Disclaimer: This is so degrading... I can't believe I have to admit this. I don't own Naruto.
Chapter 14: Wouldn' t you like to know
Sakura knew that both of her teams wouldn't just accept the explanation they were given by the Hokage without a conformation of it's truthfulness from her
Sakura knew that both of her teams wouldn't just accept the explanation they were given by the Hokage without a conformation of it's truthfulness from her. Her teammates were just too stubborn and hardheaded, although the medic-nin mused stubbornness seemed to be an inherent trait within all exemplary shinobi, her included. She knew she had a stubborn streak in her and she somewhat pitied anyone that got in the way while she was determined to get what she wanted. The little stunt Sakura had pulled, kissing Neji, earlier in the day was a prime example. Neji hadn't listened to her wishes so, she decided to make him.
Just then Inner Sakura spoke out, using a sly tone, "Oh, you mean that little kiss you shared with Neji had nothing to do with that little crush you've had on him since he acknowledged the progress you made with his cousin Hinata?"
Sakura had a faint blush on her cheeks but, before she could speak her alter ego started again, "I would never have known, the kiss was all for show. I seem to recall that you were struggling to breakaway from that searing kiss and for a few seconds you had no coherent thoughts left in your head."
Sakura was bright red by the time Inner Sakura finished, she knew she liked Neji and trusted him with her life. He had been her mission partner for over a year and there was something honest and trustworthy in him, despite his troubled childhood.
"What are you thinking about?" Haruno Ataru asked his granddaughter.
Sakura looked up quickly, she must have been really deep in thought she hadn't noticed her grandfather approach her. Sakura blushed slightly and her grandfather grinned a little, "Perhaps you were thinking about a certain Hyuuga?"
"Were you listening in on my thoughts again? How do you do that anyway?" Sakura asked curiously.
"Walk with me back to the Haruno compound and I will tell you all of the Haruno clan abilities," her grandfather began walking and Sakura stood for a moment in surprise and then hurried to catch up to him.
Neji was still surprised when he walked out of his Uncles's study, he hadn't expected a marriage suggestion, but marrying Haruno Sakura wasn't a bad idea. He wondered why he hadn't thought of it before. The niggling voice in the back of his mind said something that suspiciously sounded like, "Because you were too busy trying to deny your attraction to her."
Ignoring that little voice the coffee-haired man contemplated how he was going to show personal interest in Sakura instead of just professional interest. Training was out, apparently, it showed more of a competitive friend relationship than a romantic one, or at least according to what Tenten had informed him of when he was twelve. Perhaps dinner after their next mission would work, except Neji remembered they always treated each other after every mission. Then he would just have to take her out to dinner tonight, maybe he should take her to the upper class restaurant that opened last week. Neji was fairly certain that was the way other males showed interest in females, along with tokens of affection. His first instinct was to give the woman kunai and other weapons, however he vaguely remembered Tenten saying that if he ever gave her weapons she would kill him with them. His fleeting relationship with Tenten had been odd to say the least.
The future clan leader still had a few problems, what would he bring her and what if she said no? Then Neji was hit with a stroke of genius, whenever Rock Lee would ask Sakura on a date he brought flowers. Even though Sakura always rejected Lee, Neji was certain it had more to do with his overwhelming 'youthfulness' than the flowers. As for Sakura agreeing to the dinner he would just have to see her now, ask and then reserve a place at the restaurant if she said yes.
The determined male started off toward Sakura's place, but when he reached her place her chakra signature wasn't anywhere near the place, so Neji closed his eyes and searched Konoha for her chakra. The Byakugan user found her signal headed toward the old Haruno compound so he hurried toward her. As he got nearer and nearer to her chakra signature he became increasingly anxious, what if she rejected him, would they still be able to remain friends. He wasn't sure he would just want to stay friends with Haruno Sakura. He wanted all of her and he was sure that it would break him if he had to pretend to be just friends with the cherry blossom.
When Neji was close enough to see Sakura he realized that someone else was with her, it seemed to be her grandfather. He would have to wait to talk with her until after they were done. Until Neji finished talking to her, he knew the fluttering butterflies in his stomach wouldn't stop. Neji slowed to an easy walk, just moving fast enough to overtake Sakura at the entrance to the Haruno compound. Due to the ninja training the Hyuuga heir had, he was able to hear what Haruno Ataru was talking with his granddaughter about.
