are blessedly ignorant of their fellow civilians. As civilians, we are not allowed to do a lot of things. Including possessing weapons with blades over thirty-six inches long. Going along with that line of thought, we should also apply to join the weapons guild…without membership, we won't be doing any antique dealing."

She looked over at Neji, who was already tuning her out. "Alright, I'll take care of the administrative stuff. I'll get the forms and papers today and once we sign everything, I'll post it in the mail or deliver it in person."

Poor Neji, she thought, being thrust into civilian society so suddenly. He had been occupying himself with the house renovation and cleaning effort to avoid having to interact with civilians. Fortunately, Sakura had plenty of childhood experience with the workings of civilian life and was now, grudgingly, setting out to get paperwork for their livelihood.

Deciding to walk to the town at a leisurely pace, Sakura climbed the stairs to change clothing, noting the silence of the plush carpeting. They would probably have to find a way to strip the stairs bare and make certain steps creak on purpose to ward off intruders.
It was already the height of the summer, so Sakura put on an unassuming off-white sundress and some tan sandals. As an afterthought, she grabbed the straw hat that Teuchi-san at the ramen shop had bequeathed her as a wedding gift. Made from the best reed that money can buy, he had claimed, patting its crown as he handed it to her happily.

"I'm going!" Neji didn't look up from the kitchen counter. "Got it."

People in the town looked at her curiously, the children pointing in wonder at her hair, which gathered at her nape under the sunhat. They didn't approach her, though, politely returning to their business as usual. Sakura passed a bustling pub on her way towards the magistrate's office and noted the surroundings and the bartender with a quick glance to her left.

After reemerging from the office with a load of paperwork for all the things that would make them legitimate citizens and such of this little place, Sakura headed into the heart of the pub to familiarize herself with the people in it. After all, this was her area of social expertise, she thought, grinning at the thought of Tsunade's sake stashes.

Striding in confidently, sunhat in her bag, she slid onto a barstool. The bartender looked over at her and asked, "What do you wanna drink?"

"Beer please." She opened the forms and began to peruse the pages even as her eyes wandered elsewhere, taking in the old clock, the stairs tucked into the back of the pub, and the dirty glass windows.

The bartender set down a napkin before sliding the glass towards her. "What brings you here today? You don't look local."

Sakura let out a melodramatic sigh. "Things at the new house are just terrible. My husband and I are newlyweds and we left our hometown to avoid prejudice, but I don't think he is adjusting well."

The bartender, seeing an interesting story, sat down on his own stool on the other side of the counter, and said, "New house, huh? I guess we'll be meeting you all later in town, right?"

"Ha, if he would only go out." Swirling the drink with gusto, Sakura continued with the story, "I would never regret what we've done, but, I guess it'll take time. We want to get into dealing antiques because I've got some old stuff I want looked at from my grandparents."

"That's the spirit, kid! You know what, they're having some sort of exhibition for antiques down at the auction house and gallery sometime in this month. I bet you can get some professionals' opinions, eh?"

Sakura quirked the corner of her mouth. Bingo! She glanced at her watch. "Thanks for the advice, uh…"

"Tomoshibi Mura—I've been bartending since I was just a little kid."

"Mura-san, then. I'll see you around." With that, Sakura slid off the barstool and stepped out of the pub, the day's goal achieved rather quickly. She continued walking through the town, ,stopping at the dango vendor to pick up some semblance of a dinner for Neji. Balancing the packages in one hand, she whipped out the sunhat and set out on an ungodly pace towards the mansion.

Focusing her line of vision on the mansion, Sakura could see Neji washing windows on the third floor. Mood lifted, she raced towards the mansion. Leaping up the stairs, Sakura met Neji in the hallway, who was on his way to greet her, having felt her approaching chakra signature.

Sakura beamed up at him and presented the dinner. "Here! I brought some food back for you!"

Neji looked amusedly at her wild appearance. Her sundress helped tone down the look, but her hair looked very windswept. "And is there any other news?"

Sakura grinned wider. "Exactly. We'll talk about that later tonight. For now, shower or something and we can have a bit of dinner in the dining room."

"The what?"

