Chapter 7

Edited 18.12.2015

Thoughts

When Sakura poofed into her bedroom, she could finally let out a tired sigh. Whit Hiashi-Samas invitation in mind and the sleep deprivation weighing her down, she decided to call it a day. A shower and her bed in mind, she set out to pull off her dress.

She still couldn't figure out why the Hyūga clan wanted to meet her so informally. Thoughts of the possible marriage proposal swimming in her mind kept leaving a sour taste in her mouth. It's not like there was something wrong with Neji, no, he was a nice enough man when you got under that rough shell of his, no, it was the fact that she didn't have a choice in the matter.

If Hiashi-Sama told her to marry Neji, then she would most probably have to marry Neji. Even if she was not happy about it.

But if worst came to worst and she would have to marry him, she would just try to make most out of it. Neji was a decent looking male, handsome even, and she was sure he could understand her need to stay as a Kunoichi, even after the wedding. He could, hopefully, understand her passion about her chosen career.

Or at least she hoped so, she could never be an ordinary house wife, or worse yet, a baby machine!

She very much enjoyed her life as the head medic of Konohas hospital, she did not want to give it up.

'Argh, all this thinking is giving me a headache!' Sakura thought and stepped into her bathroom. Hot, relaxing shower sounded heavenly right about now!

She tried not to look into the mirror, knowing without looking that she had dark bags under her tired eyes.

The hot water did wonders to her tense form. As she stood under the warm water, she found herself relaxing. Her thoughts drifted to tomorrow. She would have to apologize to Tachi, she did leave him rather absurdly –and rudely- when she teleported home. Without even asking why he had looked her out!

That thought made her grinch, she sure hoped that it wasn't anything too important. But she guessed that he would just have to wait till tomorrow.

Sakura hoped he would show up. Yes, she needed him to avoid the Hyūgas and the visit to their compound, but she also enjoyed his quiet company.

Tachi was quiet, but polite, almost painfully so, as if he was raised with strict rules and discipline. He was strong, he had to be to be able to join Anbu, but also such a gentleman. Sakura couldn't say if he was handsome, as she hadn't seen his face, but he sure had the body to make up for the whole mask thing. Sakura could appreciate a good body when she saw one, she was a medic after all.

And Tachi seemed to enjoy his own share of sweets too. One did not order a plate full of danko if one did not enjoy them, deeply so.

A thought came into her mind as she remembered his sweet tooth and how he gave her most of his danko. That made her smile, no bad man would share his sweets with a girl. Maybe she could, as an apology, make some danko for him. She was pretty decent at making them, it was her favorite kind of dessert after all. That and she had her secret recipes.

Yes, she would make some danko for Tachi and make damn sure that it was the best damn danko of his whole damn life!

'Shannaro!'

…

After he was left standing there, rather rudely, might he add, he came to the conclusion that he would not see the pinkette until tomorrow. And he would see her tomorrow, he had no intention of missing the chance to spend some time alone with her. At least not after he heard of the Hyūgas plans.

But he could see why they wanted the medic into their clan, the girl was a jewel among Kunoichis. She had them all; chakra control, inhuman strength, beauty, high position in the village and close relationship with the Hokage. All this, warped up in one slip of a woman, pink haired one at that.

Where ever she walked, people seemed to greet her with smiles or a 'thank you', most probably because she had healed them, or one of their loved ones, at some point.

It all made him wonder why the Hyūgas weren't on the move earlier. But it was too bad -for them-, as he had already decided to at least court this Sakura. She was worthy and as an Uchiha, he wanted only the best.

And what an Uchiha wanted, Uchiha got.

With a smirk, he turned around to walk back to his hotel.

…

Saturday morning came way too early in Sakuras opinion. She tried to bury her head into her pillows, but somehow the persistent rays of light kept making their way to her puffy eyes.

Whit a groan of despair, Sakura threw away her covers –yes, she had more than one- and rolled out of her queen sized piece of heaven. She would have to get up if she wanted to have enough time to shop her groceries and make some danko for Tachi before her meeting with the said Anbu.

But if Sakura had one flaw, it was her morning crankiness. She was not, in any case, a morning person. She just couldn't start her day without at least one cup of coffee.

