So sorry this took so long, I had been wanting to update for a while, but many life changes halted that for a while. I recently didn't even have an internet connection, so I had no other way of uploading this. But here it is!
"If love is a slow dance"
Neji was waiting for her the same time the very next day, standing in the same spot they had been at before, leaning against a tree trunk, arms folded across his chest, relaxed.
The other couples were either not there yet or were sitting around chatting. The pinkette stalks over to the Hyuuga male, "good morning Neji", she says, a contempt smile on her rosy lips.
He nods a tiny bow to her, courteous as always. The sun was beginning to rise higher into the sky, the pale blue a stark contrast to the deep and live greens of the forest and training ground.
"I presume Azune will arrive soon" He states, replying to Sakura's silent question, as she had been looking around the clearing, searching for the instructor.
"How long do you think we'll have to do this so called training?" She asks, her turquoise eyes looking up at him and he just shrugs. Then her green eyes shoot back to the dirt path on the other side of the grounds, where Azune had now appeared at.
He was accompanied by Lady Tsunade, who was looking tired, but otherwise happy to be out of her office for once, miles away from the many mounds of paperwork requiring her signature.
The two begin to walk across the clearing and into the centre, shortly after; Naruto and the Uchiha arrive, Ino instantly bounding over to his side, smiling at him with her best smile.
Part of Sakura wondered what she still saw in him, after all he was not only a traitor to the village, but he hurt everyone, and even attempted to kill her at one point.
Tsunade regards the Uchiha, and carefully makes her way across the short distance to speak to him. From Sakura's standing point, she couldn't quite hear the conversation, and she didn't know why, but she was curious to know. She deliberates on whether to go closer or not.
"Uchiha, how is everything going?" Neji suddenly speaks, nearly scaring the hell out of Sakura, and she looks at him with a perfectly arched eyebrow in wonderment.
His byakugan was activated, his milky eyes focused on the Hokage and Sasuke Uchiha. Sakura remembers that Neji once used it to read the lips of an informant on a small mission they had once been on together.
Her pink lips form an 'o' as she realises what he's doing, taking a step closer to his side.
"Everything is fine, Ma'am. Wouldn't be as bad if I didn't have Anbu following me every time I leave my home though." Comes Neji's voice, repeating what he lip-reads.
"You know I cannot do anything about that right now. After the month is up you are free to go wherever you wish without being watched, you know that."
"That is when the Cherry Blossom celebrations come to a head, correct?"
"Yes, Uchiha, it is, you will be free from then on."
Green orbs watch carefully as Tsunade walks away from Sasuke, and the dark haired Ninja returns to the company of Naruto and Ino.
"I do hope you are satisfied now, Haruno" Neji replies, his eyes normal again. Mentally cursing, Sakura realises he'd known she wanted to eavesdrop.
"I-um-"
A pale finger pushes to her lips, shushing her effectively. "No need to explain" Neji's voice speaks, almost silently, so only Sakura's ears could detect his words.
She nods, and they retreat towards the Hokage and Azune, who had begun to gather everyone around. Sakura's mind wonders, curious as to why Tsunade was here in the grounds.
"So you will all be able to have a partner during the dance, but the main aspect of the dance is the partner change periodically throughout" Azune explains, Tsunade nodding in contempt beside his muscular frame.
"The Hokage also has some details to inform you all of" and with that last statement, Azune steps back, letting Tsunade take the stage, (sort of).
Her brown eyes (which were so light they almost looked like honey) cast a gentle silence over the shinobi as her gaze slides across them all.
"Listen, I understand it may be hard for some of you to get the hang of this" she begins, sounding as if she felt sorry for them. "But that is the reason we decided to start training as early as we could"
There is silence as she speaks, everyone listening to her words closely, processing.
"Moreover, you will all receive details and times on when to visit the Hokage tower during the next few weeks, in which you will spend a couple of hours getting measurements for your clothing for the event" she explains, and this does receive a few groans, to which she glares and all is silent immediately once more.
"However, now that the lack of Female participants has been corrected, I can leave you all in peace in the hands of Azune" she finalises, moving past Sakura and giving her a warm smile as she always did.
Once Tsunade was out of sight, Azune spreads the groups out in a few rows in front of him.
