A small little commission for alittlewooy on twitter! Thanks so much! I enjoyed writing this and I hope you all love this little bit of innocent love!
Huge thanks to cherryberry12 for being my beta for this piece as well!

Sakura rubbed her face as she approached the training ground. She was going on her third week of training with team 10, and after her shift at the hospital, she wasn't entirely sure if she had the energy to deal with Lee. Sometimes she wondered if he was more hyperactive than Naruto, but she'd never want to really find out. Trying to deal with both of them together would be too much of a headache.

As she came upon the gates, she noticed only Neji was there, and her heart began to pound against her chest. Where were the rest of them?

"Hey, Neji!" Sakura called out, waving her hand towards him.

Neji only nodded in response, but he gave her a small pleasant smile.

"Tenten and Lee are with Gai-Sensei on a mission. He asked me to stay back this time to help you train."

Always straight to the point.

"I really appreciate that of you…" She grinned. "Tsunade taught me how to channel chakra into my strikes the other day… That's something you're very familiar with, isn't it?" Sakura mentioned sheepishly.

Neji nodded. "All Hyuuga use the Gentle Fist technique, and it uses chakra to attack your opponent's chakra network." A thoughtful expression came across his face. "It's not easy to do, but I've heard about your chakra control being stellar before, so I'm not entirely surprised."

"I think learning to dodge Tsunade's monstrous attacks was more difficult than chakra control," Sakura muttered before standing up straight.

Neji smirked, and almost seemed amused. "I would think so."

She knew Neji was always about business and wouldn't care for the extra chit chat that wasted time. He probably had other things to tend to as well, and he was missing going on a mission with his team, for her.

Okay, so maybe she was exaggerating the sentiment there, because he's only doing what his sensei asked of him, but she could very well pretend he wanted to be here with her.

"I'm ready whenever you are!" Sakura blurted as she shed her lab coat and hung it across the fence. She slid the leather gloves Tsunade just gave her over her hands.

A few deep breaths to calm her heartbeat before she turned around and prepared to face off against him. It was odd, as she was able to be prepared for his first strike and even dodge it, and appreciate the way his hair slung around with the movement.

Sakura edged closer to him and tried to land a hit in his shoulder, but he wrapped his arm around hers, gripping her bicep and flinging her to the side.

Too slow.

"If you're going to come in close, be quick and precise with your attacks, Haruno," Neji chided, but there was no malice in his tone. "An enemy will not wait for you to find your target on their body."

Sakura nodded as she stared up at him before getting back up. Neji was on her in an instant. No time to admire him at this point, or she'd get distracted. Been there, done that, not doing it again.

She blocked his first strike with her forearm, the hit making it sore almost instantly, but she shoved him backwards and channeled a little chakra through her left leg, and kicked him in the stomach.

What was thought to be a victory was short lived. Neji was right back up and coming at her again within seconds. She side stepped his attack, his hand whizzing past her cheek.

Not enough chakra.

"More chakra, Sakura. Aim it to a specific point in your body, wherever you will make contact first in your attack, Channel and center it there. It will be more effective."

It seemed this was her learning strategy. Tsunade showed her the basics, and then sent her to someone else to fine tune it.

Taijutsu with them in general, but she mostly fought with Lee. Lee was fast and enthusiastic, but it was hard to focus when he was proclaiming his love to her the entire time. She managed between alternating with the team.

Dodging has seemed to be more fun, and Tenten took it upon herself to pull out her arsenal of various shinobi weaponry and launch them at Sakura. They did that for weeks until Tenten could launch an entire scroll's worth at her, and Sakura could come out without a scratch.

Chakra ladened attacks, of course, would be with the Hyuga. It only makes sense, and it was ironic that she seemed to get focused on by each, with Gai encouraging and supervising in the background. Gai wasn't here today, but she could hear him cheering her on all the same in her mind.

What she always liked about sparring with Neji was that he never went easy on her. He made her earn every bit of ground she got with him, but he always treated her with respect and lended a hand to help her up whether she needed it or not at the end of a spar.

Today was no different, but she'd learned to act quick with Neji and learned his patterns, because he was fluid, decisive, and quiet in his attacks.

Sakura brought her hands up to protect herself, prepared for him to redirect his hands. If he hit a chakra point, she would be done for, and she knew it. Just as she expected, he spun around on his feet, gliding with perfection and went to hit her in the shoulder. Angling her shoulders back and barely dodging him again, she ducked and elbowed him in the ribcage, channeling a tinsy bit more into the hit. She really didn't want to hurt him, but she also knew he could see her chakra flow, and would get out of the way if it was too much, and then he'd tell her as much.

A light cough was all she got before he was lunging at her, two fingers aiming to strike her in the sternum. She knew from experience it would knock the wind from her lungs, and she'd be heaving for breath for at least fifteen minutes after.

Sakura grabbed his wrist and twisted his arm and forced him to the ground, shoving her knee into his back. A grunt left him at the force of the attack, but he was able to twist around. He swept his leg against hers, knocking her off her feet, and he pinned her to the ground.

She was breathing hard, and his hair had fallen loose from his tie, now a curtain around his face, the edges tickling her cheeks. He had her wrists pinned in one hand, and she was blushing, and she didn't even fully know why.

Neji grinned at her. "You're learning. And you're getting faster."

Sakura sputtered as she realized she was receiving praise from him. The sunlight peeked through his chocolate coloured strands, and the little streaks of light put specs made his eyes look like they had specs of gold in them.

"Th-Thank you, Neji."

His smile turned warm and he used his free hand to cup her cheek. "You're welcome."

Neji didn't move. She wasn't used to anyone being so close, and she liked him, and so her blush deepened as his fingers grazed her cheek.

"N-Neji?"

His hand cupped her face more securely, and she noticed he was leaning closer, closer, closer until his nose brushed hers, and she was staring right into his eyes. His breath fanned across her lips. A deep inhale filled her chest as he let go of her wrists. His now free hand tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and he closed the final gap between them.

His lips were so soft against hers, and she definitely squeaked at the initial contact. After the shock faded quickly, her eyes fluttered closed, and she brought her hands to rest gently against his shoulders. She wasn't really sure what to do with them.

It was soft, short, and certainly innocent. Neji pulled back before resting his head against her forehead, beaming down at her.

Sakura could only return the bright smile sheepishly. "Th-That was…nice."

Neji kissed her cheek. "I truly meant what I said, but I also definitely let you win."

Indignation filled her at the moment and she flung him off, but he only laughed at her.

She shrieked at him. "Why would you let me win!?" She thought she was making progress!

"Because someone like you learns better when they feel motivated. You're not like Lee or Naruto, where a challenge constantly pushes you to do better." He rested on his side, propping his arm up to support his head against his palm. "Too much challenge makes you doubt yourself, but too little won't teach you anything."

Sakura crossed her arms and huffed, sticking her lower lip out to pout. "I actually thought I was seriously getting good, having beat you! But it was just a ploy!" She sighed.

"Actually, the elbow to the ribs caught me off guard, and had a decent force to it." Neji grinned. "Like I said, you're learning. You're listening, which is also something Lee doesn't do. He just runs in head first before anyone even finishes what they're saying."

"I get that you're right, but never let me win again, or at least so quickly. I like to earn my successes."

Neji only smiled before grabbing her hand. "That's what I like about you."

Sakura couldn't help how red she turned. She stared at him. "Uhm… Are we gonna talk about that kiss?"

"Over lunch?" Neji pulled her in close to kiss her again.