Truthful Deception

By Paris Lee

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wOw.

To all: Thank you very much and I'm sorry about the delay! I'm so happy...

Even though my I broke off my engagement to my two-timing fiance...

Please, read and review. Thanks! Oh, and NO FLAMES please!

I do not own Naruto.

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"Being in this place only reminds me how fast the years sped by." Umuino Iruka reminiscently let out a long drawn breath as he sat down and signalled for a waitress. "I remember the first time I came here with Naruto. He was only twelve years old then and this place was nothing more than a small and simple stall with a few barstools. And now…"

Shiranui Genma played with the senbon in his mouth and joined the Academy Instructor, who had let his sentence drift, eye the place.

Indeed, the Ichiraku Ramen Food Stall was now the Ichiraku Restaurant but only with two large tables for large numbers of guests, five smaller tables for two to four people, and a handful of waitresses. The owners decided not to make the place too big so as to maintain its pleasant, warm, and cozy ambiance.

"By the way, where's that adopted of yours?" Genma asked. "This place always gets too quiet when he's not around."

"Oh, he's on a mission with Shikamaru and Sasuke." Iruka replied as he pulled himself out from his reverie. "But I'm expecting him back soon."

"How's everything going with him and his girlfriend?"

"Well, Ino could be loud and nagging. And damn bossy, too. And lately, she's been very moody and touchy as well." Iruka whispered cautiously after making sure the woman in topic was not around and then concluded with his normal voice and with a fond smile. "So, all in all, I'd have to say that everything's going well between them. She keeps my boy in track."

"Good afternoon gentlemen." The waitress politely greeted the seasoned ninjas and, while handing them the menu, predictably blushed at Genma's playful smile. "I'll j-just come back when you're r-ready."

"Stop it, Genma. I doubt your wife would be happy with your flirting. And I doubt the Hokage will let it pass. She was, after all, her very first apprentice." Iruka dryly warned the pathologic flirt as soon as the waitress had left.

Genma mildly sweatdropped at the admonition and was about to reply with something witty but the words never left his mouth. Instead, his senbon fell on his lap as he gaped at the sight before him. "Well, I'll be…"

"You'll be what?" Iruka asked unflappably while going over the Ichiraku Menu but looked up to face his companion when he heard him let out a slow wicked chuckle.

"I'll be damned – that's what I'll be!" Genma, gaze never leaving the newly arrived customers, exclaimed with his senbon casually back in place as the Academy Instructor turned his head to follow his friend's line of sight. "Who'd have ever thought the Cherry Blossom would be picked Gentle Fist Style?"

"I see you've been spending time with Kakashi's collections again." Iruka, though highly surprised and intrigued at the pair he was currently looking at, couldn't help but comment with a trace of part frustration and part pity at his comrade's statement that could have easily been misinterpreted.

"Can you order for me, Iruka?" The handsome senbon-chewing jounin asked as he started standing up from his seat. "I promise this will only take a few minutes."

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'Okay, he's either a gentleman or a chauvinist.' The medic-nin, gracefully taking her seat, thought cynically after thanking the Byakugan expert for the second time since he had picked her up at home. The first time was for when he opened the door of the Ichiraku Restaurant for her and the second for when he pulled her chair out for her.

Either way, it stirred something vaguely familiar within her. Something she did not want to acknowledge at the moment. So she mentally shoved it in the back of her mind for later scrutiny.

"I never thought you to be the cynical type." Neji, having taken his own seat, commented off-handedly.

Sakura snapped out of her thoughts and blinked her eyes in confusion.

"I opened the door and pulled out the chair for you because propriety demands it. I think it is safe to say that I am neither."

Sakura's eyes widened in astonishment at his words as he accepted the menu from the blushing waitress and then told her that he would just call for her if they were ready to order.

"No, you did not say it out loud, Haruno-san." The young and handsome jounin reassured her insipidly while scanning the menu for anything that would tempt his palate. "You were simply careless. Your conflict showed in your facial expression and in the tone of your voice."

Sakura's face coloured in mild embarrassment. She wasn't careless. She had always been like that. She had always been easy to read. But through the years, she had learned to mask her thoughts. It was good enough but obviously not by a Hyuuga standard. Damn it.

