Disclaimer: Sasuke and Neji are mine! Or at least…I wish they were mine…

A/N: Ahh! I'm so happy you all were laughing at Neji running into a tree! Be prepared though, because this chapter isn't so happy.

"Take your time baby, the clock is slowing down…"

- 'Wind' by Akeboshi

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Anti-climactic was probably the best word you could use to describe the situation. Sakura had been expecting something strange to happen on their mission, and their instructions on the scroll warned of an ambush, but none had come.

So now the disgruntled ANBU team was slowly making their way back to Konoha after only two days of escorting a grumpy old Lord who could think of nothing better to do then complain.

"That was a waste of time," growled Shisui. He was a tall lanky looking man with dark blonde hair. The mask hiding his face muffled his voice and disguised the most likely disgusted look. The man was surely angry at being sent on what could now be ranked C-class. Not that Neji wasn't as well, but the Hyuuga was a master of hiding his emotions. Koji, a man of medium build with black hair, was silent, but beneath his lion shaped mask there was sure to be a deep-set scowl.

On the other hand, Sakura had been rather glad at the mission's ease because she was incredibly tired at the time. They had spent the night at one point, mostly for her benefit - they all knew that she was drained of chakra and had been awake for nearly forty hours straight.

As they traveled through the forest, feeling somewhat refreshed from what one could call a "paid vacation", no sun burst through the canopy and warmed them. A cool breeze had blow up and the smell of fresh clean earth right after rainfall and it filled their senses. Behind his eagle mask, Neji had the Byakugan activated and was keeping a much closer eye out for those sneaky trees that would jump out in front of him right when he was distracted. But he was feeling worry, a sort of growing anticipation, as they continued their travels through the outskirts of the country of fire. The signs all around indicated something…or someone was around.

There it was! Neji's long hair slapped down against his back as he halted suddenly, throwing out a hand to alert the others. They joined him on the thick branch silently, all following his gloved hand. He pointed down, about fifty feet in front of them. Sakura gave a small, almost inaudible gasp.

A man was standing in a clearing, not moving, speaking, or even appearing to breathe. What caused her quick intake of breath was the red clouds that were embroidered across the bottom of his long dark cloak.

Akatsuki.

Chances were that the renegade ninja was already aware of their presence. There was no chance for escape, even if Neji had allowed them. But here was his chance to take out a missing-nin and climb his way up the ladder even further, then 'calmly' and 'politely' shove it into Hiashi's face. Besides, ANBU were expected to handle these situations when they came across them.

Sakura found it rather strange that an Akatsuki member was loitering around an open meadow, much less in fire territory where there were constant sweeps of the area. Didn't they also travel in groups of two now?

There was no more time to mull on this because Neji was making signs with his hands. It was a sort of made-up sign language used when speaking would alert their prey. When he finished and pointed, the other two on the team nodded and then jumped away with a slight swooshing noise. Neji follow them with his Byakugan while taking a closer look at the Akatsuki's chakra channels. He could see that this man had an enormous amount, and a large portion was being transferred to his head, or more specifically, his eyes.

Neji now had a very good idea of who this was.

Again, his talented hand rose in the air, posed in a sign for stop, but then he snapped it sideways, and all four of the ANBU leapt down from the trees in an effort to ambush.

Needless to say, it didn't go quite as smoothly as planned. Mostly because as soon as Neji and Sakura came close, he lifted his head and stared at them with piercing red eyes.

Sharingan!

Sakura stopped so fast her deer shaped mask threatened to rip off of her face. The kunoichi's heart was beating twice as fast as normal as she pulled her eyes from his steady gaze. The bingo book warned not to make direct contact with them.

Neji continued diving down, along with Koji and Shisui coming towards the man's back.

Sakura stood frozen on a lower tree branch. She couldn't believe it…

"Uchiha….Itachi…." The words came out as a whisper. The kunai she had drawn to attack with slipped out of hand and stuck into the tree below her with a dull thud.

"N…no!" She tried to cry out, but her throat and mouth were dry. Helplessly she watched as Itachi spun around to face her other teammates. There was a second of silence before the agonized screams of Shisui and Koji echoed throughout the trees. Neji was still rushing towards him, and grinned in triumph as his hand reached forward and struck Itachi in the back.

As expected, it wasn't really the Akatsuki member, as his body simply disappeared. Neji immediately set up in a defensive pose, using his eyes to see all around.

