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Chapter Eleven: Dreams and Ramen

"Sakura?...Sakura can you hear me?" Neji's warm voice filled the eerie silence of the hospital room. The occasional beeping of monitors came from faraway chambers belonging to real patients, but other than that sound the whole hallway was silent, the lone pair completely unmolested by anyone, "Sakura?" the Hyuga tried one more time before giving up. He knew she was fine, her breathing pattern told him she was merely asleep, but that didn't stop him from worrying about her health. It was dangerous when one completely drained themselves of chakra.

A slight draft blew in the room, causing the pearl-eyed man to shiver a little and tuck the sheet surrounding Sakura's waist in around her more. She looked so peaceful, like a sleeping angel, her head sideways upon the pillow, lips slightly parted as they took air; Neji wanted to capture those lips with his own, so badly he could feel them tingling with the thought, but his shinobi restraint on his emotions held him back. Kissing her now would be one of the worst things you could do, his thoughts tortured him, What if she doesn't feel the same way as you do? What if she isn't ready to face love again? You saw how much damage the Uchiha-teme did to her heart… Neji's reason could only agree. He would wait, as he had those five long years when she was gone, he would wait to see how she felt and only then would he act. Pulling up a chair at her bedside, he sat down and watched her, prepared to wait eons for her to wake and gaze at him with those enchanting green eyes.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

Warm soft clouds the color of dawn wrapped Sakura up in their embrace. She knew she was dreaming, the cloudscape was too beautiful to be anything realistic; the soft colors of the rising sun touched the fluffy white surroundings with a gentle orange glow. But the light was making it hard to see anything around her, she could tell someone was standing far off to her left, and was sure they were male, but she couldn't see who it was, only feel an intense longing to go to them. With a yell of frustration she tried to move through the thick clouds but it was like running through deep water: a slow, tiring process. The light was growing brighter, so intensely luminous that one of Sakura's hands instinctively came up to cover her eyes; the figure was walking away, his progress unimpeded unlike her own.

"WAIT!" she cried helplessly, slipping in the wet clouds, the light growing ever brighter, "Wait don't leave me!" her frantic cries were muffled by the suffocating white. She didn't know why, but every fiber of her being wanted to be with this strange man, "Please, wait for me!"

In an instant, so fast Sakura's ninja skills couldn't even follow the motion, the figure was in front of her; so close the only thing she could see was his eyes, and even then the growing light was making them hard to make out. A single word came out of his mouth, his strong hands clenching her elbows in a steely grip:

"Sakura"

As the man spoke her name, a wind so strong as to be a hurricane, blew Sakura into the coming light; she screamed in the sudden pain of the experience, and opened her eyes wide in shock, simultaneously locking eyes with the figure of the receding man.



They were moon-pale, a perfect oval inside the white of the eye. Sakura knew those eyes, she knew that person; with a shout that took away the last of her broken breath, she cried out the name of the man who she had been longing to be with the entire space of the dream.

"NEJI!"

But before she could read his reaction, the all-encompassing light blinded her. Crying out in pain, she squeezed her eyes shut as the warm feeling in her heart sped her on her way to consciousness.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

"Hmmm…Neji…" a moan escaped Sakura's throat as her green eyes slowly slid open, pupils shifting involuntarily at the change in light. For a fuzzy moment, she lay there in bed, absorbing her dream, trying to grasp it's meaning; but a more pressing matter caused her to stir, "What time is it?" Silence answered her question, but as she rolled over to stare at the doorway to her room, one of her hands came into contact with something that was soft and warm. Startled, she recoiled instinctively, looking down at the strange object she had touched. It was a head, covered thickly with long brown hair and attached to a pair of wide strong shoulders that were hardened with years of shinobi training. Instantly, although she couldn't see the face, Sakura knew it for Neji.