"I would like to see you settled before I die. Maybe you should marry into one of the prominent clans in Konoha, with your bloodline limit you would only add to their strengths and think of your children. Your children could be immensely strong, carrying two bloodline limits, or perhaps it would create a new kekkai genkai altogether," the older man mused to her.
"Exactly which clan do you think I should marry into?" The cherry-haired female wryly asked.
"Hmm… maybe the Uchiha, what was the name of your teammate," her grandfather continued, paying no mind to the rapidly blanching woman next to him, "Hyuuga, Nara, or Inuzuka would do as well."
"There is no way in hell I would marry Uchiha Sasuke. All the Nara's are exceptionally lazy and dogs aren't my forte. I like them but, I'm not marrying into a family of dogs," Sakura retorted, indignant at first then becoming more logical and reasonable after making it clear she wouldn't marry her ex-teammate. Actually, she was hoping to kick his ass all the way to star country tomorrow morning.
Neji noted she hadn't mentioned anything about the Hyuuga. Either Sakura wouldn't mind marrying into the Hyuuga clan or she didn't even consider him a contender. The thought made Neji even more anxious.
"What about the Hyuuga clan? You didn't mention anything about them," the older shinobi asked conspiratorially, inwardly smirking. He knew he was making both his granddaughter and the tall Hyuuga behind him squirm. Sakura hadn't noticed the presence of her friend some feet behind her but, Haruno Ataru had. It was the life of a presumably dead ninja. He had to fend for himself, so out of habit he was constantly on guard. He could feel the Hyuuga's nervous chakra and was inwardly gleeful he could make him nervous enough to leak feelings into his chakra signature.
The kunoichi blushed profusely and stuttered her answer, "I-I have n-no-nothing against them," and then continued on in a stronger voice that belied the truth, "but that doesn't mean I want to marry one."
The Kunoichi's grandfather chuckled a little, "Of course not."
The chocolate haired shinobi took Sakura's words at face value and became more determined to win her over. He would think of this like a mission, except he would have a personal interest in it, and that would be the determining factor. Neji caught up to Sakura and greeted the two strolling shinobi. He asked to speak privately with the blushing blossom, so Ataru walked ahead of the two with a knowing grin on his face.
Sakura had never been so nervous about going on a date before, she behaved uncharacteristically; she had stuttered and blushed profusely throughout the walk to the restaurant. When she had opened her door, Neji had offered her, her favorite flowers, a mixture of Amaryllis' and Peonies. They were a beautiful mix of scarlet and soft pink. She was stunned, the petite medic-nin didn't think he could be that thoughtful.
Sakura noticed how ironic the choice of flowers seemed to be. Although, the pink-haired medic-nin was sure Neji hadn't known, the pretty pink Peonies were a symbol of romance and an omen of a happy marriage, everything Sakura wished for her future, while the Amaryllis' seemed to represent her ill remembered past.
Sakura reminisced in the old tale. The legend started with Amaryllis, a shy and timid nymph. The nymph fell deeply in love with a shepherd named Alteo. The shepherd had immense strength said to rival Hercules' and the beauty of the Greek god Apollo. The nymph's love was unrequited and hoping she could win the shepherd over, she wished to give him the one thing he desired most, a flower so distinctive, it hadn't existed on earth yet. The nymph sought the advice of the oracle, a powerful woman prophesier in the ancient city of Delphi.
Amaryllis followed the advice of the oracle and dressed in a maiden's white gown and stood outside Alteo's door for a full 30 nights, piercing her heart with a golden arrow each night. When Alteo opened his door, there on his doorstep was a deep and striking crimson flower, tragically sprung from the thick, powerful, scarlet, blood of Amaryllis' heart. The flower itself symbolized pride, determination, and radiant beauty. The flowers were beautiful, albeit a little ironic, and their meanings portrayed the different courses of her life. But Sakura was not going to let Amaryllis' fate play out in her life.
Near the end of the walk to the restaurant Sakura was feeling a little more confident. She could do it nothing had changed, her ANBU teammate had just showed a little more than professional interest. It was nothing big. Yeah right. Sakura didn't even believe the crap she was trying to tell herself. She was on a date with one of Konoha's top eligible bachelors whom she happened to have the tiniest crush on, she only wished she knew if he liked her back.