"I, well, I'm not." She slightly stammered and then made clear which point she was negating. "Cynical, I mean. At least I don't think I am..."

Neji's facial expression looked like a cross between serious puzzlement and very mild amusement at the woman in front of him who seemed to be silently, and quite comically, debating with someone inside her if she really was or wasn't a cynic.

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"Are you serious?" Shizune asked her handsome husband, who had just puffed in before her several minutes earlier, in surprise. "She never said anything to me."

"Yes, well, I saw it with my own eyes." Genma, seated on his cute wife's office desk, reaffirmed. "Iruka was there, too. Still is, actually."

The Godaime's right hand woman, who had gotten over her initial reaction, now had a dreamy look on her face as she stood up from her chair and walked over to her husband's seated figure. "Oh, this is so perfect! They must have connected with each other yesterday at the hospital!"

"Anyway, I have to go back." The senbon user remarked as he stepped down from the table and gave his wife a quick but loving kiss on the lips followed by a bear hug. "I told Iruka to wait for me there."

"Genma!" Shizune managed to giggle out despite the amorous bear hug she was still encased in.

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After watching the medic-nin assertively win a silent debate with herself, the Byakugan expert called for the waitress and ordered for the both of them.

Their conversations, from the moment he had picked her up at her place to the moment they had arrived at the restaurant were purely polite small talk. Fine weather and chances of rain. That kind of stuff. But, while they were waiting for their food to be served, she had surprised him by sharing her views about the politics, science, and liberal arts of Konoha and its neighbouring countries when they overheard a loud conversation from the table next to them about the Godaime's leadership skills.

And she really knew what she was talking about, too. This, he had to admit – though grudgingly.

"…just like the particular situation we are in right now. Our enemies are out there. We may not know where or who they are exactly at the moment. But we do know that they're getting awfully desperate if they –."

Sakura stopped in mid-sentence when she looked at her 'date'.

Any female in their right mind would have.

There he was before her, done eating and casually leaning back on his chair with his arms crossed over his chest. But what had really stopped her in mid-sentence was the small smile on his face. A very small smile in point of fact. It was different from the one she saw him give to his cousin at the meeting, of course, but it made him look positively more attractive, nonetheless. Damn attractive.

But she did not gawk. There was only an extremely faint, almost non-existent, tinge of red across her cheeks. And she had very quickly gathered her wits about to come up with something to say to keep her from looking stupid.

Yes, she was proud of herself.

"This is so embarrassing." Sakura smiled sheepishly as she looked from her half-eaten blueberry cheesecake to the questioning look of her 'soon-to-be husband'. "Look at me. I haven't stopped talking since before the food was served. I'm really sorry. Sometimes, I get so caught up with what I'm talking about that I lose track of almost everything around me."

Nice save.

"It is quite alright, Haruno-san." Neji replied with formal courtesy. "I had no idea you were learned and well-informed in these topics."

"Well, of course." Sakura replied matter-of-factly. She then signalled for the bill and continued. "We barely know each other so I suppose it's only understandable that you know little of me. And what little you do know must still be of when we were only genins."

"Hn." Neji remarked somewhat distractedly as he suddenly remembered several events in the past years, related to the pink-haired kunoichi seated in front of him, which had certainly made an impression on him one way or another.

The waitress came with the bill that moment and was blushing madly when she handed it to the young jounin.

Sakura simultaneously reached for her pouch and the bill only to see Neji handing it back already, with money, to the waitress.

And when their hands momentarily and very slightly touched, Sakura could swear the girl was going to hyperventilate and faint.

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"Sakura, my lovely Cherry Blossom, whose burning power of youth can fuel me and can make me go to the beautiful moon and back, whatever are you doing here? Have you come to see me, perchance?"

'And so the apprentice really does surpass the master.' Sakura thought and sweatdropped when TenTen's fist forcefully collided with the green-clad ninja's head before he had the chance to grab her hands.

"Uh, I'm sorry, no. We just came from Ichiraku." Sakura replied and offered the thick-browed ninja an apologetic smile. "We decided to take a walk and we ended up coming here. I guess I wanted to reminisce."

They were in the playground several feet from the Ninja Academy. It was a good move, too, since they were able to pass by several people on the way. Most of which had eyed the couple with interest.

Exactly what they wanted.