"Neji! What are you doing here?" surprise tempered her voice, but she got no answer to her question except for light snoring. He's asleep! She gave a small chirp of laughter, he looks so peaceful…I must have been unconscious for a long time for him to have passed out sitting up… She glanced out at the clock in the hallway…ten o'clock in the morning; I was asleep a long time! Her gaze turned back to Neji's body. The Hyuga prodigy was still sitting in his chair, but now his head was down upon Sakura's bed and one of his tanned arms was clutching some of her blankets in a loose grip. Sakura smiled warmly down at him, and, before she could stop herself, one of her own slim white hands entwined itself with his own. Her soft fingers stroked his calloused palm, gently massaging them. I wonder what holding hands with him would be like? She questioned absent-mindedly, he has such a strong body…Her heart beat quickened at the thought of him wrapping her up in those vice-like arms or pressing his own smooth lips to her own. A familiar warm feeling, one she had felt often before, filled her with peace as she continued to stroke his hand.

Is it possible I have feelings for Neji? The thought tore at her mind; He's been my closest friend for years…A memory of his eyes, always looking gently down at her, filled her mind. Had she mistaken feeling she saw in his eyes for mere friendship? What if he loved her all this time and she had never known? A small smile lit her lips as she gazed down at his sleeping form…Perhaps I too have loved him all this time and have only been too scared to face it…the only time I can remember not having this feeling within me is when Neji is not around… The Cherry Blossom thought back to all the times she had thought she loved the Hyuga, but merely passed off the feeling as deep friendship…Can love happen between us?...Uncertainty filled her heart.

His family was the Hyuga's, not a clan to be trifled with. Unions among them were considered a political affair; treaties and alliances were formed when a Hyuga married. Sakura smiled wistfully, Good luck getting Hinata, Naruto. But even as she smiled at the thought of Naruto and Hinata, hopelessness cascaded over her as she looked down at Neji…What could I possibly offer the Hyuga Clan? I'm a nobody, a Haruno nobody, my only real recommendation is Tsunade's apprenticeship and how will that change anything? She glanced down again at the sleeping Neji, pushing aside all thoughts in her mind…It doesn't really matter, I don't even know if he returns my feelings yet. Why would he even want me when he could marry someone richer or prettier?...she closed her eyes and sighed, clearing her mind of all the negative thoughts. She knew that they would only interfere with her concentration when it was time to go save her last patient. I should go finish healing Kiba. Akamaru must be sick with worry. The sight of the poor dog whimpering in the observation room was enough to get Sakura off the bed in a hurry, but she made sure to do it gently, so Neji would remain undisturbed. Quietly, she strapped on her sandals and 

kunai pouch, quickly brushing her teeth as well. Bending down over the sleeping Hyuga, she pressed a kiss onto the palm of his hand and tucked a few stray strands of hair behind his ear.

"Sleep well Neji."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"I'm here!" Sakura poked her pink head around the door into the observation room as she had done the day before, "I'm ready to complete my healing on Kiba." She gave a warm smile to everyone in the room, but glanced around a little pensively in search of Gaara or Naruto. Silently, the doctors eternally looking out into the sick room made way for her as she approached the glass and peeked inside. The Cherry Blossom sighed in relief as she saw Naruto at Hinata's bedside, mask and gloves on, and Gaara over by Shikamaru, speaking with one of the nurses who was changing his I.V.

"Sakura-san!" the same doctor who had greeted her yesterday came over, "Sakura-san , thank Kami you've arrived!" worry was evident in his eyes and furrowed brow, "The third patient, the one that remains unhealed, he has taken a turn for the worst…His kidneys have begun to fail and his lung tissue has sustained potentially more damage, in fact, this morning he flatlined and we had to restart his heart. Kazekage-sama told us to do what we could to keep him alive and above all not to wake you. He said you had to regain your chakra so you would be able to save him." The poor man was sweating with the exertion of his hysterical talking. But the words were lost on Sakura.

"Is he stable now?"

"Hai."

Instantly she snapped into action, snatching at the spare masks by the sick room door and strapping it on, all the while heading straight for Kiba's bed; she glanced at the monitors that surrounded the dog-man's unconscious body, checking his blood pressure and monitoring his heart. What she saw was not good.