"Tiny crush? Darling you are hopelessly in love with him already. If he had died on your last mission you would have been devastated. You probably wouldn't have come out of your room for weeks. It's your one tragic flaw. You fall irrevocably in love too easily. I just hope we don't end up paying for it some day,"inner Sakura imparted some surprisingly wise words with her taunting.
At Inner Sakura's voice the pinkette smiled cleverly with a hint of mischief laced throughout her countenance. She loved her grandfather.
"Did you ever wonder why your mother stopped you from pulling so many of your stunts when you were little? It was because all Harunos can read minds… at least to some extent. There are a few restrictions. Harunos could only read other Haruno's mind when they were talking to their Inners, otherwise the inners just blocked out the technique. Inners are another one of the added bonuses our clan has…" the disembodied voice of her grandfather played eerily accurate through her mind.
The Kunoichi did exactly what her grandfather told her to she sent Inner Sakura into Neji's mind and waited for her alter ego to report back to her. She wasn't disappointed. When her Inner came back she told her Neji definitely had more than a professional interest in her. The rosette had the feeling there was more and pointedly asked her Inner if she was withholding anything.
Inner Sakura smirked, happy to be playing the game I-know-something-you-don't-know, and replied as innocently as possible, "Wouldn't you like to know?"
Knowing it was useless to even try to get anything else out of her inner, the petite woman promptly gave up. From that point on the date went well, no more blushing randomly while walking or tripping over her own two small feet because, she was too nervous. In fact Sakura was glad she dressed up a little, the charming male took her to a fine restaurant, where they were immediately escorted to a charming table that overlooked a blossoming garden.
Sakura engaged the pearl-eyed shinobi in a conversation but, she could tell he was either apprehensive or in a mission mindset, because all he gave were one or two answers. He wouldn't even grace her with a full sentence. After a few minutes the two lapsed into a relaxed silence.
Neji had seemed contemplative for a few minutes before a flash of resolve overtook the look and he uncharacteristically broke the silence. "Sakura," he spoke gently, in his normal calm in collected manner, but there was something a little off… he seemed tenser.
"I realize this is an unorthodox way to begin a first date but, I feel now is a good time to mention this," this from the man who had little idea about relationship customs at all.
"We have been teammates for a long time and acquaintances for even longer. However, it was over our time as teammates, that I have steadily been gaining an interest in you. It was not until my uncle brought it up, after your spar, that I recognized it to be something deeper than lust, which would have been easy to ignore," the prodigy continued his liquid silvery gaze entrancing and capturing the startled emerald orbs of his companion.
"I'm falling in love with you. If you can't ever share those same feelings then I won't mention this again and we can go back to just friends and mission partners. No questions asked," the sincerity was written deep in his eyes and Sakura had seen the flash of pain when he offered to let her forget about him. Sakura's eyes softened from their initial shocked expression and melted into compassion. She would have felt the same pain if she made an offer like that.
"I don't think you need to worry. I've been falling for you too, ever since we were paired up as partners. Come to think of it I'm pretty sure my grandfather knows too, from the way he was teasing me about marrying into another clan," Sakura finished childishly pouting a little, remembering her grandfather's merciless teasing from earlier.
After the dinner, Neji escorted his date home. Neither one minded the silence as they were caught up in their own thoughts.
Sakura walked cheerfully towards the training grounds where team seven normally trained. Team seven as well as her ANBU team should be there already. She had sent a training summons to her team to meet there. Sakura jumped into the trees, hiding her chakra signature as she neared the group to watch their interactions. Naruto and Kenshin seemed to be heatedly arguing over which food was better ramen or tempura and everyone except, Sasuke, who was too aloof, was looking at the two amused by their antics.
Sakura jumped silently to the ground and keeping to the ephemeral early morning shadows neared the group. She slinked, unseen by any of the ninja, behind Sasuke. Not breathing to be careful not to stir up any air current that would tell of her presence. She leaned near the exposed skin of his ear and let the breath she had been holding. "Boo," Sasuke tensed and drew a kunai at his adversary.
He was shocked to find Sakura giggling to herself where his enemy was supposed to be. "Gotcha," the rosette seemed to grin at the otherwise imposing male.
