Chapter 4

When Sakura woke up in Neji's bed, now sober and entirely regretful, she felt like killing herself. What had she done? She had been willing to give herself to Neji, she had practically begged him to fuck her! It was embarassing. Sakura cried, when she got out of his bed. If there had ever been a chance for her to be more than friends with Neji, she had destroyed it.

She sneaked out of the room, making sure that Neji wasn't around. Still having the blanket wrapped around herself, she stumbled over to Hinatas room. Hinata was already awake and – needless to say – she was shocked to see her friend at her house so early. "Sakura-chan! What… what the hell are you doing here?"

"I-I came w-with Neji yesterday." Sakura sniffed.

Hinata paled visibly. "You… and Neji-niisan…"

"No," Sakura whimpered, "we didn't… god, I made such a fool out of myself…" And with that, she completely broke down. Sobbing, she sank to her knees and told a worried Hinata about last night's events. Hinata stayed quiet until Sakura calmed down a little. Eventually she wiped over her face and muttered: "I was so out of control… god, what does he think of me now? I acted like a cheap slut…"

"Sakura-chan! He would never think of you that way, I know it." Hinata carefully said. "Neji-niisan likes you, he likes you a lot. If he didn't, he wouldn't have stopped you. You were in no condition to make a decision so he did it for you. He knows you were just drunk."

Slowly, Sakura nodded. Yes, Hinata was right. Neji had been a complete gentleman. He could have used her but he didn't. "Damn...," she cursed. "He was so nice… Now I like him even more."

***

Two days later, Sakura was sent out on a mission. She didn't have the time to talk to Neji before and so she left the hidden leaf village with bothersome worries about what he might think of her. The mission led her far away from her home village and during lonely nights in unfamiliar villages she swore to herself that she would settle things between them as soon as she'd return home.

But when she came back after almost a week, things had turned out in an unexpected way once again. Neji wasn't there and Hinata told her, that her father had returned. As Neji had predicted, Hiashi was really angry at his nephew for not properly protecting Hinata and had punished him. The punishment was simple but cruel… he had locked up Neji in a separate room he wouldn't be allowed to leave for another 3 days.

When Sakura heard that, she begged Hinata to help her visit Neji. And Hinata did. She was making sure that no one would show up unexpectantly while Sakura sneaked upstairs to the highest level of the building, where Neji was imprisoned.

The 'prison' was not quite what she had expected. It was a small room with only a mattress on the wooden floor and a separate room which had to be the bathroom. There was no window in his small prison but one wall consisted of huge wooden bars, making it possible for any visitor to see into the room. Neji was seated on the mattress with his legs crossed and eyes closed. He was meditating. Well, there was nothing else he could do in there.

"Neji-kun." Sakura knelt down in front of the locked entrance door and grabbed the wooden bars.

Slowly, he opened his eyes. If he was surprised to see her, he hid it well. "Why are you here?"

She smiled sadly at him. "I'm sorry that you have to go through this."

"I see it as training," he replied. "I don't mind this kind of 'punishment'."

Maybe he really didn't care. But Sakura couldn't bear to see him like that. "Isn't it lonely?"

"Lonely…," he repeated. "I've always been lonely."

"No." she whispered. "You're not. I missed you. Much."

His face softened and he got up to walk toward her. "If you get caught in here, you'll get me in even bigger trouble."

"Do you want me to leave?"

"No."

With a smile, she reached into the prison with her hand and Neji took it. "I'm sorry for being such a burden, Neji-kun. The way I acted after Kakashi's party…"

"You were drunk. Nevermind it."

"No. I don't want you to think that I'm the kind of girl who sleeps with anyone." She couldn't bear his gaze any more. "Yes, I was drunk. But I only allowed you to go that far because it was you. No one else would have come that far."

"Why me?"

She had asked herself that question too. Honestly she replied: "You've become an important person to me. If it wasn't for… for Sasuke, I would have fallen in love with you."

Abruptly, he let go of her hand. "You still think you and Sasuke are meant to be, right?"

"W-what?"

"Sakura, I don't share. Not even with a man who has disappeared 3 years ago. If you still want to be with him, then you shouldn't come to visit me any more. You have to make a decision, if you have any interest in being with me."

"Neji-kun, I…"

"No. Don't say it yet. My punishment will be over in three days. Think about it and take your time to decide. And then let me know if you want to be with me or not. I will accept your decision, whatever it's going to be. Because," he reached through the bars and grabbed her shoulder, pulling her toward him to place a quick kiss on her lips, "you mean a lot to me."

When he let go, Sakura was dumbfounded. Why? Why was he forcing her into a decision? Why now, why?! She couldn't take it any longer. She jumped up and practically fled the room.