'More like a cup of liquid gold,' Sakura thought dreamily and made her way towards he kitchen that was located downstairs. She was wearing one of Narutos old shirts that the blond had outgrown and a pair of panties, those were hers; she wouldn't touch Narutos underwear even if her life depended on it, just no.

But as she was home alone, what she was wearing hardly mattered.

The first thing she did when she reached the kitchen, was to turn on her coffee maker. After that she turned to her fridge to see if she had anything for breakfast. She found a few eggs and some vegetables and decided those would just have to do for now. She had to visit the market stalls anyway to buy the ingredients for danko, might as well shop her groceries at the same time.

'I wonder when Naruto comes home,' Sakura thought as she took her first cup of coffee. If they were in schedule, he should be home any day now. Maybe she should buy some ingredients for ramen while she was at it, it would make Narutos day.

'That goof, even after all these years, he still hardly eats anything else,' Sakura thought with a smile.

After making a quick list of what she would need, she made her way upstairs to chance some clothes.

…

Sakura walked at the busy streets of Konoha, all the while humming happily. The coffee did wonders for her and she found her sour mood turning that into an exited one. She skipped from shop to shop, humming happily while she did so. She was waiting for the evening to arrive, her training session with Tachi lifting her spirits considerably.

She almost had everything she needed, the only thing she was missing was the ingredients for ramen.

Just as she saw the shop she would have to visit to buy those, her eyes catch a sight of white and brown. Whit a curse, she was going to dive into the masses, when Nejis eyes found hers. As he walked her way, she plastered a smile on her face.

"Sakura," Neji greeted with a small smirk.

"Neji-San, you should still be resting," Sakura said and frowned at him. He was up way too early for someone that was bed ridden just yesterday!

"It's Neji, Sakura," Neji said and frowned right back at her, choosing not to answer her scolding. Not that Sakura expected him to, annoying males and their pride.

"Neji… you should still be in bed," Sakura gave up, might as well use his name as he was so persistent about it. This seemed to made him smile softly, pleased.

"I was looking for you, you were not at your home earlier," he said and crossed his arms.

"You were? I have been shopping most part of the morning," Sakura said, surprised. Neji usually wasn't this determined when he was seeking her out, he usually just came back later to check if she was back yet.

"Uncle wished for you to join us this evening," Neji said.

'Shit, that was not even a question!' Sakura thought frantically. This avoiding thing would be a lot harder that she thought. Sakura gulped and hugged her groceries to her chest.

"Well, Neji, you see… I kind of promised Tachi that I would train with him today. I would hate to break that promise," Sakura said, trying to sound as regretful as possible.

Neji seemed surprised that her explanation didn't include Narutos name, as he heard that the Konohas "number one ninja" was supposed to be back soon. But who was this… Tachi. The way she said his name so familiarly bothered him deeply.

She shouldn't go and act so friendly with every male she came across. The fact that she didn't act as friendly with him kept irking him also.

"Who is this… Tachi? I have not heard his name before," Neji asked and narrowed his eyes at Sakura.

"A friend of mine, Anbu, if you must know," Sakura said and lifted her nose up in the air. She would have crossed her arms if she wasn't holding her bags.

This made Nejis frown to deepen. It would not do for a future Hyūga bride to be so friendly with other males, it just wasn't proper. Better let her know it early on.

"I do not find it appropriate for you to act so friendly with another male, Sakura," there, taken care of.

Little did he know that those few words could make any woman fume in anger.

"Well, isn't it a good thing that it isn't up to you who I'm acting friendly with, Neji?" The way she was smiling at the moment would have sent Naruto running to the mountains by now.

'Not yet, it is not,' Neji thought with a smirk and decided to ignore her comment for now. He had more pressing matter to address anyway.

"I will come and get you tomorrow morning. And this time, no excuses," Neji said and with a nod, turned around, leaving a fuming Sakura behind.

'That went... well,' Sakura thought sarcastically and turned around to head home. Narutos Ramen would just have to wait.

…

Poor Neji, he has another thing coming if he thinks that he can walk away from Sakura like that. :D

This chapter was a pain to write, but it had to be done. Luckily there will be some action in the next chappie! I'm pretty sure there are plenty of typos too, as I had to hurry to finish this, didn't want to leave it to next week. But just try to deal with it!

Stay tuned and as always, thank you for reading and have a nice day! (:

R&R

TY

-Hana