Kiba's heart was beating abnormally fast, but so faintly that the monitor was hardly picking it up. His blood pressure had dropped dangerously low, and the sores lining his skin were beginning to look putrid. With the grim set of her face, Sakura checked her chakra reserves mentally. She still needed to recover from yesterday's escapade, but she had enough to get the job done. Draining my chakra to breaking point this often can't be good for me, she thought wryly as she focused the green energy into her hands. Kiba's feral features looked unusually worn and pale as she placed her hands upon his chest and pumped her chakra into his dilapidated body. The medic entered his lung tissue, using the same technique she had used on Shikamaru and Hinata, and felt a sigh of relief ripple through her mask as the new cells began to take and grow. Sweat broke out as it had before upon her brow as she continued to sew up the feral man's lungs, but she did not lose her concentration, and after awhile more of inducing cells to grow, she withdrew her chakra from her hands and sat back on her heels with a sigh of a job well done.

Next is the brain, she thought as she went through the familiar motions of scanning the brain tissue for damage, and after that, she began rejuvenating the skin. By the time she was done, Kiba looked decidedly better, and his blood pressure was up, but Sakura knew there still might be damage to the kidneys or possibly even the heart. Flatlining was no small matter.

Gingerly, she placed her chakra filled hands over the left side of Kiba's chest and entered his body slowly, forcing the green energy to be accepted by his heart. The chakra flirted with the arteries, swimming through the man's veins and all four chambers of the blood-pumping organ, mending and changing any injuries caused by the sudden failure. As the she finished with the heart, Sakura took advantage of the body's circulatory system and sent a load of energy down to the kidneys, allowing the chakra to swirl within the nephrons and surround each of the 

organs in a bubble of healing energy. Thank Kami he has no more internal injuries, Sakura thought in relief as she withdrew her chakra from his body and let it flow out of her hands, he won't have any memory of the event either though…how odd. Shrugging off the thought, the Cherry Blossom sighed in complete happiness, I finished, I did it! I healed all three of them; they're going to make it! She felt the familiar sense of dizziness accompany her chakra loss, but she felt a reassuring hand upon her back, holding her up against the urge to faint.

"We're all proud of you Sakura-san," it was Gaara, the redhead's intense eyes showing with pride, "Go rest now, my medic's can handle the rest. Tsunade-sama is going to hear all about this, she'll be very pleased with your work." He ushered the tired pink-haired nin out of the sickroom and past Naruto, who was sleeping in a similar fashion to Neji on Hinata's bed, "Go back to bed now, draining yourself of chakra two days in a row isn't healthy at all. When you wake, I'll have Neji escort you back to Konoha. I don't think I could get Naruto to leave Hinata for all the ramen in Suna." He chuckled a little at his old friend's antics when it came to the dark-haired Hyuga girl.

Sakura sleepily nodded in reply, but ironically, as tired as she was from draining herself for two days in a row, she was tired of sleep. It seemed to her that the past few days had been an endless row of waking up, completing some task, and then retiring back to bed again. Now, though she did feel exhaustion creeping into her system, the heady pleasure of triumph was giving her a high. Adrenaline was pumping anxiously through her body, the Cherry Blossom felt like she was standing on top of the world.

I finished what I set out to do, the victory ricocheted through her mind, the odds were against me, yet I did it! Even Gaara doubted me, but I still came through in the end! Her mind was afire with Rock Lee-like energy, she felt like she could go run around Suna a dozen times and still not be satiated. In the back of her mind, she remembered Neji, still asleep in her room, dozing peacefully while she finished her task.

I can't wait to tell him, she grinned as she began to sprint down the hallway from the sick room. Zipping down the hallway, her black sandals made a squeaking sound as they sought for purchase on the slick tiled hospital floor. The door to her room was open, her hand brushing it to keep her balance as she entered, but Neji was nowhere in sight. Where did he go? The Cherry Blossom looked around, slightly dejected. She had hoped that the Hyuga prodigy would still be there, handsome face cradled on the edge of her bed by the soft white sheets, but now that she saw he wasn't, her triumph was overshadowed a bit.

