Author's Note: Deidara is here and I dont know how old he is but if anyone does know please tell me. I have a paring in mind for him but in order to do it I need his age. If know one knows I'll make him around his mid twenties. Gaara still has a tiny protion of Shukaku in his body, not enought to take over, just enough to cause problems like lack of sleep. Sakura will go into further detail about Gaara's medical issues later on. If I have failed to explain something let me know and I will go bakc and put it in to the best of my abilities. So, enjoy!

Summary: When dealing with the mystery that is life Sakura finds that it is best to experiment with what you have and look forward to the gifts that lie ahead. NejiXSakura.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, etc…

When Neji woke the next morning he noticed that something was very different but not in a bad way. He was warmer than usual and, wait… was that skin his was touching?

Neji opened his eyes to a wonderful sight. Sakura was curled up to his chest. Her breathing was becoming regular and her hair was dangling over her closed eyes. They were separated by bed rolls but the skin he had felt was his hand touching the back of her neck.

He savored the moment until it was obvious that she was about to wake up. He scooted back from her a little and pretended to go back to sleep.

He felt her shift and then sit up. He opened his eyes just in time to see her stretch in a rather cat like manner. She rubbed her eyes and looked around.

"Morning Neji," she said with a tired grin.

Neji noticed that she didn't look so chipper this morning. Something was off. Her smile wasn't as bright and her eyes seemed troubled but he decided that now was not the best time to talk about it.

"Good morning Sakura," he responded quietly.

The smell of breakfast floated into the tent and both occupants looked at each other before quickly packing up the bed rolls with one thing on their minds; food.

Upon exiting the tent he noticed that Kakashi was just as they had left him the night before, umbrella, porn, and all.

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As the day progressed Neji noticed that Sakura's disposition hadn't gotten any better. If anything it had only gotten worse.

Something was really bothering her and it wasn't something trivial. But so far he hadn't had the opportunity to confront her about it.

When they set up camp that night there was not rain and thankfully Shino had volunteered himself for the second night watch, which was the one no one wanted because it involved having to wake up in the middle of the night. Sakura went off to hunt and Neji filled the canteens.

Unfortunately Shikamaru offered to cook and they all found out exactly why Shino had passed on dinner. Neji swore he saw Sakura reach for her small pouch of poison antidotes when no one was looking.

Dinner was over and although it was "troublesome", Shikamaru said he would take the first watch.

Neji looked around the campsite and found Sakura setting up her things under a tree. After looking closer Neji saw Kakashi sleeping on a branch above her.

Sakura looked up and saw him standing a little ways away.

"Neji, come over here," she said as she set up her bedroll.

He nodded and walked over to her with his bedroll in hand. He set up in silence and laid down so that he could see Sakura next to him.

"Are you alright Sakura? Something seems wrong." He prompted in hopes of getting her to open up.

"No, everything is fine." she said with a fake smile.

"You are a horrible liar, Sakura." Her tired eyes looked away from him almost ashamed.

Neji raised an eyebrow and waited for her to tell him the truth. Sakura buried her face into the bedroll and sighed before looking back at him.

"I'm sorry, I just don't like to be seen as weak." He pulled her bed roll closer to his and looked her in the eyes.

"You are not weak. What's bothering you?" he said gently.

"Well, it's a few things really but I'm not quite sure if I should tell you... But for the sake of my sanity I think I should." Neji nodded understandingly. Most of her problems were probably medical and she as a medic she wasn't allowed to give out information on her patients. But right now she needed to vent and let it out of her system.

" I'm not sure why I'm hesitating. It must be out of habit. I'm not used to talking about a patient out side of the hospital. You will hear about it soon. What I am going to tell you is no secret now. Gaara had me inform all of his council and they choose to inform the public. News of his condition should reach Konoha's streets within the week. There is no doubt that it will cause great controversy, but when I gave Gaara his check up this week I found something disturbing." He remained silent as he waited for her to continue.

"When Akatsuki removed Shukaku they didn't take out all of him. Shukaku must have retreated into the furthest recesses of Gaara's body, or perhaps even his soul, making it look like he was gone but really all they got was his chakra. The bijuu's soul is still there. Gaara still cannot sleep because of this." Her voice sounded like she was going into professional mode. He was willing to listen even if he didn't understand the fine details of what she was about to say.