'…Nothing…' He thought, until a blur suddenly appeared in front of him. There were two kunai in Itachi's hands, which he promptly stuck into the chests of the two fallen comrades. The Hyuuga's white eyes narrowed. Where was Sakura? And why hadn't she taken care of them?

The pink-haired kunoichi was still standing frozen up high, extreme guilt coursing through her veins. She had just sat and let them die. Her brain was screaming at her legs, telling them to go and aide her teammates. Even though she knew it was fruitless now. Their chests were no longer rising and falling; it didn't take the Byakugan to spot a dead man.

"Sakura!" Neji called out, now facing off with Itachi. The girl started at his words, but found she still could not move. Sakura felt cold sharingan eyes looking up at her for a second. Tears were gathering at the corners of her eyes. She was just going to sit here and watch Neji die!

"No! Neji! He'll kill you!" She heard herself say, but it wasn't loud enough. Neji had just started using the Hakkeshou, though now it had been expanded to strike 128 of the tenketsu. Sakura's jade eyes followed his swift movements, seeing Itachi dodge or block 127 of the strikes, until Neji finally landed a hit right in the center of his shoulder. The kunoichi recognized it as the same point he had tried using on Naruto during the first chuunin exam. The missing-nin's feet stumbled slightly, and Neji used this opportunity to start expelling chakra from all his points and spin rapidly. The Kaiten.

Itachi disappeared from view, and Neji sensed his presence behind, and so began a series of taijutsu moves with his unique 'Gentle Fist' style. Again Itachi was sent on the defensive, keeping the ANBU's deadly fingertips from touching his vital spots. After a quick concentrated use of his sharingan, he was able to predict Neji's next move and managed to gab onto the boy's wrist.

This stopped the movement, and up in the tree Sakura gasped.

"No!" She cried out, much louder this time. The kunoichi did not want to see Neji die…But what would get her feet to move again?

The two held that position for some time.

"Your clan is weak, Hyuuga," Itachi whispered in a very calm voice. The Byakugan user felt a little of his usual control snapping, and his veined eyes grew even angrier. He started to spin again, releasing chakra from the tenketsu, and this caused Itachi to jump away. He stood about ten feet from Neji now, and it was becoming hard for the Hyuuga to keep his eyes down so he would not get caught in the Genjutsu Koji and Shisui had suffered from. He calmly formed the gentle fist pose again, taking deep even breaths to steady himself. Neji would force Itachi to come to him, play the defensive side this round. It occurred to the dark-haired ANBU that the Akatsuki member would not leave until there was no one to track him.

No emotions passed over the sharingan user's face. There were a few minutes of silence, where in both surveyed the other, Neji also looked over to Sakura who appeared to be crying beneath her mask. Her signs of weakness were very much starting to annoy him.

If only he understood. Sakura couldn't attack Itachi for one reason. She still felt obligated to Sasuke in some way, and knew he had to kill his brother. If Neji did it…there could - no, would - be hell to pay.

'So you're going to let Itachi kill Neji because of a boy who disappeared eight years ago and could be dead for all you know!' Inner Sakura was yelling at her. 'Hell no! Move damn it!'

Yet her feet stayed rooted to the tree, as if she was becoming a part of it.

Neji stared down at Itachi's feet, waiting for movement. It was becoming hard to focus his entire vision away for the man's eyes. He saw Itachi stretch out the shoulder with the tenketsu that he had managed to shut down, then suddenly move behind him, Neji turned, only to find Itachi behind him again. Confused, the ANBU decided to stay where he was, until the Uchiha came rushing at him.

'Foolish,' he thought, and activated another Kaiten. He watched behind him as the body was blasted away before disappearing. There was another in front of him now! He stopped spinning and fell into another taijutsu series, reaching out with his chakra enhanced fingertips and trying to shut down the chakra point that went directly to his eyes.

"Is this all a Hyuuga is capable of?" Itachi taunted, still a deep calm voice. "You should have followed the same path I created. Or is it that you have the mark of a caged bird?"

An audible growl escaped Neji's throat as his movements grew less accurate and controlled. Itachi's lined face remained impassive as the strikes grew harder. Chakra was expelling from his tenketsu again, and Itachi now knew he had the upper hand. He jumped back, avoiding the whirl of chakra, but quickly leapt back down just as it was coming to an end. This was a weak point of the Kaiten, for the user would still be spinning even when the chakra was gone. A kunai now sat poised in Itachi's hand as he attacked, stabbing Neji through the arm. The boy cried out, trying to use his other hand to counter and attack the chakra veins around Itachi's heart, but made the foolish mistake of looking straight into sharingan eyes in his haste.