"Neji?" she called softly out into the hallway, "Neji?" the beeping of distant monitors was her only reply. Sighing, the medic walked back slowly into her room, shutting the door behind her. She thought of going back to sleep, but the growling noise from her stomach told her that she had a more urgent need to satisfy. Brushing her hands down her clothes absentmindedly, the deep wrinkles in her skirt drew her attention. I can't believe I slept in this thing! A small amount of embarrassment turned her cheeks red as she thought of how she walked around the sick room in this disheveled state; she immediately walked over to her bag and began rummaging through it. A light green tank, the color of her eyes, followed by a pair of baggy black pants that reached to the tops of her shins were laid on the bed as the Cherry Blossom slipped out of the clothes she had unfortunately slept in the night before. Stumbling a little as she disrobed and pulled her pants on, she stood for a moment topless except for her black bra; it was then she felt that eerie sense of being watched again.

"Neji!?" for the second time in two days, the Hyuga had seen Sakura barely clothed; the unfortunate man didn't even see the chakra-infused punch coming at him as he cascaded backwards out into the cool hallway, "Haven't you ever heard of knocking? That's the second time Neji Hyuga! I didn't expect someone who was raised in such a high household to have such a lack of manners…!" the ranting went on Sakura's glowing fist shaking mere inches from Neji's bruised cheek. But he was lucky to get off with such a minor injury and he knew it; before Sakura left on her journey, Naruto would regularly have broken noses and black eyes from her chakra-filled punches. Dazed and confused, Neji rubbed one trembling hand over the purpling bruise as Sakura stood over him, still topless except for a bra, but face flushed from her anger and surprise. And then, in the space of an instant, the 

raging Fury vanished and became a healing Angel as Sakura knelt down on one knee and placed her glowing hand over the bruise. The surprising warmth snapped Neji out of his daze and pulled him back to the land of the living and by that time, the bruise had already been swiped off his tanned flesh by Sakura's soft hands.

"I'm sorry Neji…" her voice was a little strangled sounding as she tried to apologize without laughing, "You just surprised me and I didn't expect you and…I'm tired and hungry…" the excuses poured out of her mouth like water as she resisted the urge to giggled at Neji's still slightly-shocked face. She knew that not everybody can punch a Hyuga and live to tell the tale. With a clasping of hands and a surge of strength, Sakura helped Neji up to his feet and gave him a shy smile before realizing she was still in her bra. "EEK!" in a flash, the Cherry Blossom was back in her room, slipping on the green tank top and fastening her hitai-ate up in her hair. Neji stood back in the hallway, arms folded across his chest, a small smile on his lips. Even though he had just gotten a mouthful of Sakura's fist, he couldn't help but smile at how adorable she was.

"I'm sorry to have scared you, you're right, I should've knocked," he apologized as Sakura met him out in the hall, "I went back to Gaara's house while you were healing to freshen up and change clothes; I was just coming to see if you wanted lunch." He gave her a quizzical look, as her stomach rumbled undeniably, "I'll take that as a yes…" they both chuckled a little and she linked her arm through his playfully, giving him one of her warmest smiles.

"I was going to ask Naruto as well, but I couldn't drag him away from Hinata even for a bowl of ramen." The pair chuckled at Neji's statement, and Sakura could only agree that it was true.

"How have they been while I was gone?" Sakura inquired softly, thinking that if Naruto had a chance with Hinata, why shouldn't she have a chance with Neji? Naruto had no important family connections either, only his own reputation and the friendship of several prominent people in Konoha, pretty much the same situation as Sakura.

"A year or two after you left, the two started dating a little," Neji smiled at the memories, "Hinata finally seemed to get over her shyness and she even stopped stuttering…but my uncle wasn't pleased at all." The Hyuga's voice darkened a little and Sakura felt fear and uncertainty spear through her heart.

"Why?" she asked, already knowing the answer to her question: the fearsome Hyuga lord wasn't happy because Naruto was a nobody, just like herself, "Wouldn't he be glad that Hinata was finally starting to come out of her shell? I mean, it seems like she gained a lot of confidence from Naruto."