"Sleep is a natural human function. Sleep helps regulate the normal things your body does. You can imagine that this lack of sleep over the years has lead to functionary problems in his body, many of them in fact. Upon inspection I found that his body's internal clock is drastically off. His body does not recognize herbal medication and he has problems producing normal human fluids as well as a few necessary hormones." Her voice lowered to a whisper and it seemed a bit strained.

"The fluids problem is the most troubling. It has to do with not producing certain fluids like sweat, spit, urine, and sperm. Some of them he does not produce in a timely manner and others he does not produce at all. One of them, which is the least of my worries at the moment, is infertility. I was upset for him but he told me not to be concerned. He doesn't want children. But still I feel bad." by the sound of her voice it want the medical things that were bothering her as much as it was the fact that these were medical problems that involved one of her friends.

Obviously Sakura had no problem talking about these kinds of things, human fluids and the like, but Neji couldn't say he was accustomed to discussing bodily functions. Talking about those kind of things was not something he looked forward to but he realized that if he wanted to have any kind of relationship with the medic he would have to get used to it.

"But if I really think about it here is really only one problem… I can't think of anyway to get his sleeping cycle back on track. Getting him to sleep would rectify a lot of his bodies issues. He's my friend. I have to help him but I don't know how…" Her voice trailed off and Neji found himself taking the girl in his arms. She was upset for her friend and Neji knew of no other way to make her feel better.

"You will find a way. You aren't one of the greatest medics for nothing." Sakura nuzzled her head into his chest and sighed.

"Your right. I need to suck it up and do some research. I'll start on it as soon as I get home. Thank you for listening Neji."

Silence consumed them for a moment as they both reflected on the conversation hey just had. Something bothered Neji though.

"Why did you tell me?" Neji asked the young woman in his arms.

"I know I can trust you," she said with a sleepy smile. "Besides, you hardly say much of anything anyway," she ended with a yawn. He had to admit that what she said was true; he wasn't the kind of person to divulge in gossip or idle conversations.

"Go to sleep Sakura." her big green eyes blinked up at him and then closed.

Neji waited for her breathing to even out before he too fell into a light sleep.

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BOOM!!!

Neji's eyes shot open at the loud noise, effectively rousing him from his sleep. He instinctively rolled on top of Sakura to protect her from their attackers. He looked down and found that Sakura was wide awake.

"What's going on?" she asked him as she looked around for their teammates.

Shino's bugs were in action and Kakashi had already joined him in the battle. Shikamaru on the other hand was yawning and rubbing his eyes as he jumped up and grabbed a kunai.

Amused chuckles could be heard from high above them. A large white bird circled above the trees; a very familiar large white bird. Neji stood and brought Sakura with him.

"Shikamaru, it's Akatsuki." Sakura said as she pulled out a kunai.

Neji activated his Byakugan and took out some shuriken. Neji pointed to a white spider on a tree near by. Sakura threw the kunai and the figurine blew up upon impact.

Shikamaru avoided being blown up by using the substitution jutsu while Neji took out a few white hummingbirds headed in their direction using the shuriken.

"Sakura!" came Kakashi's call through the trees. The enemy was coming for her.

She could feel the chakra getting closer. She looked up and saw white. A large bird was hovering in front of them.

"My orders are to take you to Akatsuki," said the man standing on the bird. His blonde hair was long, and the scope over his left eye was present as usual. "It has been a while hasn't it, Sakura-hime, un?"

Sakura clenched her fists and her eyes narrowed.

"Deidara…"

End Comments: Alright so the battle is about to begin! Now I had the debate about whether to use "un" or "yeah" for Deidara but un is shorter. So I'll take a poll. Which ending is less annoying or should I just get rid of it all together? Personally I think it's annoying but he wouldn't be him with out it so I'm leaving it up to you. And who should be with him? I'll let you choose (but not Itachi! It can be anyone but him!!! I'll even bring Sasori back from the dead just don't pick Itachi). Review if you want to… I would like but whatever.