He grunted and after their initial shock, Sakura's ANBU team began laughing at his expense. Their captain just continued to surprise them. That is if she was truly their captain whom they still had doubts about. Haruno Sakura's reputation preceded her as a brilliant medic, packing one hell of a punch, but lacking in field expertise. Their captain was brilliant on the field, so unless this Haruno Sakura showed them proof, there was no way the elite ninjas would believe her.
"So, none of you believe who I say I am? That's too bad. I'll just have to prove it," her fellow ninja stared at her in surprise it was almost like she read their minds.
"Who wants to lose first?" Naruto and Kenshin fell for the taunting first.
"Sakura-chan there is no way I will lose to you. I'm going to be Hokage!" Naruto shouted while he charged headfirst into battle with the easily riled ANBU following. The two seemed to be on a wave length because they started attacking simultaneous on either side of the kunoichi using Taijutsu.
With a gleeful laugh Sakura started her own string of Taijutsu. A flurry of fists and the occasional sweep of color, the only sign of round kicks, were the only distinguishable features of the sandwiched Kunoichi as she flew through her moves able to keep both knuckled headed ninja at bay. Finally after a few minutes of displaying the Taijutsu prowess she had, she stopped fooling around and sent a chakra enhanced fist toward Naruto. It sent the blonde bombshell through no less than three trees, but Sakura didn't look. The moment the ANBU was distracted Sakura launched a powerful roundhouse kick toward his stomach. He flew and bounced gracelessly off a weathered tree several feet from the battle.
The other two elite ANBU shook their heads at their idiotic teammate and knew this was Konoha's Second ANBU captain. Her style was too close for it to be untrue. Sakura raised glinting eyes to her ANBU team. "No Sakura-san, you don't need to show us we believe you now. We'll take the idiot to the hospital to get healed," one sighed out.
It was only Sasuke, Sai, and Kakashi that were still there and standing. She called out to them teasing evident in her tone, "You want to have some fun too? Alright just wait a moment." The three watched edgily as she reached toward downward, seeming to go toward her kunai holster, before sharply veering toward a back pocket. She drew her hand out of the pocket and withdrew…what the… a blindfold?! Sasuke was totally confused now.
She tied the blindfold around her eyes she smiled, "This will be the only way I can convince you Kakashi-sensei."
Kakashi's eyes lit with comprehension but, Sasuke was still as confused as ever. Before he could ask, Sasuke saw the copy-nin was already mid-way through a set of ninjutsu hand signs and the emotionless artist was finished drawing one of his beasts, so Sasuke launched into an attack of his own.
Ninjutsus continued to hurdle at Sakura but, she merely dodged or countered the attacks. Sasuke and the other nins were getting frustrated and decided to work together. It was then Sakura took Sai out of the battle. The Kunoichi sent her first offensive jutsu out, and before Sai could counter it, he was caught in a sleeping genjutsu and bound by white strands of chakra.
One down two to go. In a burst of speed Sasuke could only see as a streak of color through his Sharingan, Sakura attacked all of Kakashi's chakra, leaving the infamous copy-nin immobile. His teammate turned to him and he turned off his Sharingan, a signal he was done fighting. Gruffly he said, "Alright, I believe you. Take off the blindfold."
She removed it to reveal grayish eyes Sasuke had never seen before. He was shocked, she didn't seem to have broken a sweat though she was panting slightly, and when did she get a bloodline limit? Whatever, she was strong and he was attracted to that. He stared a bit at her.
"What's a matter Uchiha, cat got your tongue?" she said smirking.
He continued to stare and then getting a grip, he said, "no, but I wish you did." With a sexy tilt of his lips, leaving no doubt of what he was talking about.
"No, you don't, I'd be likely to rip it out," replied Sakura with a devious smirk, "Maybe I could sell it to one of your fangirls."
I'm done with this chapter! Sorry for the long wait but, I've had midterms and I currently have the flu and have missed way too many days of school. As compensation for taking so long that chapter is longer than what I normally post. This was a little bit of a filler-ish type chapter but next chapter is the end and there will be some action in it. I know I kinda rushed Neji's and Sakura's romance but, they've known and trusted each other for over a year. That was plenty of time for them to fall in love (At least I hope). Anyway please review, I kind of want to make it past the hundred mark and of course I'd love to read your thoughts on the chapter.
HarmonyRose