"Ah, yes, I see you are with my eternal rival!" Lee exclaimed after rubbing the sore spot on his head TenTen's fist collided with and now posed to face the setting sun with his clenched fist raised to the air. "Oh, how cruel the fates can be – for my one and only love to be with my one and only rival!"

It was when a gush of waterfall-tears started streaming down Lee's face that the other three decided to ignore him and proceed to any semblance of a conversation.

"Why are you and Lee here?" Neji asked with no preamble.

TenTen, very much used to her former team mate's no nonsense candor, feigned shocked innocence playfully. "Is there any reason why we should not be here?"

"Is there any reason why you should?"

"Hmph."

"Hn."

"Huh?" Lee remarked in bewilderment at what was happening.

Sakura watched the exchange in silent amusement. It was nice seeing her 'future husband' like this. It was easy to miss but she caught it nonetheless. She took comfort in the idea that he was not so emotionless after all. He was considerably more at ease and a little less formal when with his former team mates. Very much like how Sasuke was with her and Naruto.

At the thought, her silent amusement turned into mild envy.

'Gai's Team', as they were still fondly called, had more free time to get together and catch up as compared to 'Team Seven'. Naruto and Sasuke were almost always away on missions while she was busy with her lessons with the Godaime and her shifts at the hospital.

Sakura mentally shook herself from her trance just in time to hear TenTen's explanation as to why they were there as well.

"We just came from the Academy. Iruka-sensei asked Lee the day before if he could take over his afternoon class for today." Tenten started to explain. "He agreed, of course, and they both conferred the matter to the Hokage. She, in turn, gave them her go-ahead."

"And as I was just about to enter, I felt TenTen's signature chakra nearby!" Lee supplemented with typical gusto. "She kindly offered her assistance and I gladly accepted. Our combined power of youth made teaching the children Bushin no Jutsu much easier!"

"Anyway, we have to get going now." TenTen smartly interjected before the green-clad beast of Konoha got started on another bout of exaggerated ramblings. "You guys take care!"

"Farewell, my lovely Cherry Blossom!" Lee called out while being dragged away by the Weapons Mistress. "And we shall meet again, my eternal rival!"

Sakura waved a goodbye at the retreating figures of her friends while Neji managed a grunted 'Hn.'.

"I believe we should get going as well, Haruno-san." The handsome jounin suggested when their friends disappeared from plain sight and received a conforming nod from the somewhat distracted pink-haired medic.

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"Thank you for walking me home, Hyuuga-san." Sakura politely remarked as she faced him.

"Think nothing of it, Haruno-san, for it was my pleasure." Neji replied with well-infused courtesy as the slowly rising moon shone on them eerily as a spotlight would.

And, indeed, both ninjas felt as though they were in the spotlight. They were in front of the pink-haired medic's apartment with several hopeless romantic on-lookers behind them. Thankfully, their audience was not taught to 'see through the obvious' or to 'look what is underneath' because the exchange was purely devoid of significant emotion.

It was careless but otherwise unavoidable.

Earlier, on their walk back to the apartment, the Godaime's protégé had turned silent and was obviously thinking about something. The Byakuugan wielder, being the keen observer and genius that he was, knew what it was about but decided to wait until know to bring it out.

Sakura put on her well-practiced smile as she bade him a good night's sleep and turned to open the door to her humble abode when she felt a warm hand encompass her wrist followed by a few gasps of surprise and, quite possibly, excitement from their still-present audience.

"I wish to tell you something, Haruno-san." Neji said in reply to the look of surprise and confusion his 'bride-to-be' was giving him and, after hearing an excited high-pitched 'Oooh, he's going to admit his undying love for her already!' in the background, added in a hard tone of voice, "…in private."

There were several sounds of disappointment but, in a few minutes' time, they were finally given enough privacy with their audience having gone back to their own business or inside their house.

"Look, I know I shouldn't have been distracted. It was careless and selfish of me and I'm very sorry. I'll see that it won't happen again. Just…" Sakura beat the Hyuuga Prodigy to the punch and tiredly explained in a low voice only the two of them could hear. "…please, I'm still trying to adjust. I'm not perfect like TenTen or Rock Lee. Or You. But that doesn't mean I'm weak, okay? I just need to adjust a bit."