Realizing it was now his chance, Itachi initiated his most deadly Genjutsu.

"Tsukiyomi…"

Neji's eyes closed uncontrollably. The scene before him faded to black, and when it returned, everything was bathed in a strange red light. The Hyuuga glanced around, confused, realizing he was standing just outside the sliding door to the main house. His feet felt cold against the wooden planks, and as he looked down, he saw that he was no longer wearing his ANBU uniform, but a robe much like Hiashi-sama wore. When he looked up to the sky, a bright red full moon shone down on him.

Almost instinctively Neji reached up to his forehead. There was no forehead protector there, nor the leather that he always had tied around. He noticed his hair was no longer tied back and swayed in the peaceful breeze. It felt strange…what was going on?

Suddenly, his father stepped outside the door.

"Neji?" He asked.

"O…Otou-san?" He couldn't believe it. "Is that…?" Neji reached out a hand, and just as he was about to feel the fabric of his fathers robe beneath his fingers, the man's hitai-ate fell from his head and clattered to the ground. The green x-shaped mark on his forehead was burning bright green, and Neji watched his father collapse, clutching his head.

"Otou-san!" He cried out, wanting to help him. But…what could he do? His father rolled around on the ground for a few more seconds, his agonized cries ringing in his ears. The young Hyuuga felt the Byakugan beginning to form, his anger at the Head House growing.

Neji turned, seeing Hiashi standing in the middle of the green courtyard, one hand with two fingers standing erect in front of his face. It was his fault that his father was suffering; it was Hiashi's fault his father had died!

All of a sudden, Hinata stepped out from behind her father. She raised her fingers to her face, imitating her father, and Neji suddenly felt like his head was about to explode. His eyes were burning, the optical nerves being overloaded. He grasped his head, falling to his knees, cries now emitting uncontrolled from his mouth. But now he could only hear himself, his father was dead…

Neji fell down the small steps, now lying face forward on the well manicured grass of the courtyard, still feeling the burning pain in his head. He felt another pain, something stabbing into his back.

"For forty-eight hours you will see how your clan is weak…"

Another burst of pain caused him to cry out again.

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"NEJI!" Sakura screamed out. Her body finally responded to her pleas and launched off the branch, rushing towards Neji. As he was collapsing to the ground, Itachi lifted his leg and landed a powerful kick in the center of his chest, blasting the Hyuuga back into a nearby tree. There was a sickening crack as he collided.

Sakura formed seals as she ran towards Neji, who was now lying slumped against a tree with his eyes clenched shut. She dove down, placing her hands together over his chest as a big green ball of healing chakra formed below them. Even though it was fruitless, she still didn't want to see him die. If Neji couldn't kill Itachi, what made her think she could?

But maybe if she died here, no one would know it was her fault that they had all died…

'Stop thinking like that!' Sakura told herself, and kept pumping chakra into Neji. Soft footsteps approached behind her, as did the feeing of dread. The kunoichi slowly turned her head to the side to see the red hem of the Akatsuki cloak, and then swallowed hard. There was silence for a few minutes. All that moved was the green healing chakra.

"You know I can't let you live," The voice was quiet, possibly mournful. Sakura saw the fabric rustle and knew he was reaching for something. There was no wind. She took a deep breath, and responded shakily.

"Y-you k-know I can't l-let you live," Sakura dared to glance higher, still keeping concentrated on healing Neji. Itachi's mouth twitched slightly at the girl's response. Her false bravery would not hold up in battle.

The cloak fluttered again as Itachi pulled out his hands, about to form a seal. Sakura braced herself and continued healing Neji, praying that at least he would live through it. Just as the jutsu was to be released, a branch cracked in the distance. All movement stopped again, as more snapping twigs could be heard. Apparently this person had no care for their life. The ANBU and Akatsuki member watched as a figure came into view, and then leaned against a tree smugly.

Sakura's hands were shaking so much she could hardly keep up her chakra control. Itachi had taken a few steps back and regained his uncaring composure. The figure's hard onyx eyes traveled over the scene. He smirked when they landed on the ANBU member, and Sakura was fully aware as to why. They then snapped back to Itachi.

"It was foolish of you to release such a large amount of chakra when you knew I was following you," His voice was much deeper than it had been so long ago. His raven hair, surprisingly, was well groomed and kept nearly the same style. The kunoichi felt tears starting to form again and she hated herself for it, but how long had she been waiting…how she wanted to just grab onto him and never let go again!