"No, my uncle wasn't happy because Hinata is a Hyuga, more specifically the heiress to our Clan." He looked down at Sakura as they made their way out into the sand swept streets of Suna, "He didn't want Hinata falling in love with someone who has nothing to offer our family. Naruto has no family ties, no blood connections and certainly isn't rich, so in the eyes of my uncle, he's a nobody. Not to mention he has the spirit of the Kyubi in him." Sakura knew that Neji was going to give that answer. It was the most practical one and was reasonable to expect the leader of a strong political force to act that way. But several words caught Sakura's attention in the sentence Neji spoke.

"What do you mean 'wasn't happy'? or 'didn't want'?" Sakura questioned the tense of the words Neji used, the odd sensation of hope springing up in her heart. She wasn't sure why she felt this insane sensation; Neji, like Hinata, would be expected to give his affections and attentions to a more worthy, wealthy girl; someone who had something to offer on the table of political connections.

"My uncle quickly realized, after a short 'chat' with the Hokage, that Naruto, although being an orphan and having little money or no family, was far from being a nobody." Neji laughed a little at the memory of the Hokage threatening the great Hyuga leader with her awesome strength, Neji's uncle had been shocked to have been so rudely spoken too, but after a few nicely aimed chakra-infused punches, he came around Tsunade's way of thinking, "My 

uncle failed to realize that Naruto has friends everywhere, and great personages in the Village no less. He's friends with the great Copy-cat nin, like a brother to the last Uchiha, almost a son to the Hokage, and best friends with the Kazekage, not to mention he is a powerful Jinchuriki and a shoe-in for the next Hokage. The Hyuga Clan saw that Naruto was far from worthless." Neji clasped Sakura's arm a little closer to his own body as he thought of what she must be thinking, "After my uncle saw it that way, Naruto was allowed, even welcomed, into the Clan and was permitted to court Hinata. My uncle has been looking forward to a union for quite some time now." Neji finished the story happily and the Cherry Blossom beside him trembled inwardly.

Naruto has all the same connections I do! Sakura thought excitedly, Kakashi-sensei is my old teacher, Sasuke is my former teammate, Tsunade is even closer to me than she is to Naruto, and I too am good friends with Gaara, not even mentioning I'm one of the most formidable kunoichi in the whole of the Village. We're practically the same! Excitement at the thought that her affection for Neji might be permitted by his uncle was only crushed again as another thought entered her mind. It doesn't matter if the Lord of the Hyuga's will accept me or not, Neji is the one who matters. I don't even know if he holds anything for me stronger than sisterly affection. Despite her thoughts, she managed to plaster on a fake smile as Neji talked animatedly on about things in the Village after Sakura had left.

"How has Lee been?" Sakura asked as they found a small ramen shop and ordered their food, "I didn't see him when I arrived in Konoha." She knew how Neji and Bushy Brows had been rivals in their genin days, but it had mellowed out as they had grown older, the two becoming an efficient team when placed on missions together.

"He's still the same, always saying something about the 'power of youth'" Neji laughed as they received their ramen and began eating, "He's been out of the Village for a while though, Tsunade-sama sent him on a mission to Iwagakure. Something about training their nin in taijutsu, he's been gone for over a year now."

Sakura quietly slurped up her noodles, thinking about what Neji was telling her. But hunger could no longer be denied, and she wolfed down three bowls of the delicious treat. The Hyuga laughed at her outrageous appetite, while polishing off four bowls of his own ramen.

"Kami Neji! You eat just as much as Naruto!" Sakura poked him playfully in the ribs as the pearl-eyed man paid for lunch and left the restaurant. The windy streets of Suna sent them running towards the hospital, racing each other through the sand-filled sidewalks. Sakura cut Neji off more than one time as they jovially sprinted back to the hospital, but the Hyuga began to cheat, pumping chakra into his feet to enhance his speed.

"Hey! That's cheating!" Sakura called out childishly as she pumped her own chakra into her feet. She sped by the Byakugan-wielder with little effort, lightly bumping him on the hip and into a brick wall. It slowed him down considerably and allowed her to take the lead as they reached the hospital, breathless and sweating from the heat.