"I want you all to attempt the dance with your partners, but ONLY the first 15 steps, okay?". His instructions do not go amiss, and soon all of the couples begin their attempts at the dance sequence.
Neji takes a hold of Sakura's waist again, one hand positioned higher on her back, and in turn she places her milky toned hands slenderly on his broad shoulders, looking up at him as their feet begin to move through the steps, Neji twisting and turning her slender body, then spinning together in the figure eight as they had the day before.
Sakura looks away and towards Azune, who was walking up and down the lines of couples, correcting them here and there and shaking his head in horror at some of them, he was close to Neji and Her, watching the end couples for a moment before he looks directly at them, just as Neji begins the figure eight with both their torso's pressed together as they move.
"Stop! Stop!" Azune calls, and everyone halts their routines. Sakura feels everyone looking at her and Neji, whom had stopped their movements also, his arm still on her waist as they look towards Azune.
"Oh great, why" Sakura thinks in her head, looking at the floor and not at anyone staring.
"That was good! Very good" Azune comments, striding to the two of them. "I would like to see how you dance with the music playing" he adds at the end, as an afterthought.
"Everyone, learn your lessons from these two" he speaks out loudly, for everyone to hear. "You need more unison...More connection, you must be close and have a deep connection with each other!" He calls, his words flushing out as he finds the right words to say.
"More Unison!"
After they had taken a break, Neji had wandered off to get some water for them both, Sakura was heading back to the training grounds, taking another route along the tree line, when her ears pick up on a conversation a few feet away, outside the tree line.
"If Tsunade finds out you won't then she'll be pissed off!" Cries the distraught female voice.
"Did you see how good forehead and Neji were?! Do you really want to be shown up by that?" The voice continues. Sakura knew the voice but it was too distorted by the distance and thick trees for her to pinpoint who it was.
"You have to practice with me and do the dance, Azune said so!"
By this point, Sakura had delved closer to the voice, and was only a few feet away, trees blocking her view. She tries to remain silent, listening closely.
"I can't dance, I refuse" comes a second voice, and Sakura is sure that this voice had come from Sasuke. No one was that stubborn or annoyed.
"Sasuke Uchiha! You come back here right now!" The female voice shrieks, getting a little distant now, as if chasing after Sasuke.
That would mean the other voice was Ino? Now that she thought about it, she hadn't seen Sasuke or Ino during the first part of training.
She begins to back away from the area, backtracking towards the meeting point for her and Neji, when she smacks into something hard behind her. She whips around, eyes wide and confused.
An anbu was standing behind her, and she inwardly curses. She'd forgotten all about the anbu keeping tabs on Uchiha!
"Sorry!" She calls as she hurries away from the anbu, who remained in the same spot, silent and mysterious, with an anbu mask on, designed in what looked like a lion shape.
The next day, the pink haired shinobi rose from bed early, as usual, gazing out of the window for a few minutes with half sleepy green eyes, before padding towards the bathroom for a soothing shower. The young kunoichi had always loved the feeling of the freshly cold floorboards on her bare feet, it reminded her that comfort of the shower was coming.
She'd never have guessed that dancing would cause aches in all her muscles, when she'd been going through ninja training every single day for at least half of her life.
Sighing, the hot water from the shower warms her muscles up, un knotting the tight feelings in them, especially the ones in her legs and her feet.
The heat from the shower made the room steamy, and as she steps out, she grabs a big fluffy white towel, wrapping it around herself, then towel drying her hair quickly, before unlocking the bathroom door, padding bare-footed through the corridor, past numerous pictures from the early days on the wall, images from a time almost forgotten but not quite.
She wished she could forget them.
Entering her bedroom, about to drop her towel off her body, the female shinobi is startled by the sight of Neji on the windowsill. She almost screams, but manages to stop herself in time, her pink lips opening in a gawp. Hurrying over to the window, one hand reaches over and un latching it off its hook, effectively popping it open. Neji slides through, standing awkwardly in the middle of her bedroom.
Sakura wasn't sure what to do, keeping the towel pressed against herself tightly.
Being unable to determine why, Sakura noted that it was odd seeing the Hyuuga standing in her rather messy bedroom.
"Neji, why were you on my windowsill?" She questions, still a little startled.