The Akatsuki member stood still for a minute, as if thinking hard about something. He suddenly pushed off the ground, disappearing easily into the trees.

"Damn it," The figure hissed, standing up straight and about to jump after Itachi.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura suddenly cried out. The kunoichi couldn't hold it in anymore. She wouldn't let him escape again!

Emerald eyes watched as the figure froze. There was only one person who would still call him that. Slowly he turned his head towards the ANBU members, and watched as the one who was healing ripped off her mask revealing that unmistakable pink hair. Sasuke's eyes widened. Sakura? Now she was…ANBU?

"Y-you can't go! I can't let you leave! You're…a criminal!" Now she was making up excuses. Sakura had given up on healing Neji, knowing there really wasn't any more that she could do at the moment. She got to her feet unsteadily, trying to look intimidating.

Sasuke recovered from his initial shock and settled into a somewhat amused look.

"So you're going to stop me?" 'Like you did last time?' the taunting words ran through his head, but did not escape his mouth. Truthfully, not a week had gone by without him thinking about the only people he had ever considered 'precious'. And it was both a blessing and curse to see one of them again.

Sakura pulled a kunai from her weapons pouch and threw it at him, missing by five feet. Sasuke didn't even have to move. He then disappeared, moving too fast for the eyes, before he appeared behind Sakura, much as he had that fateful day. The sharingan user didn't have time for this. He had to continue his chase. Sasuke raised a hand and struck her neck, only to inhale a cloud of smoke.

"Kawarimi was the only jutsu you were good at," He said, turning back to face the ANBU she had been healing. Sakura jumped down from the trees she was hiding in, on the opposite side of Neji. They stared into one another's eyes for a few seconds.

"Sasuke-kun…" Sakura whispered, and then abruptly fainted, falling back onto the leaf covered earth. The rush of emotions had overwhelmed her system, and her mind couldn't handle the stress any longer. Sasuke stood for a moment, looking around at the ANBU squad, all either dead or unconscious. He stepped over to the ANBU leaning against the tree and pulled off his mask, only vaguely recognizing the face. Sasuke looked back at Sakura, and then lifted his hands to form a few seals. He wasn't completely heartless…

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The sky was nearly black when Sakura woke up. Something warm was pressed up against the side of her face, and a quick check with her eyes proved it to be Neji's shoulder. Sakura realized that she was leaning up against both the tree and Neji, but what disturbed her is she didn't know how she came to be in this position. Also, Neji seemed to be shivering in his unconsciousness. Not to mention there was a weird orange light nearly blinding her. Wait…

"Fire?" The kunoichi sat up and leaned closer to the small fire that was burning before her.

"Sasuke-kun…?" Her memories were starting to flood back. Did Sasuke…do this? She looked around, but could not see the man. Her attention was abruptly brought back to Neji, who had made a strange noise. Now in full medic mode, she pulled out her pouch and started the complex healing process. It was, after all, a mental attack rather than physical…

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When Neji's eyes finally opened, he had no immediate recollection of what had happened to him. The first thing he saw was someone's back, outlined by an orange light. It was somewhat dark out too. Something wet rolled down the side of his face. He cautiously lifted a hand from under a thin blanket that had been placed on him and touched it.

It wasn't blood.

This relieved him, and with that he called out to the person standing by the fire. They seemed to jump, then turn. Oh…it was Sakura.

"Neji?" She asked, before suddenly moving forward and wrapping her arms around him. "I'm so glad you're okay!" It had taken Neji a full two days to finally wake up.

The Hyuuga tensed at first from her touch, until he thought about her words. No one had really ever said that to him, unless it was Hiashi's relatively uncaring voiceor Hinata.

But here Sakura was, hugging him out of relief.

She was glad that he was…alive…

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A/N: Big change of pace from the last chapter - but this one became extremely important for the plot (which I just happened to come up with a few hours ago!)

Next chapter will probably re-introduce all the characters, so you get to see how they all changed and stuff…

For those crazy people: IT IS NOT A TRIANGLE! Sasuke just had to appear…because…well, I can't tell you (I really do know though! cough)

Summary changed to go with my plot!

Ano…Yeah…The fight was kind of weird…

Anyways, hope you like! C&C is always welcome. I need to do a response sometime maybe…This chapter might bring some interesting comments.

Hisui