Sakura grumbled, the moment lost. "The one with the huge mahogany display cabinet…"

Neji had to admit that he was running out of things to do in the house. It was quite obvious to Sakura that he was purposefully avoiding going out to mingle with civilians, but still…someone had to renovate the house, right? His thoughts were halted by the entrance of Sakura, who was dressed in more comfortable silk shirts (from his house, he noted smugly). They dug into the food.

"Neji, how about we take a walk tonight?" She was tracing a circle in the tablecloth. Neji took the hint.

"Of course."

Sakura sat down with Neji, signing documents as they waited for nightfall. Suddenly, there was a knock, followed by the doorbell. Neji looked up in confusion. "Shh! It's the doorbell." Sakura motioned to Neji. "You have to get it. I'll come in after you."

Neji nodded and quickly made his way towards the front door. He opened it. Sakura, on cue, padded over from the back and laced her arm through his. "What is your business?" His tone was unyieldingly cold.

The nervous man at the door bowed politely. "Hyuuga-san and Hyuuga-san, I have mail for you. This house has no mailbox, so I am compelled to deliver it in person."

Sakura smiled indulgingly at the man. "Of course. Thank you." She rubbed Neji's arm in a comforting manner and waved as the mailman walked quickly away. After they closed the door, Sakura hissed at Neji.

"You've got to be more nice! We don't live in Konoha anymore."

Neji frowned. "I could taste the lies, they were so obvious."

"I know, but that's no reason to be that obvious about your apparent distaste." She grinned, petting his arm again mockingly. He harrumphed, twisting out of her grasp. "Sometimes I cannot tell if you are crazy or acting."

She laughed and said, "Put the mail in the drawer so we can go on that walk!"

They slipped out, dressed in ninja gear. They were going to do recon on the daimyo's properties. There would be guards—both normal and mercenary ninja. In this sort of civilian town organization, the daimyo's dwelling wasn't far off. Set in a huge community of large, old mansions, Sakura and Neji reached it in no time.

They looked at the strange house confusedly. Clan compounds, like Neji's family, were typically built on flat grounds with very little open ground and mazelike passages. These great houses were built on huge expanses of rolling hills and extremely westernized three story houses with large bay windows. This guy was, notably, one of the only strange houses in the area. The other households were more traditional with lavish Japanese gardens and walled gates.

"This house is easily penetrable for attack." He touched the old stone walls of the gate.

Sakura shook her head. "With an important figure like that, he couldn't be living without protection. Just look at the golden pheasants. Those aren't normal pheasants."

Neji narrowed his eyes. "I don't see any pheasants."

Sakura looked over at him. "What you do mean, Hyuuga-san?"

At that, Neji started. Sakura didn't call him that anymore. He calmly continued. "They must be well hidden then."

As soon as Sakura turned about, he sunk a kunai into her back. With a poof, she was gone. The scene around him changed like melting chocolate. His smell came back first—the smell of dirt and the night air. Then, his touch. The hard branches of a tree? He was strapped into a tree! Then, his hearing. He could hear everything full blast—Sakura's battle cries, the connection of blade to blade. Finally, his sight. Looking down, he could see her overwhelmed by over ten mercenaries.

Silently scrambling out of his confines, Neji realized that Sakura had seen him slump after touching the wall and succumbing to the genjutsu before throwing him into the tree to face the oncoming attackers. He couldn't see her pink hair at all—her entire form was covered with black, her face mask black as night as well.

Face twisting into a grimace, he withdrew a couple of senbon. From the tree, he took down attackers one by one in a series of throws. The leader had only just realized the source of the senbon when Sakura ended his life with a slice to his brain stem.

Neji made to drop out of the tree, but Sakura flashstepped up to him. She put her hand on his right arm. Its fine, she was conveying. Finger to what he assumed was her lips, she asked them both to be silent. This meant chakra as well.

Within moments, pattering footsteps greeted them. Sakura held up the senbon silently. She had collected all their own weaponry while reaffirming all the deaths. The new ninja didn't suspect a thing as they hauled away their colleagues and the leader of that group determined the perpetrators long gone.

With that, they exited silently from the tree and sprinted towards their own mansion.

I am leaving for Japan tomorrow and will not be back for another month and a half. Please look forward to the next chapter, and thank you for your support all this time!