Neji typically furrowed his eyebrows together in consternation at this. At her. She thought he was going to rebuke her. Well, yes. Actually, he was. But not the way she thought he was going to. She was on the defense. It was like she was expecting him to verbally attack her. Did he really exude that type of persona?

His frown deepened.

"Now you look here, Hyuuga-san. I already said I was sorry." Sakura forcefully whispered, mistaking his deepening frown for growing disapproval. "I know how important this mission is and how much is at stake. Or have you forgotten what this mission entailed me to do? I had to sacrifice the one dream that ever truly mattered to me – having a family of my own."

'No, I did not forget because I did not know.' Neji answered her question in his mind and immediately thought of a certain pineapple-haired jounin strategist. 'Damn it all, Nara. I prepared the mission plan with you to take care of important details like this.'

No wonder she felt such animosity for him. Those present in the meeting at the Hyuuga Mansion know that their soon-to-be marriage will just be a ruse but to the rest of the world…

Neji mentally shook his head. He knew what he had gotten the pink-haired kunoichi into and its irreparable consequences but there was no turning back. His true mission overweighed any sympathy he may have felt for Haruno Sakura. He vowed to keep the Hyuuga Heiress – his very own cousin – far from harm's way.

"Yes, you should not have been distracted. It was selfish and careless of you and you should be sorry. You must definitely see that it is never to happen again."

Sakura curtly bobbed her head in understanding and unlocked the door to her apartment. "If there is nothing else, Hyuuga-san, I'd –."

"There is." Neji interjected with mild intensity and continued only after making sure he had the kunoichi's undivided attention. "I will not have you doubt yourself nor will I let you compare yourself to TenTen, Rock Lee, myself, or anyone for that matter. You are not weak. And, now, I begin to believe that you never were. I sincerely apologize that this mission cost you your dreams but that is part of what makes the life of a ninja – sacrifices. Generations of ninjas before us have made a lot of it as will we and the generations after us. The life of a ninja is not for himself but for the people and country he swore it to."

And with that, the Hyuuga Prodigy bid her a faint good night and disappeared into the night.

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Shikamaru sneezed rather strongly in the middle of a jump that he missed the branch he was supposed to land on by two inches. It was a good thing that, though he was lazy as hell, his reflexes were still up to snuff. He was able to grab hold of the branch with his left hand and, as his right hand was currently busy wiping his nose with an immaculate white handkerchief, used it to swing him up the branch.

"Never really thought of you as a handkerchief-user type of guy, Pineapple-head." Naruto commented after his friend regained his footing and caught up with him.

"I'm not."

"Then why do you have one?"

"I have a lot."

"Then you are a handkerchief-user type of guy."

"I'm not." Shikamaru negated, feeling talkative that night. "I don't use them."

"But you're using one right now." The blonde asked, thoroughly confused.

"I said 'them'. Not 'this'." Shikamaru pointed to the handkerchief in his hand, feeling somewhat energetic that night. Funny what a sneeze can do. "I don't use the ones my mother made. They're too…"

"Troublesome?" Naruto finished inquiringly.

"Yes, troublesome." Konoha's top strategist agreed with growing amusement. "You catch on fast."

"I do, don't I?" The fox-boy asked proudly. "So, who's it from, then?"

Shikamaru's amusement died there. He knew the hyperactive dolt would make a big deal out of it if he found out who the handkerchief came from. But hiding the identity wouldn't bode well for his ear and temperament either. He had no choice but to choose which the lesser evil was.

"Who?"

'Damn troublesome conversations.' He thought and risked a look at the bouncing blonde beside him and the expectant look plastered on his face. 'Never again.'

"Who?"

He sighed and decided to get it over with. "The Hyuuga Princess."

As expected, the hyperactive fox-boy went wild with the information. Jumping from one idea to another. From threatening to kill the strategist for even thinking he could go out with Hinata to congratulating him for getting one of the most wonderful women he knows to promising a lifetime of unimaginable pain should he hurt her.

And his ranting went on and on but fell on deaf ears since the strategist had already tuned him out after hearing his first sentence. He would have gone on with more if an intriguingly pissed-off Sasuke had not chosen that time to accidentally let slip from his hand a kunai.

And two shurikens.

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That night, Haruno Sakura oddly slept well.