"Tsunade wants to see you" he explains sharply, his eyes, she noticed, scanning the entire room swiftly, but never looking directly at her. At least he was being a gentleman. Almost.
"Why did you not just go to my front door?" Yes, that fact had escaped her for the last minute.
"I did, but there was no answer" his voice replies simply.
Sakura guessed she wouldn't be getting much more of a reply from the Hyuuga, and so she ushers him out of the bedroom so she can get changed, her heartbeat slowing down more as she gets ready.
"Tsunade, you wanted to see me?" Sakura speaks, as she enters her former Sensei's office, taking the steps towards the desk, standing firmly.
"Yes, I wanted to speak to you about something, well, a request I have for you" she says, looking intently at the kunoichi's face, a little stern but underneath a soft expression.
"What is it ma'am?" Her voice sounding curious but also a tad concerned, Tsunade hadn't asked for a favour in a very long time. Strange.
The Hokage pauses, shuffling a few papers on her desk, then purposefully looking at Sakura. Sighing, then clearing her throat loudly and awkwardly, she opens her mouth to speak.
"YOU WANT ME TO DO WHAT?!" She growls, shaking her head furiously. "No! I won't do it" she adds, her brow furrowed deeply as her green eyes blaze.
Tsunade sighs calmly, simply staying sat at her desk, hands neatly folded together on the desk top and waiting patiently for her former student to finish her outburst. Sometimes she wondered whether Sakura being her student was a good idea; she'd adopted her temperament and tendency to break bones when mad.
"The audacity!" She growls, stomping up and down in a little line, her pale hands clenched into tight fists. "Is it not obvious that I want nothing to do with him Tsunade?!" She cries, looking at her sensei.
"Sakura" Tsunade says simply, authority seeping through her voice.
Sakura huffs, still stomping up and down.
"Sakura Haruno!" The Hokage repeats, now annoyed. Lord was her student stubborn as she was.
"You listen to me right now, it is ONE favour I ask of you, not only is it a personal favour but also a direct command as your Hokage, you have no choice but to abide"
Sakura growls furiously, but her eyes giving it all away; she wasn't just angry, she was upset. Tsunade had been her sensei for years, she knew Sakura inside and out.
"I've just about got him to agree to take part, but he refused to be in public with the rest of shinobi" she explains, her voice pinpointing every detail for the pink haired kunoichi.
"I spoke to Asune and according to him, you're one of the only females in the group that are actually good at the dance right off the bat, therefore I picked you for this, rather than anyone else" Tsunade continues, blocking off any possible escape routes for her former student. Sakura was beginning to think Tsunade hated her or something.
Sakura looks up at her Hokage, their eyes locking, brown on green.
"Sakura, Please" Tsunade speaks, almost softly now, so quietly, Sakura wasn't sure she'd even heard it. "The elders will be at the Final cherry blossom festivities...the reason I'm asking is because if Sasuke Uchiha does not participate, then he may not be allowed freedom in Konoha without Anbu escorts, it is sort of a last test if you will, to see if he has resumed a steady and clean cut position in our society".
"Let me get this straight," Sakura begins, standing in the middle of the room again. "You want me to teach Uchiha the dance, after the training sessions we have with Azune, but away from everyone else?" She questions.
"Yes"
"And then what?" She asks again.
"Once you are sure he is fine to return to the normal group, you will no longer be needed and can also return to your original partner" Tsunade speaks, replying honestly to her former student.
Sakura seems a little satisfied with this revelation, and she looks at her hokage with a firm mask.
"Fine, but you REALLY really owe me for this" she finally announces.
Tsunade smiles at the candy floss haired kunoichi, finally.
Sakura escapes Tsunade's office and begins her long walk back to her apartment, heading down the big dusty stone steps, the morning's silence welcoming her greatly.
Once at the bottom, her green eyes spot Neji leaning against the base of Hokage's tower, his long dark hair flowing in the soft breezes. Had he been waiting for her? She wonders to herself, as she walks over to him, candy floss coloured hair bobbing.
"What did Tsunade want?" He questions, pale eyes scanning her face for answers.
Wondering if she could tell him or not, she suddenly waves him off with her hand, absently, "it doesn't matter, don't worry".