"Oh well…I guess you win…" Neji relented, not trying to argue with the triumphant Sakura, "Although I will say that bumping me into a wall is definitely cheating." He smiled and opened the door to the cool hospital lobby, ignoring Sakura's exasperated attempts to argue about his own "cheating". They talked and laughed together as they approached the Cherry Blossom's room, keeping their voices down so as not to disturb the other patients in rooms close by.

"Oh! I forgot to tell you!" Sakura kept her voice down as she remembered what Gaara had told her, "Gaara said that you are to escort me home tomorrow; Naruto will stay behind and bring back Shikamaru, Kiba and Hinata when they are well enough to travel. He said he would send them back with Temari or Kankuro as an added escort." She smiled up at him as she relayed the news, but was troubled by his odd expression.

"Tomorrow morning? So soon…" he was lost in his thoughts. The Hyuga knew that as soon as they returned to the Village, the chances of them being on another mission together would be slim. They might spend 

weeks, possibly months apart before seeing each other again. As happy as he would be to stop sleeping in Gaara's house, he didn't want to give up seeing Sakura every day.

"Tsunade-shishou told me to return as soon as I was finished, and as of today I have officially completed my task…What? …You don't want to escort me back to Konoha?" the Cherry Blossom pretended to be offended as she crossed her arms over her chest and pouted up at Neji, "Well that is just fine Neji Hyuga, I don't need you to protect me; I can take care of myself!" she turned her back to him and stomped off down the hallway towards her room, a chuckling Neji following after.

"Wait!" he called after her, breathless from laughing, the Hyuga caught up and placed a hand on her shoulder, "I would be honored to give my life to protect you." What did I just say? Neji mentally slapped himself in the head and wished the ground would swallow him whole. That sounds like something Lee would spout off! Neji wondered for a moment if being on a three man cell with that green-jumpsuit-wearing-crazy-man had subconsciously traumatized him. Kami! she's going to think I'm some kind of sentimental idiot! He thought back to all the times she had complained about Lee saying things that sounded painfully similar to what had just left his mouth.

But instead of laughing it off, or making fun of Neji's Lee-like statement, Sakura was touched. She had long outgrown the childish abhorrence of love that made all of Bushy Brow's statements terrifying. The Cherry Blossom had grown to accept and understand the feeling that went behind words like those. Living in a society where Death was a daily occurrence, when someone told you they would die for you, it was a serious matter; One that generally only occurred between very good friends. Her heart overflowed with that odd warm feeling again as she rose up on her toes and gave the nervously laughing Hyuga a hug.

"Thank you Neji," she said with a smile, "You don't know what that means to me."

The pearl-eyed man closed his arms about the pink Blossom, inhaling the smell of her. How he longed to tell her his own feelings, take her in his arms any time he wanted, but he was still unsure of how she felt. Does she see me only as a friend? He saw how close Sakura and the Jinchuriki were, almost like brother and sister, and it scared him to wonder if that was how Sakura held him in her heart. The will to ask her was there inside him, the question was burning on his lips, but he dare not do it. He was frightened of taking that step into the unknown and even more frightened of losing Sakura's friendship should his feelings for her be made known. With a sigh, he settled for giving her a hug in the here and now.

After a moment, they backed away from each other shyly, Sakura giving an inward sigh at letting go and Neji consciously feeling the ache of loneliness in his empty arms. But the Cherry Blossom was first to recover.

"Remember!" she smiled as she reminded him, "We're leaving first thing tomorrow… I gotta go pack!" she waved as she retreated into her hospital room and shut the door on the Hyuga, glad to finally be able to wipe the false smile of happiness off of her face. The day's events, specifically when Neji spoke of Hinata and Naruto, weighed heavily on her mind; she collapsed onto her bed with a sigh and willed herself not to think of them.

Even if he doesn't care for me in that way, I can be happy just knowing he's close to me, she didn't want to cry, but her melancholy thoughts were making it hard. Quickly, as though to scrub the tears out of her body, the Cherry Blossom rose and threw herself into an unbelievably hot shower, wiping away all her worries in the torrent flowing from the faucet.

No matter who he chooses, I will always be a friend to him.



So we leave our Sakura with some sad thoughts, but their journey back to Konoha is coming up. And Itachi is still planning some sick revenge. Review please! Thanx for your support!