Neji raises an eyebrow in response, before the stoic young man pushes off of the wall, "come with me" he says, and the pinkette looks at him strangely, acutely aware he had seen the look on her face.
"But we don't have dance training today do we?"
The Hyuuga cocks his head at her slightly, and she was sure he had a slim faint smirk tugging on the corners of his lips. "Yes, but I don't suppose you have anything to do?" Was his reply. Sakura had to agree with that, missions had slowly receeded lately, and teams were taking it in turns to get them, however sakura had not been on a mission in nearly a month. Sakura Haruno had made the decision of becoming a fully fledged Medic, of course taking missions with teams who could need her assistance.
In her eyes it was escaping the ideals of most Ninja, killing she could do, but she did not want blood on her hands. Having decided she was much more useful as a healer and not as a killer, she was regarded as one of the best medics (aside from Tsunade). Hence the reason she was kept off many minor missions and was sent on more dangerous ones where a good medic would be required.
The young man next to her however was probably feeling bored being away from missions, Sakura decided. He was, as Tsunade put it, on the cusp of being handed title of Anbu.
Why else would Neji Hyuuga want to hang out with Sakura Haruno?
The clearing was scarce, not a single person or animal could be seen in the massive open space, lined with trees. Turquoise eyes scan across the landscape, peculiarly wondering where everyone was. She and Neji had not seen nor heard of anyone they knew the entire walk here, even past Ichiraku's, where Naruto could always be found at lunch time...
How strange...There always seemed to be at least a few people here, training or what not.
Ignoring the obvious, she stalks across the dirt and grassy forest floor, heading to one side of the training grounds, the only sound her lithe feet on the ground and Neji's, closely following behind her.
Once to the other side of the training grounds, by the taller, thicker grown trees leading into the dark forest (one of which leads away from Konoha altogether if you follow the paths), Sakura turns to her fellow partner.
Her green eyes begin studying him for a moment. Then she takes a step towards him to initiate their dance training. Over the few days they had been partnered together, the pink haired kunoichi had overcome the intimacy of dancing with the Hyuuga male.
They begin to go through the steps slowly, even slower than the real dance was meant to go, Neji beginning to twirl them both around in circles of the figure eight. Repeating the steps till that very same point again and again.
Silence was heavy during this time, as Sakura found herself slowly being lulled by the soft steps and sweeps of the dance, Neji's hands holding her securely and masterfully.
Warmth from his body was drawing Sakura closer, the wind had begun picking up, brushing through the trees and sending shivers through her, soft pale skin becoming goose bumped. Neji does not seem to notice the change in temperature.
After a few more runs of the routine, Neji speaks, the silence seemingly unbroken, however. His deep voice was very quiet.
"Do you suppose the next part of the dance is swapping of partners?" He questions, wondering out loud. The pinkette nods her head, her perfectly straight hair swishing.
"Yes, probably, since Azune has not let us do the next steps" she answers fully, adding "Perhaps he's waiting until everyone has the hang of the main bit?".
The long haired male does not reply, instead he continues the steps, going through them once more with the petite female. In a sudden burst of whatever the hell Neji was thinking, he changes the routine after spinning in the figure of eight, suddenly taking her hand and spinning her outwards away from him, then bringing her back to his torso, of which the force causes her hands to fly up and rest on his chest as he lets her hand go. Throughout their motions, Sakura's candy floss coloured hair swishes and sways.
Her pale arms wind behind his neck, resting them there as he continues this odd improvisation, his strong hands holding her close by the curve of her lower back, warming the area with body heat. She quirks a pink eyebrow at him, in confusion and in question of his sudden actions.
Again, the Hyuuga does not reply, however Sakura almost chokes on thin air when Neji winks at her, before lifting her slightly and spinning, one arm under her thighs, the other on her back, the silent rhythm carrying them both. Her green eyes catch his pale ones and she sees a hint of mischievousness in them. Just what on earth had gotten into Neji?
Neji just...winked at me?! Inside her head different questions popped up, for instance why had he winked? What was he up to?
Her shocked and embarrassed expression seemed to egg him on a little as he puts her feet firmly back on the dusty ground, but not stopping, instantly twirling her around in a larger area, using sudden but fluid movements.
Green eyes silently question him, as he continues the dance, bodies centimetres apart, the wind going through the clearing much more quickly and harshly now, not that either of them seemed to notice.
"Neji, how do you dance so well?" The pinkette questions him, and his face returns to its nearly stoic mask, as they both receed into the first few steps of the dance routine again, over and over.
"Its because dancing is just like sparring, hand to hand combat, as it were" he replies, which the petite girl had not expected from him.
"How?" She asks, wondering what exactly he could possibly mean. Bloodshed was not the same as dancing with someone.
The male smirks for a second, before stepping away from the pink haired girl, Getting into his usual sparring stance.
"Let me show you" he says and then he moves to attack her.
She blocks his hand to hand attack, spinning around him to try and escape a few more strikes.
"Its all about the footwork, the upper half does not relate to dance" he explains, causing Sakura's eyes to retreat down to their feet as he goes through more attacks, but slowly. Her green eyes widen as she realises just how true his words were. They were doing the steps of the dance, but their torsos were apart.
"Wow" she says, looking up at the taller man across from her, "its the same, I wonder why that is". He seems to ponder this for a moment, before replying carefully, "perhaps the original dance was for Shinobi after all, and they created a passionate dance that simply involved what they were good at".
The pinkette goes silent then, as she ponders for a moment. So how could Sasuke need help with dancing? He was a good sparring Shinobi, maybe he just didn't know how easy this dance is...
Sakura is abruptly brought out of her revere as Neji comes close to her again, keeping them moving fluently, as she begins to dance back of her own accord, sliding one hand to his shoulder, swiftly strutting around his body, hand holding his shoulder the entire time, before hooking her leg up next to his hip, sliding her own down his leg. The Hyuuga catches on, gripping her wrist before spinning the pink haired Kunoichi once out to arms length, then pulling her back in to his body again, this time Sakura throwing a hand up to the side of his face, caressing it slightly, their faces inches apart. She could feel his soft breath on her lips.
Realising just how intimate this must seem to anyone else, Sakura snaps out of the random moment quickly diverting the moment by swiping his feet out from underneath him, laughing mightily at his expression, before pushing chakra into her legs as she begins to run the other way, backtracking and looking back to see him chasing after her at more speed than she was capable of.
The pinkette begins giggling as she runs away, not being able to control herself, effectively slowing herself down, Neji was catching up fast. Suddenly she finds herself being grabbed around the waist and swung in a little circle before being let to fall on the ground.
Sitting up, she begins giggling loudly, the sound ringing through the empty space, almost echoing through the silence. Neji looks at her incredulously before he himself cracks a slight smile. Sakura would settle for a half smile from him.
When she'd finally stopped her little giggling fit, chest heaving slightly, her big green eyes look up to her dance partner, who holds out his hand in a gentlemanly way for her to grab hold of, hoisting her to her feet once she takes his hand.
"Tsunade tells me she's going to organise a little sparring session for us Shinobi..." He says randomly, making Sakura quirk an eyebrow again. Seeing her look, he elaborates the statement. "It seems she noticed some of us aren't enjoying this dance thing, and decided she might organise something to get the frustration of less missions out of our systems".
That made sense, Sakura supposed. It was a Saturday, hence why they did not have any dance lessons, they wouldn't have them every weekend, only weekdays. "The little get together is tomorrow" the dark haired male adds, and Sakura nods in acknowledgement.
"I suppose I'll have to turn up, haven't you seen how strained Kiba and Naruto are becoming? They haven't had a good fight in days" she jokes, and Neji quirks a little smirk at her for a moment.
"I agree, I myself need to let loose a little".
Sakura laughs, and with that, the two begin their walk back to Konoha's town area, along the same path as always. She couldn't help but notice how much she'd enjoyed the past few hours, or the strange moment that had occurred just before with Neji. What would people think of that if they had seen? This dance thing certainly was getting to her. Maybe a break from it would help.
What Sakura didn't realise, is that as they walked away, Neji looks back over his shoulder, staring intently at a person who had just walked out of the deep green tree line and into the clearing, watching the two from across the way, jet black hair, dark eyes and an even darker expression.
Sasuke Uchiha.
"If love is a slow dance"
Slow Dance
